Sir Michael Smith, 1st Baronet (1740–1808) was an Irish judge. He was the founder of a judicial

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

, several of whose members were noted for eccentricity. He was also the first of the Cusack-Smith baronets of Tuam.

Background and early career

He was born at Newtown,

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

, the son of William Smith (died 1747) and his wife Hester Lynch of

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

. The Smith family had come to Ireland from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

in the seventeenth century, and acquired substantial property in the Midlands.

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher founded in 1826, when the Irish genealogist John Burke began releasing books devoted to the ancestry and heraldry of the peerage, baronetage, knightage and landed gentry of Great Br ...

4th Edition 1833 Michael revered the memory of his father, who died when his son was only seven, and later composed a

eulogy A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a ...

which was inscribed on his father's tombstone. He graduated from the

University of Dublin The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...

, 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 1769. He was elected member of 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 ...

for

Randalstown Randalstown is a townland and small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, between Antrim and Toome. It has a very prominent disused railway viaduct and lies beside Lough Neagh and the Shane's Castle estate. The town is bypassed by the M22 ...

in 1783, and was noted for his reason and moderation in debate, despite a rather "stiff and monotonous" delivery. As a politician, he supported the cause of

Catholic Emancipation Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...

(his first wife Maryanne was a Roman Catholic).

Judge

He was raised to the Bench as a 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 ...

in 1793; in 1801 he became

Master of the Rolls in Ireland The Master of the Rolls in Ireland was a senior judicial office in the Irish Chancery under English and British rule, and was equivalent to the Master of the Rolls in the English Chancery. Originally called the Keeper of the Rolls, he was respons ...

, retiring in 1806. The Mastership of the Rolls had long been a notorious

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 ...

for politicians, many of whom had no legal qualifications whatever, and some of whom were Englishmen who rarely visited Ireland. The appointment of Smith, a lawyer of undoubted ability, is thought to have been the result of a conscious policy of making the Mastership a full-time and responsible judicial office; the policy was successful.

Family

His first marriage to Maryanne Cusack, daughter and heiress of James Cusack of Ballyronan,

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

, was an interesting one for an ambitious young lawyer as Maryanne was an open and devout

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. They had two children, William and Angelina. Their son

Sir William Cusack-Smith, 2nd Baronet Sir William Cusack-Smith, 2nd Baronet FRS (23 January 1766 – 21 August 1836) was an Irish baronet, politician, and judge. Background and education Cusack-Smith was the only surviving son of Sir Michael Smith, 1st Baronet, Master of the Rol ...

followed his father into the law and as a Baron of the Exchequer. His appointment caused some disquiet, both because he was only 35 years old, and because he was already showing marked signs of eccentricity. William's second son Thomas Berry Cusack Smith continued the family traditions of judicial eminence and oddity: like his grandfather, he was Master of the Rolls in Ireland, and like his father, he was notably eccentric. William's sister Angelina married twice but had no issue. Her husbands were Smith Steele, a younger son of

Sir Richard Steele, 1st Baronet Sir Richard Steele, 1st Baronet of Hampstead, Co.Dublin, was an MP in the Parliament of Ireland, for Mullingar, in Co. Westmeath, serving from 1765 until 1776. He was the second son of Robert Steele of Summercove, Co. Cork (believed a descendant o ...

, and William Borrowes, a younger son of

Sir Kildare Borrowes, 5th Baronet Sir Kildare Dixon Borrowes, 5th Baronet (20 January 1722 – 22 June 1790) was an Irish politician. He was the oldest son of Sir Walter Borrowes, 4th Baronet and his wife Mary Pottinger, daughter of Captain Edward Pottinger. In 1741, Borrowes succ ...

Barretstown Castle Barretstown Castle is a castle in Ballymore Eustace, County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It stands on the site of a late 12th century Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman castle. It now hosts the Barretstown camp for sick children. History E ...

. Maryanne died in 1798. Michael remarried his cousin Eleanor Smith, daughter of another Michael Smith. In 1799 he was made a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

Tuam Tuam ( ; ga, Tuaim , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. Humans have lived in the area since the Bron ...

in King's County: it was said that this was in recognition of his elder son's talents rather than his own. By his second marriage, he had one son, Michael, born posthumously. Young Michael joined the Army and rose to the rank of General. Sir Michael Smith died at Newtown on 17 December 1808.

Reputation

According to Elrington Ball, he was noted for learning and eloquence; in contrast to his son and grandson, who were both notably hot-tempered, he was invariably calm and self-controlled. His speeches were invariably well-reasoned, though critics complained that his delivery of them was stiff and monotonous.

Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...

, then a rising young barrister, who thought poorly of Irish judges in general, complained of Smith's inefficiency, yet praised him as "a gentleman and a scholar, polite, patient and attentive". While his first marriage to a Roman Catholic suggests that he was personally tolerant of the practice of Catholicism, and he was in favour of Catholic Emancipation, one of his best-known judgments, '' Butler v. Moore'', held that a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

has no legal privilege to withhold evidence of what was said under the seal of the confessional. This decision was overruled in the twentieth century.''Cook v Carroll''

945 Year 945 ( CMXLV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * January 27 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown barely ...

I.R. 151 which established the legal privilege of a priest not to reveal anything said under the seal of the confessional.

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Michael 1740 births 1808 deaths Irish barristers Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Antrim constituencies Irish MPs 1783–1790 Irish MPs 1790–1797 Masters of the Rolls in Ireland