Sir William Shee (24 June 1804 – 1868) was an
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...
politician, lawyer and judge, the first Roman Catholic judge to sit in
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
since the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
.
Early life and legal career
Shee was born in
Finchley
Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. Finchley is on high ground, north of Charing Cross.
Nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, Mill Hill and H ...
,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
. His father, Joseph, was a
merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
from
Thomastown
Thomastown (), historically known as Grennan, is a town in County Kilkenny in the province of Leinster in the south-east of Ireland. It is a market town along a stretch of the River Nore which is known for its salmon and trout, with a number of ...
,
County Kilkenny
County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...
, Ireland, his mother, Teresa ''née'' Darell.
Nicholas Wiseman
Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman (3 August 1802 – 15 February 1865) was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church who became the first Archbishop of Westminster upon the re-establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850.
Born ...
was a cousin. He was initially educated at the school for French refugees founded by the
Abbé Carron
Abbé Guy-Toussaint-Julien Carron (1760–1821) was a French Roman Catholic priest who founded a number of social and educational institutions, especially while in exile in England, and was a prolific author of pious tracts.
Life
Born in Rennes, C ...
in
Somers Town and where
Hughes Felicité Robert de Lamennais
Hughes may refer to:
People
* Hughes (surname)
* Hughes (given name)
Places Antarctica
* Hughes Range (Antarctica), Ross Dependency
* Mount Hughes, Oates Land
* Hughes Basin, Oates Land
* Hughes Bay, Graham Land
* Hughes Bluff, Victoria Lan ...
taught. In 1818 he joined Wiseman as a student at
St. Cuthbert's College, Ushaw. He also attended
Edinburgh University where he joined
The Speculative Society
The Speculative Society is a Scottish Enlightenment society dedicated to public speaking and literary composition, founded in 1764. It was mainly, but not exclusively, an Edinburgh University student organisation. The formal purpose of the Societ ...
. In 1823 he became a
pupil
The pupil is a black hole located in the center of the iris of the eye that allows light to strike the retina.Cassin, B. and Solomon, S. (1990) ''Dictionary of Eye Terminology''. Gainesville, Florida: Triad Publishing Company. It appears black ...
of
Thomas Chitty
Thomas Chitty (1802 – 13 February 1878) was an English lawyer and legal writer who was pupil master to a generation of eminent lawyers and played a significant role in documenting the legal reforms of the 19th century.
Early life
Thomas was t ...
at
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 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 ...
in 1828.
[Barker (2004)]
Shee enjoyed a successful career as 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 ...
, being made
serjeant-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 writ ...
in 1840, receiving a
patent of precedence A patent of precedence is a grant to an individual by letters patent of a higher social or professional position than the precedence to which his ordinary rank entitles him.
Historical use in the English legal profession
The principal instance in ...
in 1845, and being appointed
queen's serjeant
A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the Barristers in England and Wales, English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, ...
in 1857. In 1837, he married Mary Gordon (died 1861) and their children included
George Darell Shee and Henry Gordon Shee
QC who became
Recorder
Recorder or The Recorder may refer to:
Newspapers
* ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper
* ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US
* ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...
of
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
and a judge in
Salford
Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...
.
Shee's famous cases as an advocate included the
Roupell case
The Roupell case (1862) was a notorious English legal dispute that centred on legal documents alleged to have been forged by William Roupell and excited great public interest.
Background
William Roupell was the illegitimate son of Richard Palmer ...
and leading the unsuccessful defence of
poison
Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...
er
William Palmer in 1856.
In the latter case the defence case suffered adverse comment from the judge because Shee had, against all rules and conventions of professional conduct, told the
jury
A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...
that he personally believed Palmer to be innocent. He edited a great number of legal publications.
Politics
:''See also
Roman Catholicism in Great Britain:The Catholic Revival in the Nineteenth Century''.
Shee was a champion of
Catholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
and addressed a protestant rally held on
Penenden Heath
Penenden Heath is a suburb in the town of Maidstone in Kent, England.
As the name suggests it is nucleated around a former heath (now park land).
History
Before the expansion of Maidstone, the heath was often used as a venue for a site for sh ...
,
Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...
as early as 24 November 1828. He failed in his first attempt to enter
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
at the
1847 general election for
Marylebone
Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary.
An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...
but succeeded for
Kilkenny County in the
1852 general election.
He gave his
maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.
Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
on 12 November 1852 during the debate on the
Queen's Speech
A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or a representative thereof, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a Legislative session, session is ...
. Shee became active in
Irish tenants' rights.
William Sharman Crawford
William Sharman Crawford (1780–1861) was an Irish landowner who, in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, championed a democratic franchise, a devolved legislature for Ireland, and the interests of the Irish tenant farmer. As a Radical represe ...
having failed to be re-elected in 1852, Shee took charge of, and reintroduced, his Tenant Right Bill on 25 November 1852. In December, he spoke in support of Sir
Joseph Napier's Improvement Compensation Bill but both bills were rejected by a
select committee Select committee may refer to:
*Select committee (parliamentary system), a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues
*Select or special committee (United States Congress)
*Select ...
. Shee submitted an amended bill in February 1854 but it fared poorly.
In June 1854 he failed in a controversial motion for leave to introduce a bill to amend the laws on the political administration of the
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...
, and to increase funds for Irish religious education and church building. In 1855, discouraged in his exertions as to reform, Shee consulted with Sharman Crawford and drafted a new Tenants' Improvement Compensation Bill, addressing some of the objections of the select committee. It fared no better than his earlier efforts. Shee's failure cost him the support of his voters and he lost his seat in the
1857 general election.
Shee was defeated in Kilkenny again in
1859 general election and declined judicial office in
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
in 1860. He stood unsuccessfully in Stoke-on-Trent at a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
in September 1862.
Judge
On 19 December 1863, Shee was appointed judge of the
Queen'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 common ...
, and
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
ed the following year.
['']London Gazette
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
'', 22 Dec 1863, 6645; ''London Gazette'', 14 June 1864, 3072 He was the first Roman Catholic judge in England since the
Glorious Revolution of 1688
The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...
. Shee died from
apoplexy at his home in London.
References
Bibliography
*Barker, G. F. R. (2004)
Shee, Sir William (1804–1868), rev. Hugh Mooney, ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', Oxford University Press, accessed 24 July 2007
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shee, William
1804 births
1868 deaths
Justices of the King's Bench
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Kilkenny constituencies (1801–1922)
Serjeants-at-law (England)
UK MPs 1852–1857
People from Finchley
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Alumni of Ushaw College