Sir Richard Aston (1717 – 1 March 1778) was an English judge who served as
King's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...
and Lord Chief Justice of the
Court of Common Pleas in
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 ...
. Aston worked to reform law practice, specifically to change the process in which
bills of indictment were issued without the examination of witnesses. After leaving his post in Ireland, he joined
Lord Mansfield's court.
Lineage
Aston was the son of Richard Aston,
Esq., of
Wadley House Wadley may refer to:
Places South Africa
* Wadley Stadium, an association football stadium
United Kingdom
* Wadley, County Durham
*Wadley, Oxfordshire, a hamlet in the parish of Littleworth, Vale of White Horse
United States
*Wadley, Alabama, a t ...
at
Littleworth in
Faringdon,
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
(now
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
), grandson of
Sir Willoughby Aston,
Bart., and great-grandson of
Sir Thomas Aston, the first of the
Aston baronets
There have been two baronetcies created for persons with the surname Aston, both in the Baronetage of England. Both creations are extinct.
The Aston Baronetcy, of Tixall in the County of Stafford, was created in the Baronetage of England on 22 ...
. The Astons derived their name from
Aston
Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre.
History
Aston wa ...
in
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
, where the family had been settled since the time of
Henry II. His mother, Elizabeth, was a daughter of John Warren, Esq., of
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
.
Career
The date Aston began practicising as a
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 ...
is unclear but his name appears in the first volume of Sir
James Burrow
Sir James Burrow (28 November 1701 – 5 November 1782 at Starborough Castle, Lingfield, Surrey), was a legal reporter at Inner Temple, London, and was vice president and twice briefly president of the Royal Society. He was knighted in 1773.
...
's ''Reports of Cases in the King's Bench'' (1756-1758). He became
King's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...
in 1759 and Lord Chief Justice of the
Court of Common Pleas in
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 ...
in 1761 after
Sir William Yorke's resignation. In 1765, after Sir
Thomas Denison
Sir Thomas Denison (1699 – 8 September 1765) was a British judge.
Born in Leeds, a city in West Yorkshire, England). Denison's father William was a clothier described as "an opulent merchant at Leeds".Edward Foss, ''The Judges of England, With ...
, a judge of the
King's Bench
The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions.
* Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court court of commo ...
in England, resigned, Aston gave up his post in Ireland to return to the English court. At this time, he was knighted.
In 1768, Aston was a member of
Lord Mansfield's court and was among those who judged the conviction of
John Wilkes
John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fo ...
for the publication of two
seditious libels in ''Essay on Woman'' and in issue 45 of ''
The North Briton''. Wilkes argued that the charges, which branded him an
outlaw
An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...
, were unlawful and, on certain technical grounds, invalid. Aston, along with
Joseph Yates and
John Willes, found that the language on Wilkes' writ was indeed incomplete. The court agreed that it was invalid. Because the grounds of the writ's dismissal were so technical, rumors spread among Wilkes' detractors that he had bribed Willes and Aston with lottery tickets, and that Aston had been seen selling them at the
Royal Exchange. On 20 January 1770, after
Charles Yorke's death by suicide, the
Rockingham administration selected Aston,
Sidney Stafford Smythe, and
Henry Bathurst as commissioners. Because the three judges had no experience with
chancery law, they made enough mistakes that, one year after their appointment, they returned the
Great Seal. Back in Lord Mansfield's court, Aston helped sentence
John Horne Tooke for seditious libel in 1777.
Aston worked to reform legal practice after learning that grand juries regularly made decisions about
bills of indictment after viewing only the
deposition and not speaking with witnesses. His colleagues mostly disapproved of his work. In 1816, nearly 40 years after Aston's death, a bill making the examination of witnesses obligatory was introduced into the
House of Commons by
Francis Horner
Francis Horner FRSE (12 August 1778 – 8 February 1817) was a Scottish Whig politician, journalist, lawyer and political economist.
Early life: 1778–1807
He was born in Edinburgh the son of John Horner a linen merchant and his wife Joanna B ...
and passed into law.
Personal life
Aston was said to have been a brusque man. He was married twice, first to Miss Elred, then to Rebecca Rowland. He died in 1778 and left no
issue to either of his wives.
References
Further reading
* Burke's Extinct Baronetage, 23, 569;
* Wotton's Baronetage
* Cal. of Home Office Papers, 1766–69, 1770–72
* Hansard, xxxii. 548, 552
* Horner's Life, Letter from Horner to Murray upon the Irish Jury Bill
* Smyth's Law Officers of Ireland, 311
* Law and Lawyers (reputed author James Grant), ii. 140
* Burrow's Settlement Cases, 533; Burrow's Reports, iv. 2527
* Howell's State Trials, xix. 1085, 1098, 1109, 1116, xx. 787
* Cr. Off. Min. B. No. 2, fol. 16; Annual Reg. xiii. 186.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aston, Richard
1778 deaths
18th-century English judges
Justices of the King's Bench
Members of the Privy Council of Ireland
People from Faringdon
Chief Justices of the Irish Common Pleas
1717 births