Sir Samuel Eyre (1633 – 12 September 1698) was an English

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

Life

Eyre came of a legal family, his grandfather, Robert, having been a bencher and reader of

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 ...

, and his father being 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 ...

, Robert Eyre of Salisbury and Chilhampton, who married

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

, daughter of Samuel Aldersey of

Aldersey Aldersey is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west an ...

in Cheshire. He was baptised on 16 March 1638. This was the same year as his father started an accounts book; his mother soon took over the accounting and her detailed records are still available, providing an insight into 17th-century households in the period up to the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. Samuel was educated at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

, matriculating on 9 December 1653. The June after Eyre left Wadham, he was admitted to Lincoln's Inn. In 1660, his mother wrote to him, telling him to think deeply about his marriage plans, advising "when done, not to be undone, and done either happy or unhappy". After studying for seven years, he was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at Lincoln's Inn in June 1661, becoming a qualified

. That October he married Martha Lucy. His wife brought him considerable property. Under the patronage of the

Earl of Shaftesbury Earl of Shaftesbury is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1672 for Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Baron Ashley, a prominent politician in the Cabal then dominating the policies of King Charles II. He had already succeeded his f ...

, whose adviser he was, he attained some professional eminence. He was made a serjeant on 21 April 1692, and succeeded Justice Dolben on 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 ...

on 6 February 1694, although was not sworn in until 22 February. Eyre was knighted as a result of being promoted to the Bench. When Charles Knollys' claim to the earldom of Banbury came before the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

in 1698, Eyre was called on, along with

Chief Justice Holt Sir John Holt (23 December 1642 – 5 March 1710) was an English lawyer who served as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Chief Justice of England from 17 April 1689 to his death. He is frequently credited with playing a major role in ...

, to state to the house the grounds upon which he had given judgement in favour of Knollys, who being tried in the King's Bench in 1694 for murder had pleaded his privilege as a peer. This the two judges refused to do, the matter not coming before the house on writ of error from the King's Bench. They were threatened with committal to the Tower, but the matter was dropped. Eyre died on circuit at Lancaster of an attack of

colic Colic or cholic () is a form of pain that starts and stops abruptly. It occurs due to muscular contractions of a hollow tube ( small and large intestine, gall bladder, ureter, etc.) in an attempt to relieve an obstruction by forcing content out ...

on 12 September 1698. A monument was erected at Lancaster to him, and his body was removed to St. Thomas's, Salisbury, the family burial-place, on 2 July 1699. He and Martha had six children; the eldest son, Sir

Robert Eyre Sir Robert Eyre (166628 December 1735) was an English lawyer and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1698 to 1710. He served as Solicitor-General and then as a judge, and ultimately as Chief Justice of the ...

, was judge of the queen's bench.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyre, Samuel 1638 births 1698 deaths 17th-century English judges English knights Members of Lincoln's Inn Justices of the King's Bench