William Tynbegh, or de Thinbegh (c.1370-1424) was an Irish lawyer who had a long and distinguished career as a
judge, holding office as Chief Justice of all three of the
courts of common law
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordanc ...
and as
Lord High Treasurer of Ireland
The Lord High Treasurer of Ireland was the head of the Exchequer of Ireland, chief financial officer of the Kingdom of Ireland. The designation ''High'' was added in 1695.
After the Acts of Union 1800 created the United Kingdom of Great Britain a ...
. His career is unusual both for the exceptionally young age at which he became a judge, and because left the Bench to become
Attorney General for Ireland
The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. With the ...
, but later returned to judicial office.
He ordered the preparation of an Exchequer Issue Roll (i.e. the official record of payments out of the Irish Exchequer) for the year 1414, when he held the office of Deputy Treasurer. The Roll is of great value to historians for providing an account of a turbulent year in Irish politics, and the personnel involved. It is one of the few official records of the time which was not destroyed in the
Four Courts explosion of 1922.
[
]
Early life
He was born in Ireland to a family of Welsh origin: his surname derives from the town of Tenby
Tenby ( cy, Dinbych-y-pysgod, lit=fortlet of the fish) is both a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the western side of Carmarthen Bay, and a local government community.
Notable features include of sandy beaches and the Pembroke ...
in Pembrokeshire.[Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' John Murray London 1926 Vol.1 p. 170] The Nicholas Tynbegh to whom the Crown directed him to convey certain lands in County Meath
County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...
in 1414 was presumably a member of the same family.[''Patent Roll 2 Henry V''] In 1391 he received a license to study law in England, as did his future colleagues John Bermyngham and John Fitzadam
John Fitzadam (died c.1419) was an Irish judge of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century. He is notable for his very long tenure as Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas; he held the office for twenty-three years, in the reigns of three ...
.
Early Career
Somewhat surprisingly (since he can only have been called to the Bar a few years previously) he was appointed Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland
The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge ...
as early as 1396 and Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer
The Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer was the Baron ( judge) who presided over the Court of Exchequer (Ireland). The Irish Court of Exchequer was a mirror of the equivalent court in England and was one of the four courts which sat in the build ...
in 1397; he was probably still short of thirty.[ In 1400, in an act seemingly without precedent, he resigned from the Bench to become Attorney General at a fee of £5 a year.][ The following year he was appointed one of the ]justices of the peace
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
for Dublin.[ He is mentioned again as Chief Baron in 1405, when he apparently received a new patent of appointment "so long as he was of good behaviour". His salary was 20 marks a year, increased in 1408 to 30 marks.][ He had been appointed an extra justice in 1404 to sit on a bench of four judges to try an action for ]novel disseisin
In English law, the assize of novel disseisin ("recent dispossession"; ) was an action to recover lands of which the plaintiff had been disseised, or dispossessed. It was one of the so-called "petty (possessory) assizes" established by Henry II ...
between Nicholas Crystor and the Stokes family.[''Patent Roll 10 Henry IV''] In 1407 he sat on an inquisition requested by the Abbot of St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, into the boundaries of the township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...
of Kilternan
Kilternan (), also known as Kiltiernan, is a village in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin, Ireland, near the border with County Wicklow.
Location
Separated from the continuous built-up Dubli ...
, which belonged to the Abbey.[''Close Roll 8 Henry IV''] In 1410 he sat on another commission to determine what was owed to the Crown by the late rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of Swords, Dublin.[''Patent Roll 11 Henry IV ''] In 1408 and again in 1412 he received a royal commission to act as justice of the peace in Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
and the adjoining counties.[''Patent Roll 10 Henry IV''] In 1409 he sat on a three-man commission to inquire into the export of foodstuffs from Ireland without a royal licence; he was then acting as Deputy Lord Treasurer.[
]
Exchequer Roll
He acted as Deputy Treasurer again in 1414, as evidenced by the Exchequer
In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's '' current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government revenu ...
Issue Roll for that year. This is one of very few public records which survived the Four Courts explosion during the Battle of Dublin 1922. It was compiled at Tynbegh's request.[Jones, Ranulph ''Lost and found: a missing Exchequer issue Roll of 1414 rediscovered'' Published by the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland] The Roll states that he was appointed Deputy Treasurer in the absence of Sir Laurence Merbury, who had gone to England on official business.[ The Roll gives a vivid account of the troubled state of Ireland under English rule in that year, and useful information on the members of the Royal Council.][
]
Later career
In the same year, he was one of five judges who heard a case of novel disseisin
In English law, the assize of novel disseisin ("recent dispossession"; ) was an action to recover lands of which the plaintiff had been disseised, or dispossessed. It was one of the so-called "petty (possessory) assizes" established by Henry II ...
against the High Sheriff of Meath
The High Sheriff of Meath was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Meath, Ireland, from the conquest until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Meath County Sheriff.
The sheriff ...
. He was Seneschal of County Wexford about 1413. He returned to the Court of Exchequer for a third term as Chief Baron in 1415, and was transferred to the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) as Chief Justice in 1419. He apparently stepped down from the latter office, but was reappointed in 1424, not long before his death.[ A royal ]writ
In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...
dated 1424 refers to his appointment in the previous January, and orders that he be paid his arrears of salary
A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis.
F ...
.
In 1421 he persuaded the Crown to pardon Ralph Drake of Athboy
Athboy () is a small agricultural town located in County Meath. The town is located on the ''Yellow Ford River'', in wooded country near the County Westmeath border. Local Clubs are Clann Na nGael and Athboy Celtic.
History
In medieval time ...
, who had been declared an outlaw, not because of any notorious crime, but as a fairly common legal device in civil proceedings against a debtor. In the same year he sat on a commission with Reginald de Snyterby to try cases of treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
in County Dublin.
Landowner
In 1419 he was given custody of the lands at Stillorgan held by Robert Derpatrick, recently deceased, during the minority of Robert's brother and heir Stephen. He obtained a further grant of the estate on Stephen's death, although there was a female heir, Robert's daughter Alice.[''Calendar of Irish Chancery Letters c.1244-1509''] He apparently experienced some difficulty in establishing control of Derpatrick, which was also claimed by his long-term opponent, the Earl of Ormonde, as in 1423 he was obliged to remind the Crown of the grant. The Crown accordingly made him a fresh grant of the lands.[
In 1420 he witnessed the charter by which King ]Henry V Henry V may refer to:
People
* Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026)
* Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125)
* Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161)
* Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227)
* Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1 ...
guaranteed certain liberties and privileges to the Mayor and citizens of Dublin.
Butler-Talbot feud
In the early stages of the Talbot-Butler feud, the clash between two powerful magnate families which dominated Irish public life for decades, Tynbegh was a member of the Talbot faction, headed by John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
, and thus an opponent of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormonde
James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond (23 May 1393 – 23 August 1452) was the son of James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond. He was called 'The White Earl', and was esteemed for his learning. He was the patron of the Irish literary work, 'The Book of the ...
. He was seen very much as a Talbot "client", and owed his career advancement largely to their patronage. Ormonde as a result managed to have Tynbegh dismissed from the Bench, but after Tynbegh's return to office in his last years, they were able to work together amicably, apart from pursuing their rival claims to Stillorgan.[
He spent some time in ]France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
in 1420–21. He was appointed Treasurer of Ireland in 1421, having regularly served as Deputy Treasurer. He was still living in March 1424, when he ordered the Archbishop of Dublin to make a grant of the lands formerly owned by Thomas Leger to Richard Vale;[''Patent Roll 2 Henry VI''] but he died later the same year.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tynbegh, William
1424 deaths
15th-century Irish judges
Irish people of Welsh descent
Year of birth unknown
Lords chief justice of Ireland
Chief Barons of the Irish Exchequer
Chief Justices of the Irish Common Pleas
Year of birth uncertain