Sir Francis Pemberton (18 July 1624 – 10 June 1697) was an English judge and briefly

Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

in the course of a turbulent career.

Early life

He was born on 18 July 1624 at

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

, the son and heir of a former London merchant, Ralph Pemberton, mayor of St. Albans, in 1627 and 1638, by his wife, Frances, daughter of Francis Kempe. His grandfather was Roger Pemberton of Hertfordbury, of an old Lancashire family. Francis was educated at St Albans School and

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

. As a young man, he fell into dissolute company and acquired extravagant habits, leading to his imprisonment in the

Fleet Fleet may refer to: Vehicles *Fishing fleet *Naval fleet *Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles *Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company Places Canada *Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet England * The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Beach, ...

for debt. On 14 October 1645, he was admitted a member of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

. There, he applied himself diligently to the study of the law and, having eventually secured his release, he was called to the Bar on 27 November 1654.

Family

In 1667, Pemberton married Anne Whichcote, the daughter of

Jeremy Whichcote Sir Jeremy Whichcote, 1st Baronet (c. 1614–1677), was an English barrister and Solicitor-General to the Frederick V of the Palatinate. He was the owner of the manor of Totteridge in north London. Early life and education Jeremy Whichcote was ...

, Warden of Fleet Prison. They had numerous children, as his memorial in Highgate chapel records.

Early career

Pemberton rapidly acquired a substantial practice and was regularly retained by the Government in important criminal cases. In 1675 he was called to the degree of

Sergeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are wri ...

and was thereafter regarded as the foremost advocate of his day. Appearing at the bar of 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 ...

to argue an appeal to which some members of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

were respondents, Pemberton inadvertently triggered a constitutional struggle for supremacy between the two Houses of Parliament. The House of Commons had resolved that it would be a breach of their privileges for any lawyer to act in the appeal and ordered that he should be taken into custody. The House of Lords thereupon ordered his release. The resulting tug-of-war ended only when King Charles II intervened and Pemberton was set free.

Judicial career

On 30 April 1679 Pemberton 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 ...

. Having offended the Government by his conduct in relation to the

Popish Plot The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy invented by Titus Oates that between 1678 and 1681 gripped the Kingdoms of England and Scotland in anti-Catholic hysteria. Oates alleged that there was an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinate C ...

, he was dismissed within two years, whereupon he returned to his practice at the bar. However, he rapidly returned to favour and was appointed

on 11 April 1681. In the same year, he presided over the trumped-up trial of

Oliver Plunkett Oliver Plunkett (or Oliver Plunket) ( ga, Oilibhéar Pluincéid), (1 November 1625 – 1 July 1681) was the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland who was the last victim of the Popish Plot. He was beatified in 1920 and c ...

, the Primate of the Catholic Church in Ireland, who was wrongly convicted of treason and executed. To his further discredit, he also sought unsuccessfully to promote the trial for treason of

Lord 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 fa ...

. He nevertheless managed to retain among his contemporaries a reputation for independence and integrity and it was because of suspicions of his political loyalties in a forthcoming case concerning the City of London that he was removed from office in 1682. He accepted instead the lesser position of

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 other ...

. In the following year he was appointed to head the Commission set up to deal with the

Rye House Plot The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother (and heir to the throne) James, Duke of York. The royal party went from Westminster to Newmarket to see horse races and were expected to make the ...

and presided over the trial of Lord Russell. Although Russell was convicted, Pemberton was regarded as having conducted himself with unbefitting moderation during the trial and he was dismissed from all judicial employment on 28 September 1683.

John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's diary, or memo ...

wrote in his ''

Diary A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...

'' for 4 October 1683: "He was held to be the most learned of the judges and an honest man".

Later career

Pemberton again returned to the bar and again acquired a substantial practice, acting successfully in the defence of the Seven Bishops. In 1689, he faced a further petition alleging that he had breached the privileges of the

. On this occasion, the allegation was that, as Lord Chief Justice, he had allowed legal proceedings to be pursued against the

Sergeant-at-arms A serjeant-at-arms, or sergeant-at-arms, is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin ''serviens'', which means "servant". Historically, s ...

of the House of Commons in respect of his official activities. Pemberton was imprisoned for eight months in

Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, t ...

. After his release, Pemberton's practice substantially diminished and he spent much of his time at his house in

The Grove, Highgate The Grove, Highgate, N6 is a short tree-lined street in north London, running north from Highgate West Hill to Hampstead Lane, known for the notable residents who have lived there over several centuries. Early development The line of The Grov ...

, though he was retained in the unsuccessful defence of Sir John Fenwick in 1696. He died on 10 June 1697 and is buried in Highgate Chapel. His son, Francis Pemberton, FRS (?1679–1762) also became a barrister. His return to private practice was not at the time considered improper but in more modern times has been cited as an illustration of the need for a judge to abandon practice permanently since, it was said, his reputation as a judge carried far more weight with juries than the merits of his arguments or the opinions of the actual judges hearing the case. In 1929 the

Chief Justice of Ireland The Chief Justice of Ireland ( ga, Príomh-Bhreitheamh na hÉireann) is the president of the Supreme Court of Ireland. The chief justice is the highest judicial office and most senior judge in Ireland. The role includes constitutional and admini ...

cited the bad example set by Pemberton, in laying down a rule that judges after their retirement should not seek to return to legal practice.''In re Sir James O'Connors Application''

930 Year 930 ( CMXXX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * 17 June (traditional date) – The Althing, the parliament of Iceland, is established at ...

.R. 623

References

Sources

* Lord Campbell's ''Lives of the Chief Justices of England: from the Norman Conquest till the death of Lord Tenterden'' (London, 1849–1857). {{DEFAULTSORT:Pemberton, Francis 1624 births 1697 deaths Chief Justices of the Common Pleas Lord chief justices of England and Wales Members of the Privy Council of England People of the Rye House Plot People from St Albans People educated at St Albans School, Hertfordshire Justices of the King's Bench Lords of the Manor of Totteridge