Philip Cecil Crampton PC (May 1783 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

– 29 December 1862) was a judge, politician and

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 ra ...

. He was also a noted supporter of the cause of

total abstinence Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or is ...

from alcohol. He was born in

, the fourth son of the Reverend Cecil Crampton, vicar of Headfort, County Galway, and Nicola Mary Marsh, daughter of the Rev. Jeremy Marsh, rector of Athenry, aunt of Sir Henry Marsh and great-granddaughter of Archbishop

Francis Marsh Francis Marsh (23 October 1626 – 16 November 1693) was Archbishop of Dublin from 1682 to 1693. He had previously been Dean of Connor (1660–1661), Dean of Armagh (1661–1667), Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe and Kilmore and Ardagh. ...

. His namesake, the celebrated doctor Sir Philip Crampton, 1st Baronet, was a cousin, a fact which benefitted his career. Another useful family connection was Charles Kendal Bushe,

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 ...

, who married the Baronet's sister Anne. He was educated 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 ...

, where he was an outstanding student, and gold medallist; later becoming a Fellow of the university (1807–16) and Regius Professor of Law in 1816."Alumni Dublinenses: a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860

George Dames Burtchaell George Dames Burtchaell, KC, MA, LLB, MRIA, JP (12 June 1853 – 18 August 1921) was an Irish genealogist. Education Burtchaell was educated at Kilkenny College and Trinity College, Dublin. Career *Barrister King's Inns, 1879 * KC 1918 ...

Thomas Ulick Sadleir Thomas Ulick Sadleir (1882–1957) was an Irish genealogist and heraldic expert. He was successively registrar of the Order of St Patrick, Deputy Ulster King of Arms and Acting Ulster King of Arms. Career Sadleir's first involvement with the of ...

p187: Dublin, Alex Thom and Co, 1935 He entered Lincoln's Inn in 1808. He was called to the

Irish Bar The Bar of Ireland ( ga, Barra na hÉireann) is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Ba ...

in 1810. He was appointed Solicitor-General in 1830. He was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Saltash Saltash (Cornish: Essa) is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Corn ...

in February 1831, and MP for

Milborne Port Milborne Port is a village, electoral ward and civil parish in Somerset, England, east of Sherborne, and in the South Somerset district. It has a population of 2,802. The parish includes the hamlets of Milborne Wick and Kingsbury Regis. The vil ...

in July 1831. He was judge of the

Court of Queen's Bench (Ireland) The Court of King's Bench (of Queen's Bench when the sovereign was female, and formerly of Chief Place or Chief Pleas) 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 King's Benc ...

1834–1859. In politics, he was a Whig and a strong supporter of progressive Whig causes such as Parliamentary reform and

abolition of the slave trade Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

. Though a fine academic lawyer and a "pleasant and tactful" advocate, he was not considered much of a politician. His various proposals to reform the Irish legal system met with little support, and he clashed repeatedly with

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 ...

(he was to be one of the judges at O'Connell's trial in 1844). O'Connell opposed Crampton's appointment to the Bench, calling him "utterly incompetent", lacking in integrity, and chosen only due to his friendships with senior judges. O'Connell however disliked and despised nearly all the Irish judges of his time, and his low opinion of Crampton was not generally shared: when he retired, it was said that no judge's reputation stood higher. Most contemporaries praised him as "a true gentleman, a true Christian, and a noted philanthropist". He married firstly in 1817 Sidney Mary Browne, who died in 1839, and secondly Margaret Duffy, daughter of John Duffy. By his second marriage, he had one son, Cecil, who died at nineteen. He lived in considerable state at his home St. Valery, near

Bray, County Wicklow Bray ( ) is a coastal town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is situated about south of Dublin city centre on the east coast. It has a population of 32,600 making it the ninth largest urban area within Ireland (at the 2016 census). Bray is ...

, but was not noted for hospitality. A strict advocate of

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

, who maintained that two-thirds of crime in Ireland was drink related, he refused to serve alcohol to his guests, and according to a much-repeated story, poured the entire contents of the St. Valery wine cellar into the nearby River Dargle. He retired from the Bench in 1859 and died at St. Valery in 1862. Cecil, his only son, died four years later while still in his teens. The estate passed to another branch of the Crampton family.

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crampton, Philip Cecil 1783 births 1862 deaths Solicitors-General for Ireland Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Fellows of Trinity College Dublin Members of Lincoln's Inn Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Saltash Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Milborne Port UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 Justices of the Irish King's Bench