James Henry Mussen Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy, (4 April 1851 – 22 March 1931), was an Irish lawyer, politician in the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

and later in the

Oireachtas of the Irish Free State The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State () was the legislature of the Irish Free State from 1922 until 1937. It was established by the 1922 Constitution of Ireland which was based from the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was the first independent Irish ...

. He was also

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, commonly known as the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was the highest ranking judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 until the end of 1800, it was also the hi ...

Barrister and judge

He was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and educated at Dr. Stacpoole's School in Kingstown (now

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...

) and

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

, graduating BA in 1874. After being called to the Irish

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in 1878, Campbell was made an Irish

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1892 and six years later was elected

Irish Unionist Unionism in Ireland is a political tradition that professes loyalty to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, crown of the United Kingdom and to the union it represents with England, Scotland and Wales. The overwhelming sentiment of Ireland's Pro ...

MP for the Dublin seat of

St. Stephen's Green St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by Ar ...

. The following year he was called to the English bar, and in February 1902 was elected a

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher c ...

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

. Campbell became

Solicitor-General for Ireland The Solicitor-General for Ireland was the holder of an Kingdom of Ireland, Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office. The holder was a deputy to the Attorney-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish ...

in 1901, and in 1903 he was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

as representative for

Dublin University The University of Dublin (), corporately named as The Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a research university located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dublin, whi ...

. He was made the country's

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

in 1905, being appointed an Irish

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

, and in 1916 became

Lord Chief Justice of 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 ...

. Considerable controversy surrounded the efforts to appoint him a judge: the initial proposal to appoint him Lord Chancellor of Ireland met with fierce resistance from Irish Nationalists, and great efforts were made to find another position for him. It appears that Baron Atkinson was asked to retire from the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

but refused. Pressure was then put on the

Richard Cherry Richard Robert Cherry Privy Council of Ireland, PC, Queen's Counsel, QC (19 March 1859 – 10 February 1923) was an Irish politician and judge. He was Attorney-General for Ireland from 1905 to 1909, a judge of the Irish Court of Appeal and subse ...

, who was seriously ill, to step down. Cherry despite his failing health was initially reluctant to do so, but eventually agreed to retire in December 1916.

Maurice Healy Maurice Healy (3 January 1859 – 9 November 1923) was an Irish nationalist politician, lawyer and member of parliament (MP). As a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party, he was returned to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great ...

in his memoirs remarks that Campbell was considered the finest Irish barrister of his time, with the possible exception of

Edward Carson Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson, Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC, Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire), King's Counsel, KC (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Irish unionist politician ...

, but as a judge, he was somewhat fretful and impatient, with a tendency (admittedly not uncommon in judges) to interrupt counsel.

Irish War of Independence

Campbell was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1917, and the following year was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland. During the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

, his position was somewhat ambiguous. As head of the Irish judiciary, he was naturally expected by the British Government to do all in his power to uphold British rule; but as his later career showed he was not opposed to the existence of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

and was quite willing to play a role in the new Government. This pragmatic attitude naturally infuriated the British administration, some of whom regarded it as a betrayal. Mark Sturgis, the

Dublin Castle Dublin Castle () is a major Government of Ireland, Irish government complex, conference centre, and tourist attraction. It is located off Dame Street in central Dublin. It is a former motte-and-bailey castle and was chosen for its position at ...

official whose diaries give a vivid picture of these particular years of British rule, condemned Campbell bitterly as a coward who "does nothing and apparently thinks of nothing but the best way to show

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

that he is neutral and passive". Campbell's successor as Lord Chancellor,

Sir John Ross Sir John Ross (24 June 1777 – 30 August 1856) was a Scottish Royal Navy officer and polar explorer. He was the uncle of Sir James Clark Ross, who explored the Arctic with him, and later led expeditions to Antarctica. Biography Ear ...

, made similar criticism. Irish historian R. B. McDowell comments that neither Sturgis nor Ross intended to stay in Southern Ireland when their Castle appointments ended, respectively returning to England and relocating to

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

via London. On relinquishing office in 1921, Campbell was ennobled as Baron Glenavy, of Milltown in the

County A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

First Cathaoirleach of Free State Seanad

In 1922 he was nominated to the new Free State Seanad by

W. T. Cosgrave William Thomas Cosgrave (5 June 1880 – 16 November 1965) was an Irish politician who served as the President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1932, Leader of the Opposition from 1932 to 1944, Leader of Fine Gael ...

, and was elected by almost all of his fellow senators as its first

Cathaoirleach Cathaoirleach (; Irish language, Irish for Chair (officer), chairperson; plural: ) is the title of the chair (or speaker (politics), presiding officer) of Seanad Éireann, the sixty-member upper house of the Oireachtas, the legislature of Repub ...

(chairperson) on 12 December 1922. This was in the midst of the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War (; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Emp ...

and shortly after his appointment his family home in

Kimmage Kimmage ( or ''Camaigh uisce'', meaning "crooked water-meadow", possibly referring to the meandering course of the River Poddle), is a suburb on the south side of the city of Dublin, Ireland. Location Kimmage is to the south of Dublin city ce ...

, Dublin was burnt by the anti-Treaty IRA, as part of their campaign against the representatives of the new state. After the

1925 Seanad election An election for 19 of the 60 seats in Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Irish Free State, was held on 17 September 1925. The election was by single transferable vote, with the entire state being used as a 19-seat constituency. The election sa ...

he was again elected as Cathaoirleach on 9 December 1925 by a vote of 40–12. He did not seek re-election when his term in the Seanad expired in 1928.

Courts of Justice Act 1924

In January 1923, Glenavy chaired the Judicial Committee appointed to advise the

Executive Council of the Irish Free State The Executive Council () was the cabinet and executive branch of government of the 1922–1937 Irish Free State. Formally, executive power was vested in the Governor-General on behalf of the King. In practice, however, it was the Council that ...

on the creation of a new courts system for the

. His recommendations were implemented in the

Courts of Justice Act 1924 The Courts of Justice Act 1924 () was an Act of the Oireachtas (No. 10 of 1924) that established a new system of courts for the Irish Free State (now the 26 county only Republic of Ireland). Among the new courts was the Supreme Court of the I ...

which largely created the Irish courts system as it currently exists. This replaced, and indeed replicated the existing court system as established by the

Government of Ireland Act 1920 The Government of Ireland Act 1920 ( 10 & 11 Geo. 5. c. 67) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bi ...

. The

Dáil Courts The Dáil Courts (also known as Republican Courts) were the judicial branch of government of the Irish Republic, which had unilaterally declared independence in 1919. They were formally established by a decree of the First Dáil on 29 June 192 ...

were declared to have been illegal, but their outstanding 'judgements' were conferred with legal standing by a separate Act of the Oireachtas. Glenavy clashed with another member of the committee, Hugh Kennedy, soon to become the first

Chief Justice of Ireland The chief justice of Ireland () is the president of the Supreme Court of Ireland. The chief justice is the highest judicial office and the most senior judge in the Republic of Ireland. The role includes several constitutional and administrativ ...

, who was in favour of far more radical changes than those recommended by Glenavy and a majority of the committee. Political differences were compounded by the fact that the two men disliked each other personally. Lord Glenavy died in Dublin in 1931 and was buried in the city's

Mount Jerome Cemetery Mount Jerome Cemetery & Crematorium () is situated in Harold's Cross on the south side of Dublin, Ireland. Since its foundation in 1836, it has witnessed over 300,000 burials. Originally an exclusively Protestant cemetery, Roman Catholics have a ...

Family

His parents were

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

William Mussen Campbell and Delia Poole Graham, the daughter of Henry Francis Graham of Newtown Abbey,

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, 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 gove ...

. William and Delia lived at Prospect House,

Terenure Terenure (), originally called ''Roundtown'', is a middle class suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It is located in the city's D6 and D6W postal districts. The population of all electoral divisions labelled as Terenure was 17,972 as of the 2022 ce ...

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

. His paternal grandfather's family was from

Glenavy Glenavy () is a village and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is approximately 11 miles west of Belfast and eight miles north-west of Lisburn, and sits on the banks of the Glenavy river. In the 2011 census it had a population ...

and Magheragall in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

. In 1884, he married Emily McCullough and they had three sons and one daughter, including

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

and Cecil. His son Charles married the Irish artist

Beatrice Elvery Beatrice Moss Elvery, RHA (1881, Dublin – 1970, Rockall, Sandycove) was an Irish painter, stained-glass artist and sculptor. Early life Beatrice Moss Elvery was born in 1881, the second daughter of the Dublin businessman, William Elvery, ...

, whose family founded

Elverys Sports Elverys Sports is a sports shop chain in Ireland. Founded in 1847, it is Ireland's oldest sports retailer. Elverys sell sports clothes and equipment, both third-party and own brand goods. History Elverys was founded in 1847, and is Ireland's ...

. His grandson, under the name Patrick Campbell, was a noted

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Early satirical authors *Aes ...

in the early years of television. He was a longtime captain of one of the panels in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

gameshow ''

Call My Bluff ''Call My Bluff'' is a British panel game show based on the short-lived US version of the same name. It was originally hosted by Robin Ray and later, most notably, by Robert Robinson. Its most prominent panellist was Frank Muir. The theme m ...

'' against British comedy writer

Frank Muir Frank Herbert Muir (5 February 1920 – 2 January 1998) was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wr ...

. Another grandson, Michael Campbell, later the 4th and last Lord Glenavy was the author of the work of

gay literature Gay literature is a collective term for literature produced by or for the gay community which involves characters, plot lines, and/or themes portraying male homosexual behavior. Overview and history Because the social acceptance of homosexuali ...

, ''

Lord Dismiss Us Lord Dismiss Us is a 1967 novel by Michael Campbell, that deals with issues of homosexuality in an English boys' public school. Plot summary The novel is set in a public school in England in the 1960s. It deals with the love affair between tw ...

''.

Arms

Notes

External links

* *
A portrait of Lord Glenavy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, James 1851 births 1931 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Glenavy, James Campbell, 1st Baron Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Burials at Mount Jerome Cemetery and Crematorium Irish Unionist Party MPs UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs who were granted peerages Members of the 1922 Seanad Members of the 1925 Seanad Cathaoirligh of Seanad Éireann Politicians from County Dublin Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Dublin University Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Dublin constituencies (1801–1922) Solicitors-general for Ireland Attorneys-general for Ireland Lords chief justice of Ireland Independent members of Seanad Éireann Barons created by George V Lawyers from County Dublin Irish King's Counsel