Nicholas Sutton ( 1440 – 1478) was an Irish

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 ...

of the fifteenth century, who held the offices of

Attorney General for Ireland The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. With the es ...

and 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 ...

. His career demonstrates how small the Irish legal world was at the time: his father held the same two offices, while his widow married his successor as Baron of the Court of Exchequer.Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921'' John Murray London 1926 Vol.1 p.185 His

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

, which no longer exists, has been described as being full of "curious details".Ball p.103 He was born in

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 ...

, probably at Werburgh Street, where his family had a townhouse; he was buried in the churchyard adjoining Werburgh Street. His father was William Sutton, who was Attorney General in about 1444 and then served on the Bench for many years a

Baron of the Exchequer The Barons of the Exchequer, or ''barones scaccarii'', were the judges of the English court known as the Exchequer of Pleas. The Barons consisted of a Chief Baron of the Exchequer and several puisne (''inferior'') barons. When Robert Shute was a ...

; his mother was Alison Darby. He was appointed Attorney General by the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chamb ...

in the session of 1471/2,''Statute of the Irish Parliament 11 and 12 Edward IV c.89'' and was appointed as a Baron of the Exchequer by the Parliament of 1472-3,''Statute of the Irish Parliament 12 and 13 Edward IV c.31'' joining his father on the Court. Nicholas however died in 1478, two years before his father, and was buried in St. Werburgh's Church, Dublin. Elrington Ball states that Nicholas's will, of which Ball had seen a copy which no longer survives,Presumably the will was destroyed, along with countless other historical records, in the burning of the

Irish Public Records Office The National Archives of Ireland ( ga, Cartlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the official repository for the state records of Ireland. Established by the National Archives Act 1986, taking over the functions of the State Paper Office (founded 17 ...

during the

Battle of Dublin The Battle of Dublin was a week of street battles in Dublin from 28 June to 5 July 1922 that marked the beginning of the Irish Civil War. Six months after the Anglo-Irish Treaty ended the recent Irish War of Independence, it was fought betw ...

in 1922. was a curious document, which showed evidence of religious fervour which was extraordinary even by the standards of the age. Nicholas called himself a "

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

", which was the normal contemporary term for a

celibate Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, th ...

clergyman, but an unusual way for a married man to describe himself. Should he have no other heirs, his lands were to be divided between St Werburgh's and St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin. He left a legacy to his father, William, in return for his blessing, and numerous legacies to religious houses and to charity. He had children by his marriage to Anne Cusacke; in his will he commended his family to the care of

Philip Bermingham Philip Bermingham (c.1420–1490) was an Irish judge who held the office of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He was regarded as "the most learned Irish lawyer of his time", but he had a somewhat turbulent political career and was twice accused of tr ...

, the

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge i ...

, while their education was entrusted to

Walter Champfleur Walter Champfleur or de Champfleur (died 1498 or 1499) was an Irish cleric and judge of the fifteenth century, who played a leading role in Irish politics.Ball p.186 He was probably a Dubliner, and had cousins living near Dublin city. He was Abbo ...

, the Abbot of St. Mary's, who was also named

executor An executor is someone who is responsible for executing, or following through on, an assigned task or duty. The feminine form, executrix, may sometimes be used. Overview An executor is a legal term referring to a person named by the maker of a ...

. A year after his death, Anne remarried his successor on the Court of Exchequer, Patrick Burnell, a member of the well-known

Burnell family The Burnell family were a Dublin family who were prominent in Irish public life and in the arts from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century. They acquired substantial estates in County Dublin, and married into the Anglo-Irish aristocracy. They ...

which produced a number of leading judges and politicians.

References

Attorneys-General for Ireland Lawyers from Dublin (city) 1440s births 1478 deaths Barons of the Irish Exchequer {{Ireland-law-bio-stub