John Wainwright (1689-1741) was an English-born

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

who became a much-loved

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

: he was celebrated for his charm and classical learning as well as his legal ability.Ball, F. Elrington ''"The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921"'' p.132 He was born in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, elder son of Thomas Wainwright (died 1720),

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the

Diocese of Chester The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York covering the pre-1974 county of Cheshire and therefore including the Wirral and parts of Stockport, Trafford and Tameside. History Ancient diocese Before the si ...

, and his wife Rebecca Jackson: they married in 1686. His grandfather John Wainwright (died 1686) had also been Chancellor of Chester, and John erected a

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

to his father and grandfather in

Chester Cathedral Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Sain ...

.Ball p.121 He seems to have had some interest in

ecclesiastical law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

, and possessed a

casebook A casebook is a type of textbook used primarily by students in law schools.Wayne L. Anderson and Marilyn J. Headrick, The Legal Profession: Is it for you?' (Cincinnati: Thomson Executive Press, 1996), 83. Rather than simply laying out the legal do ...

Ecclesiastical Court An ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain courts having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. In the Middle Ages, these courts had much wider powers in many areas of Europe than be ...

cases, which still exists. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, where he gained a reputation for outstanding scholarship. He entered the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1708 and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1716. Despite his intellectual gifts, his legal practice did not flourish, and at one point he was contemplating a move to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. On the other hand, his charm and learning made him a favourite at Court: he had a position in the household of

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fath ...

, and was a friend of the future

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

the Duke of Newcastle Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne and 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, (21 July 169317 November 1768) was a British Whig statesman who served as the 4th and 6th Prime Minister of Great Britain, his official life extended ...

, who had been at Westminster with him, and of the influential Royal favourite

Charlotte Clayton, Baroness Sundon Charlotte Clayton, Baroness Sundon (11 December 1679 – 1 January 1742) was a British Lady in Waiting. She is known as the influential favourite of queen regent Caroline. Life Charlotte Dyve was the daughter of John Dyve, clerk of the Priv ...

. In 1730 he received an appointment, possibly a

sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is an office, carrying a salary or otherwise generating income, that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval chu ...

, to the Stannary Courts of

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. In 1732 he was sent to Ireland as the third Baron of the

Court of Exchequer (Ireland) The Court of Exchequer (Ireland) or the Irish Exchequer of Pleas, was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was the mirror image of the equivalent court in England. The Court of Exchequer was one of the four royal courts of justic ...

. The third Baron, despite his junior rank, held a surprisingly lucrative position as he received

fees A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in contra ...

for the swearing of

affidavits An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a statemen ...

, and Wainwright, after his long struggle to make a living at the English bar, guarded his perquisites jealously, fighting any suggestion that he be promoted to a more senior but less well-remunerated office. Even when the Government, which wished to find a seat on the Bench for the

Solicitor General for Ireland The Solicitor-General for Ireland was the holder of an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office. The holder was a deputy to the Attorney-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. On rar ...

, put pressure on him to accept promotion, he firmly resisted. Wainwright quickly became as popular in Ireland as he had been at home. He made numerous friends, including Lord Chancellor Jocelyn,

George Berkeley George Berkeley (; 12 March 168514 January 1753) – known as Bishop Berkeley (Bishop of Cloyne of the Anglican Church of Ireland) – was an Anglo-Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immate ...

and

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...

. He lived at

Mount Merrion Mount Merrion () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is roughly 7 kilometres (5 mi) south of Dublin city centre and is situated on and around the hill of the same name. Location and access Mount Merrion is 3 kilometres (2 mi) south ...

House, south of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

city, which he rented from

Viscount FitzWilliam Viscount FitzWilliam, of Merrion in the County of Dublin, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1629 for Thomas FitzWilliam, along with the subsidiary title Baron FitzWilliam, of Thorncastle in the County of Dublin, also in th ...

, and wrote enthusiastically about the house and surrounding countryside. During the

Irish Famine (1740-1741) The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a ...

, Wainwright was noted for his charity to the sick and starving. He continued conscientiously to perform his judicial duties, despite the highly infectious

fever Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a body temperature, temperature above the human body temperature, normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, set point. There is not a single ...

which was rampant in the Famine years. He was warned by friends as to the dangers he was incurring by going on circuit; as they rightly predicted "some misfortune may befall". Wainwright however evidently thought that it was his duty to go: "he had the right to decline" Lord Jocelyn, the

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of ...

and a close friend, wrote anxiously, "but accepted on a principle of humanity". While on

assize The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

in the spring of 1741 he fell seriously ill of the fever, and was brought back to Dublin, where he died at Mount Merrion in early April. He is buried at

St Mary's Church, Stockport St Mary's Church is the oldest parish church in the town of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It stands in Churchgate overlooking the market place. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade&nbs ...

. An Irish elegy paid eloquent tribute to his qualities: "a steady heart, discerning and discreet, in temper candid and in manner sweet". Lord Jocelyn a few weeks earlier had written that his death "would be a great loss to me on account of our particular friendship", and also to the public, as he had the ability to be an outstanding judge, and was still just over fifty years old. He married in 1726 Anne Parsons, daughter of the wealthy

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

and Member of Parliament Sir John Parsons of

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...

and his second wife Jane Milward. They had no children.Ball p.202

Sources

*Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' London John Murray 1926 *Ball, F. Elrington ''Mount Merrion and its History'' (1898) Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 5th Series Vol. 8 p. 329 *''Diary of Dr Thomas Cartwright, Bishop of Chester'' Reprinted by Wipf and Stock 2020 *''Faulkner's Dublin Journal 1741'' *Kelly, Richard J. ''The Courts, Judges and Legal Office-Holders of Ireland in 1739'' (1904) Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 5th Series Vol.35 p. 20 *''Summary of Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Church Representative Library Dublin''

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wainwright, John Barons of the Irish Exchequer Members of the Inner Temple People from Chester People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford 1689 births 1741 deaths