Joseph Deane PC (1674–1715) was an Irish politician and judge who became

Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer was the Baron (judge) who presided over the Court of Exchequer (Ireland). The Irish Court of Exchequer was a mirror of the equivalent court in England and was one of the four courts which sat in the buildin ...

. His sudden and premature death was popularly believed to be due to a chill caught when watching an eclipse of the sun.

Background

He was born in Crumlin, Dublin, son of Joseph Deane (of Deanehill,

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

) and his wife Elizabeth Parker, daughter of John Parker,

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...

, and his wife Mary Clarke. His grandfather Major Joseph Deane was a close associate of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

and a cousin of

Richard Deane Richard Deane may refer to: * Richard Deane (bishop) (died 1576), Bishop of Ossory * Richard Deane (Lord Mayor) (died 1635), English merchant who was Lord Mayor of London in 1628 * Richard Deane (priest), Irish Anglican priest * Richard Deane (regi ...

, the

regicide Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...

. For his good services to Cromwell, the Major received large grants of land in five counties. On the

Restoration of Charles II The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came to be ...

he managed to retain much of his property, including Crumlin and

Terenure Terenure (), originally called ''Roundtown'', is an affluent, middle class suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It is located in the city's D6W postcode area. Location and transport Terenure lies primarily in the administrative area of Dublin City ...

in Dublin. While the judge's brother Edward inherited most of the Deane estates including Terenure, Joseph inherited the Crumlin estate. He also owned a manor at Old Leighlin,

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a county located in the South-East Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Carlow is the second smallest and the third least populous of Ireland's 32 traditional counties. Carlow Cou ...

, which he later sold to the local Bishop, Bartholomew Vigors. The Bishop in turn bequeathed it to his successors in perpetuity.

Career

Deane matriculated at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

in 1689 and entered

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1694. He 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 ...

and sat in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...

from 1703 to 1714 as member for

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

. He enjoyed the friendship of the powerful William King,

who recommended him to the

English Crown This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself King of the Anglo-Sax ...

as a man of great sense, knowledge of the law, honesty and good temper. Deane was made a

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

and on the accession of King George I, he became the Irish Chief Baron.

Death

Barely eight months after taking office Deane died suddenly in May 1715, just after returning from his first

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 ...

. According to popular belief, as reported by his friend Archbishop King, his death was due to catching a cold while watching the

solar eclipse of May 3, 1715 __NOTOC__ A total solar eclipse occurred on 3 May 1715. It was known as Halley's Eclipse, after Edmond Halley (1656–1742) who predicted this eclipse to within 4 minutes accuracy. Halley observed the eclipse from London where the city of London ...

, as the weather was exceptionally cold and wet for May. Elrington Ball more prosaically states that his death was probably due to

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of a red, tender, hot and swollen joint, caused by deposition of monosodium urate monohydrate crystals. Pain typically comes on rapidly, reaching maximal intensit ...

. He was buried in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.

Family

Deane married Margaret Boyle, daughter of Colonel Henry Boyle and Lady Mary O'Brien, and sister of

Henry Boyle, 1st Earl of Shannon Henry Boyle, 1st Earl of Shannon, PC (1682 – 28 December 1764), was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer who served as the speaker of the Irish House of Commons from 1733 to 1756. A prominent parliamentarian who sat for almost fifty years in ...

. Their only son died young, and the judge's estates passed to his five daughters, all of whom married into the aristocracy.''Debrett's Complete Peerage'' They were: *Elizabeth, who married Hayes St. Leger, 4th

Viscount Doneraile Viscount Doneraile () is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland, both times for members of the St Leger family. It was first created in 1703 for Arthur St Leger, along with the subsidiary title of Baron Kilmayden, also ...

*Barbara, who married

Arthur Hill-Trevor, 1st Viscount Dungannon Arthur Hill-Trevor, 1st Viscount Dungannon ( 1694 – 30 January 1771), was an Irish politician. Born Arthur Hill, he adopted the surname Hill-Trevor in 1759. He was the second son of Michael Hill of Hillsborough, M.P. and Privy Councillor, and ...

, but died young, without issue *Mary, who married

John Bourke, 1st Earl of Mayo John Bourke, 1st Earl of Mayo (; ; circa 1705 – 1790), styled Lord Naas (; ) from 1775 to 1781 and Viscount Mayo from 1781 to 1785, was an Irish politician and peer who was MP for Naas (1727–60, 1768–72) and Old Leighlin (1760–68) an ...

*Catherine, who married

John Lysaght, 1st Baron Lisle John Lysaght, 1st Baron Lisle of Mountnorth in the County of Cork in the Peerage of Ireland (1702 – 15 July 1781) was an Irish peer and politician. The eldest son of Nicholas Lysaght and Grace, daughter of Colonel Thomas Holmes of Kilmallock, ...

*Margaret, who married

John FitzGerald, 15th Knight of Kerry John FitzGerald, 15th Knight of Kerry (1706 – 10 June 1741) was an Irish politician and hereditary knight. He was the older son of Maurice FitzGerald, 14th Knight of Kerry, and his wife Elizabeth Crosbie, second daughter of David Crosbie. His yo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deane, Joseph Politicians from County Dublin 1674 births 1715 deaths 17th-century Irish people Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Irish MPs 1703–1713 Irish MPs 1713–1714 Members of Gray's Inn Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Chief Barons of the Irish Exchequer Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Dublin constituencies People from Crumlin, Dublin