Sir Simon Fitz-Richard (died c.1348 ) was an Irish landowner,
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 givin ...
and
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 ...
. He became
Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas
The chief justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, which was known in its early years as the Court of Common Bench, or simply as "the Bench", or "the Dublin bench". It was one of the ...
, and fought a long and successful campaign against the efforts of his enemies to remove him from office, despite the numerous accusations of
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
which were made against him.
Career
He was probably a native of
County Louth
County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, M ...
, where he later owned land, and he also held land in
County Kildare
County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the count ...
. He benefited from the patronage of
Maurice FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Kildare
Maurice FitzThomas FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Kildare (1318 - 25 August 1390) was a prominent Irish nobleman in the Peerage of Ireland who held the office of Lord Justice of Ireland.
The second son of Thomas FitzGerald, 2nd Earl of Kildare by hi ...
and other members of the-
FitzGerald dynasty
The FitzGerald/FitzMaurice Dynasty is a noble and aristocratic dynasty of Cambro-Norman, Anglo-Norman and later Hiberno-Norman origin. They have been peers of Ireland since at least the 13th century, and are described in the Annals of the ...
As a very young man he may have visited
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...
.
[ Mackay, Ronan "Fitzrichard, Simon" ''Cambridge Dictionary of Irish Biography 2009'']
He was appointed Deputy
Escheator
Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied to a ...
of Louth about 1315, and was given custody of the
temporalities of the
Archdiocese of Armagh in 1321. During the
Bruce Invasion of Ireland
The Bruce campaign was a three-year military campaign in Ireland by Edward Bruce, brother of the Scottish king Robert the Bruce. It lasted from his landing at Larne in 1315 to his defeat and death in 1318 at the Battle of Faughart in County ...
of 1315-18, Fitz-Richard took part in an official inquiry into the conduct of "the King's enemy" Walter de Lacy, who was accused of joining
Edward Bruce
Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick ( Norman French: ; mga, Edubard a Briuis; Modern Scottish Gaelic: gd, Eideard or ; – 14 October 1318), was a younger brother of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. He supported his brother in the 1306–1314 s ...
, who led the invasion, in
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...
, and of Walter's father-in-law,
Sir Richard de Exeter, who was Simon's predecessor as Chief Justice.
[ Walter de Lacy suffered forfeiture of his estates, but no action was taken against de Exeter.][
Simon appears as a Crown prosecutor in the 1320s and in 1326 he became the King's Serjeant, with a salary of £5 a year. In 1331 he became a puisne justice 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 sti ...
and in 1335 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.[Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' John Murray London 1926 Vol.1 p.71] He held lands in Louth and Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...
and at Maynooth
Maynooth (; ga, Maigh Nuad) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's ...
, County Kildare, and was granted Gormanston, County Meath
Gormanston () is a village in County Meath, Ireland. It is near the mouth of the River Delvin and the northern border of County Dublin.
History Archaeology
A group of passage graves on either side of the mouth of river Delvin, known as the Br ...
as a reward for unspecified losses in the King's service, as well as receiving a payment of £100 from the Exchequer of Ireland
The Exchequer of Ireland was a body in the Kingdom of Ireland tasked with collecting royal revenue. Modelled on the English Exchequer, it was created in 1210 after King John of England applied English law and legal structure to his Lordship of ...
.[ On the death of ]John de Bermingham, 1st Earl of Louth
John de Bermingham, 1st and last Earl of Louth (died 13 June 1329) was an Irish peer. He was the commander of the Anglo-Irish army in the Battle of Faughart, the decisive battle in the Irish Bruce Wars 1315–1318. In this battle, Edward Bruc ...
, who was killed by his own tenants
A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, ...
in the Braganstown Massacre of 1329, FitzRichard was granted wardship
In law, a ward is a minor or incapacitated adult placed under the protection of a legal guardian or government entity, such as a court. Such a person may be referenced as a "ward of the court".
Overview
The wardship jurisdiction is an ancient ...
of the Earl's two daughters and co-heiresses, Catherine and Maud:[ presumably it was he who arranged their marriages, to Edmund Lacy and Sir William Tealing respectively. He had a royal licence to export corn. He acquired great wealth, and by 1336 he was rich enough to make a merchant a loan of £1000: they later went into partnership.]
Judge- allegations of corruption
During the 1330s complaints were made to the English Crown about the poor quality of the Irish administration, and in particular about the failings of the Irish-born judges.[In 1337 Thomas Charlton, Bishop of Hereford, was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland, with specific instructions to remove from the Bench those Irish judges who were considered to be unfit for office, and to find English replacements.][Otway-Ruthven, A.J. ''History of Medieval Ireland'' Reprinted Barnes and Noble New York 1993 pp.157, 233] Fitz-Richard, who had a bad reputation for corruption, and frequently took bribes in return for giving a favourable judgment, was one of those marked for dismissal. [ Robert de Scardeburgh, Fitz-Richard's predecessor in the Common Pleas, was nominated to take his place but did not come over to Ireland.][ Fitz-Richard went to England where he pleaded his case before the King: he was reappointed as Chief Justice and given various tokens of royal favour.][Frame, Robin ''Ireland and Britain 1170-1450'' Hambledon Press Ltd. 1998 p.115]
Later life
He resigned from the Chief Justiceship in 1341; this was probably in connection with the charges of corruption and maladministration
Maladministration is the actions of a government body which can be seen as causing an injustice. The law in the United Kingdom says Ombudsmen must investigate maladministration.
The definition of maladministration is wide and can include:
*Delay ...
which had been made against him and other Irish judges, including Elias de Asshebournham
Sir Elias de Asshebournham, or Ellis de Ashbourne (c.1290-1357/8) was an Irish judge who held the office of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, and fought a long battle with a rival candidate, Thomas Louth, to retain it. Despite frequent allegations ...
.[ The following year he was accused of ]felony
A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...
in England and arrested for trespass
Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels, and trespass to land.
Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, woundi ...
in Ireland, but nothing seems to have come of these charges, possibly due to the influence of the Earl of Kildare, to whom he remained close.[ He did however forfeit a number of privileges which the King had granted him.]
In 1355 yet another complaint about his conduct as a judge came to the King's attention. One John de la Pulle, accused of assault by Margery Poe, complained that Fitz-Richard and his colleague John Gernoun
John Gernoun, or Gernon (died ) was an Irish landowner, soldier and judge who held office as Serjeant-at-law (Ireland) and Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas. He gave good service to the Crown during the Scottish Invasion of 1315-18, but ...
had simply adjourned the case without giving judgement, to John's great prejudice. Fitz-Richard's successor Thomas de Dent
Thomas de Dent, Thomas Dyvelyn, Thomas Denton, or Thomas of Dublin (died after 1361) was an English-born cleric and judge who held high office in Ireland during the reign of King Edward III, and was praised as a diligent and hard-working Crown off ...
was ordered to make a full inquiry and remedy any injustice done.[''Close Roll 19 Edward III'']
He went to England in 1348 on official business: while there he stood bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countrie ...
for Kildare, who had recently been arrested and imprisoned
Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...
due to suspicions about his loyalty to the English Crown. Fitz-Richard was knighted in the same year, but is thought to have died shortly afterwards. Towards the end of his life, he sold much of his substantial landholdings in County Louth. He married a daughter of Thomas FitzOvery.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitz-Richard, Simon
Serjeants-at-law (Ireland)
1340s deaths
People from County Louth
14th-century Irish judges
Year of birth unknown
Chief Justices of the Irish Common Pleas