Robert Hellen (born 1725, died 1793 in

Donnybrook, Dublin Donnybrook () is a district of Dublin, Ireland. It is situated on the southside of the city, in the Dublin 4 postal district, and is home to the Irish public service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It was once part of the Pemb ...

) was an Irish politician, Solicitor-General, and judge of 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 ...

Early life

He was born at

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, son of Robert Hellen senior. His family moved to Dublin where 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 ...

, taking his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1746 and Bachelor of Laws in 1749. He entered

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 1749 and was called to the Irish bar in 1755. He became King's Counsel in 1774.

Career

He became the

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

Bannow Bannow () is a village and civil parish lying east of Bannow Bay on the south-west coast of County Wexford, Ireland. In modern times the main settlement is the village of Carrig-on-Bannow (or ''Carrig''). In Norman times there was a borough ca ...

in 1768 and Fethard (County Wexford) in 1776. He was appointed as Solicitor-General in 1777, and a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1779.

Family

He married Dorothea Daniel of Dublin in 1761; Dorothea was wealthy but it may have been a love marriage since she was also noted for beauty and charm. They had four daughters.

Character

When young he was described rather sentimentally as "a youth of fair fame and gentle endowments". In later life he was noted for his literary tastes: he enjoyed the company of poets and writers like

Charlotte Brooke Charlotte Brooke ( – 1793), born in Rantavan, beside Mullagh in County Cavan, Ireland, was the author of ''Reliques of Irish Poetry'', a pioneering volume of poems collected by her in the Irish language, with facing translations. She was one ...

, and built up an impressive library and picture collection. He was considered a poor politician, but a learned judge.Ball, pp.164,179

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hellen, Robert 1725 births 1793 deaths Irish MPs 1769–1776 Irish MPs 1776–1783 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Wexford constituencies Solicitors-General for Ireland People from Whitehaven Justices of the Irish Common Pleas