Vere Bertie (died 1680) was an English barrister and judge.

Life and career

He was of a Cavalier family, the fourth son to Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey,

Lord Great Chamberlain The Lord Great Chamberlain of England is the sixth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Privy Seal, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal and above the Lord High Constable of England, Lord Hi ...

to Charles I, and his first wife Martha, daughter of Sir William Cockayn of Rushton, Northamptonshire, and widow of

John Ramsay, 1st Earl of Holderness John Ramsay, 1st Earl of Holderness (c. 1580 – January 1626), known as Sir John Ramsay between 1600 and 1606, and as the Viscount of Haddington between 1606 and 1621, was an important Scottish aristocrat of the Jacobean era, best known in ...

. 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 ...

29 January 1655, 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 ...

10 June 1659, and became a master of the bench of his inn in January 1674. Before 1665 he had obtained the degree of serjeant-at-law; that year, with his brother Charles, he was made an honorary M.A. at Oxford on the occasion of the visit of Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester Bertie's legal career was helped by the

Earl of Danby Earl of Danby was a title that was created twice in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1626 in favour of the soldier Henry Danvers, 1st Baron Danvers. He had already been created Baron Danvers, of Dauntsey in the County of Wiltshi ...

, his brother-in-law. On 4 June 1675 he was made a

baron of the exchequer The Barons of the Exchequer, or ''barones scaccarii'', were the judges of the English court known as the Exchequer of Pleas. The Barons consisted of a Chief Baron of the Exchequer and several puisne (''inferior'') barons. When Robert Shute was a ...

, and was transferred to the court of common pleas 15 June 1678.

Dismissal

On the fall of the

First Danby ministry The first Danby ministry was the name of the governmental body led by The Earl of Danby during the reign of Charles II. It was the successor of the Cabal ministry which fell from power when the Catholicism of some members became a problem for pa ...

, King Charles II formed a new council of thirty (the

Privy Council Ministry The Privy Council ministry was a short-lived reorganization of England, English government that was reformed to place the ministry (collective executive), ministry under the control of the Privy Council of England, Privy Council in April 1679, due t ...

, with

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 ...

as Lord President, Bertie was discharged from his office of judge on 29 April 1679. With him were discharged also

Sir William Wilde Sir William Robert Wills Wilde FRCSI (March 1815 – 19 April 1876) was an Irish oto-ophthalmologic surgeon and the author of significant works on medicine, archaeology and folklore, particularly concerning his native Ireland. He was the fath ...

, Sir Edward Thurland, and Sir Francis Bramston. This move came at the height of 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 ...

allegations, and Bertie, along with those judges, had four days previously been among those who tried Nathaniel Reading in the court of king's bench at Westminster. Reading was indicted on the evidence of the perjured informer

William Bedloe William Bedloe (20 April 165020 August 1680) was an English fraudster and Popish Plot informer. Life He was born at Chepstow in Monmouthshire. He was probably the son of Isaac Bedloe, himself the son of an Irish Army officer, and a cousin of Wi ...

for stifling

king's evidence A criminal turns state's evidence by admitting guilt and testifying as a witness for the state against their associate(s) or accomplice(s), often in exchange for leniency in sentencing or immunity from prosecution.Howard Abadinsky, ''Organized C ...

against the Catholic Lords in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

. None of these judges concurred in the sentence—a £1,000 fine, one year's imprisonment, and one hour in the pillory—pronounced by the other judges, who were

Sir Francis North Francis North, 1st Baron Guilford, PC, KC(22 October 1637 – 5 September 1685) was the third son of Dudley North, 4th Baron North, and his wife Anne Montagu, daughter of Sir Charles Montagu of Boughton House and Mary Whitmore. He was created ...

, William Montagu, Sir Robert Atkins, Sir Thomas Jones, and Sir William Dolben.

Death

Bertie died unmarried 23 February 1681, and was buried in the

Temple Church The Temple Church is a Royal peculiar church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of J ...

. The contemporary law reports contain no reports of his decisions.

Notes

Attribution

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertie, Vere Year of birth missing 1680 deaths English barristers Serjeants-at-law (England) 17th-century English judges Vere Younger sons of earls