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Sir Robert Eyre (166628 December 1735) was an English lawyer and Whig politician who sat in the
English
English usually refers to:
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* English people
English may also refer to:
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* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
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and
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England.
The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...
from 1698 to 1710. He served as
Solicitor-General and then as a judge, and ultimately as
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
The chief justice of the Common Pleas was the head of the Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench or Common Place, which was the second-highest common law court in the English legal system until 1875, when it, along with the othe ...
.
Early life
Eyre was the eldest son of
Sir Samuel Eyre of New House,
Whiteparish
Whiteparish is a village and civil parish on the A27 about southeast of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England.
The village is about from the county boundary with Hampshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Cowesfield Green (east of Whiteparish ...
,
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
and his wife Martha Lucy, daughter of Francis Lucy of Westminster and Brightwalton, Berkshire. He was admitted at
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...
on 2 April 1683
and matriculated at
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, the ...
on 11 May 1683.
In 1690, he was called to the bar. He married Elizabeth Rudge, daughter of Edward Rudge, MP, with £4,000, on 6 December 1694. He succeeded his father in 1698.
Career
Eyre became deputy recorder of Salisbury in 1693 and became Recorder in 1695 for the rest of his life. At the
1698 English general election, he was returned as
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 of ...
for
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
. He was nominally a Whig, but had a tendency to independence, particularly to make trouble. He was returned again at the two general elections of 1701 and at the
1702 English general election. He became Recorder of Southampton in 1703, serving until 1723, and recorder and alderman of Bristol in 1704, serving until 1728. He was returned again as MP for Salisbury at the
1705 English general election. In 1707 he became a QC and bencher of his Inn.
[
Eyre was returned to Parliament again at the 1708 British general election and was appointed Solicitor-General from 1708 to 1710. He became Treasurer of his Inn in 1709. He was particularly active at this time in relation to the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell. In 1710, he was appointed a ]puisne judge
A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use
The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...
of the Court of Queen's Bench, and was knighted on 6 May 1710. He did not stand for Parliament again. In 1718, he gave an opinion favouring the view of the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
, rather than that of the king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
over the education of the prince's children, and was therefore passed over for promotion to be Lord Chief Justice of King's Bench. However, he was appointed Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer
The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" (meaning judge) of the English Exchequer of Pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who ...
in 1723 and then appointed as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
The chief justice of the Common Pleas was the head of the Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench or Common Place, which was the second-highest common law court in the English legal system until 1875, when it, along with the othe ...
in 1725, a post in which he served until his death. He was a governor of Charterhouse by 1723.[
Eyre's wife Elizabeth died in 1724. He died at his house in ]Bloomsbury Square
Bloomsbury Square is a garden square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, London. Developed in the late 17th century, it was initially known as Southampton Square and was one of the earliest London squares. By the early 19th century, B ...
, Central London on 28 December 1735. He and his wife had three sons and a daughter. He was succeeded by his son Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
.[
]
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyre, Robert
1666 births
1736 deaths
British MPs 1707–1708
British MPs 1708–1710
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain
Chief Barons of the Exchequer
Chief Justices of the Common Pleas
Solicitors General for England and Wales
Justices of the King's Bench
English MPs 1698–1700
English MPs 1701
English MPs 1701–1702
English MPs 1702–1705
English MPs 1705–1707