Robert French (1690 – 29 May 1772) was an Irish judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He was extremely unpopular with his colleagues, who thought poorly of him both as a lawyer and a judge. He was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, and grew up in Dungar, now

Frenchpark Frenchpark, historically known as Dungar (), is a village in County Roscommon, Ireland on the N5 national primary road. It was the home of Douglas Hyde, the first President of Ireland. The nearby French Park Estate was until 1952 the ancestra ...

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

. He was the second son of the wealthy landowner Colonel John French, who was nicknamed ''An

Tiarna A tiarna (Irish), or tighearna ( Scottish), both from the Old Irish tigerna, is a lord in the Gaelic world and languages. An Ard Tiarna is a "high lord", approximately equal in rank to a count or earl, although many of such higher rank still happe ...

Mór'' (the Great Lord). Colonel French was the eldest son of Dominick French and his wife Anne King, daughter of John King and Sarah Conway, and granddaughter of Edward King,

Bishop of Elphin The Bishop of Elphin (; ) is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Elphin, County Roscommon, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other b ...

. Robert's mother was Anne Gore, daughter of

Sir Arthur Gore, 1st Baronet Sir Arthur Gore, 1st Baronet (c. 1640 – 20 December 1697) was an Irish soldier and politician. Gore was the second son of Sir Paul Gore, 1st Baronet and his wife Isabella Wycliffe, daughter of Francis Wycliffe. In 1656, he was High Sheriff ...

and his wife Eleanor St. George. While his father's wealth and connections no doubt helped him in his career, he also owed much to his mother's family, in particular his uncle

George Gore George F. Gore (May 3, 1854 – September 16, 1933), nicknamed "Piano Legs", was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for 14 seasons, eight for the Chicago White Stockings, five for the New York Giants, one for the St. ...

, justice of the Court of Common Pleas. Snow 219

He attended the local school in

Roscommon Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads. The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who built ...

, matriculated from

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 ...

in 1708, took his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1715 and was made Doctor of Law in 1730. He entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1710 and 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 1717. He sat in 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 ...

as member for Jamestown,

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; gle, Contae Liatroma) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the ...

from 1727 to 1745. In 1745 his uncle Mr Justice Gore announced that he would retire on health grounds from the

Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) The Court of Common Pleas was one of the principal courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror image of the equivalent court in England. Common Pleas was one of the four courts of justice which gave the Four Courts in Dublin, which is still ...

on condition that French replace him. This put the Government in an awkward position; Gore, although he was not considered an especially good judge was personally very popular, whereas French was both a notoriously bad lawyer and personally a most unpopular individual. However, since Gore, who suffered greatly from

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

, was clearly unable to continue with his duties, the Crown reluctantly agreed to appoint French. French's conduct as a judge fully justified the official misgivings: an anonymous satire refers to "snarling, bridling, self-corroding French" and asked where his like for ignorance could be found. He retired in 1761 and died in 1772. His marriages to Frances, daughter of Sir Richard Hull of Leamcon, County Cork, and to his second wife, Frances Pooley, were childless. He was buried in

St. Michan's Church, Dublin St. Michan's Church is a Church of Ireland church located in Church Street, Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The first Christian chapel on this site dated from 1095, and operated as a Roman Catholic, Catholic church until the Protestant Re ...

.Ball p.208

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Robert 1690 births Alumni of Trinity College Dublin 1772 deaths Members of the Middle Temple Lawyers from County Roscommon Irish MPs 1727–1760 Justices of the Irish Common Pleas Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Leitrim constituencies 18th-century Irish lawyers

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 ...

People from Frenchpark Burials at St Michan's Church, Dublin