Sir Denis Stanislaus Henry, 1st Baronet, (7 March 1864 – 1 October 1925), was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

lawyer and politician who became the first

Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland is a judge who presides over the courts of Northern Ireland and is the head of the Northern Ireland, Northern Irish judiciary. The present Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland is Siobhan Keegan, Dame ...

. Henry was born in Cahore,

Draperstown Draperstown ()Toner, Gregory. ''Place-Names of Northern Ireland'', p. 85. Queen's University of Belfast, 1996; is a village in the Sperrin Mountains in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the civil parish of Ballinascreen an ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

, the son of a prosperous

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

businessman. He was educated at Marist College,

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

Mount St Mary's College Mount St Mary's College is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, co-educational, day and boarding school situated at Spinkhill, Derbyshire, England. It was founded in 1842 by the Society of Jesus (better known as the Jesuits), and h ...

Spinkhill Spinkhill is a small village in North East Derbyshire, England. It is approximately one mile south of the nearest town, Killamarsh, and half a mile north-east of Renishaw. It is home to the Church of the Immaculate Conception and its associat ...

North East Derbyshire North East Derbyshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Derbyshire, England. The council is based in the large village of Wingerworth. The district also includes the towns of Dronfield and Clay Cross as well as numerou ...

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

foundation), and Queen's College,

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, where he won every law scholarship available to a student in addition to many other prizes and exhibitions. In 1885, he was called to the

Bar of Ireland The Bar of Ireland () is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Bar of Ireland, commonly c ...

. During the general election campaign of 1895, Henry spoke in support of unionist candidates in two constituencies: Thomas Lea in South Londonderry, Henry's native constituency, and E. T. Herdman in East Donegal. Henry's legal career flourished – he became

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 1896 (which became

King'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 ...

on 21 January 1901 when Queen Victoria died), 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 ...

of the

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns () is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environments. The Benchers of King's Inns aw ...

in 1898 and ultimately Father of the North-West Circuit – but his interest in politics did not diminish. In March 1905, he was a delegate at the inaugural meeting of the

Ulster Unionist Council The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist oppositi ...

and in the North Tyrone by-election in 1907, he was the Unionist candidate, which he lost by a mere seven votes. On 23 May 1916, he was elected as an MP in the South Londonderry by-election, the first by-election to be held in Ireland after the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...

. The rebellion had had no discernible impact on the contest. In November 1918, he 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 ...

and in July 1919,

Attorney General for Ireland The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Kingdom of Ireland, Irish and then, from 1801 under the Acts of Union 1800, United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on ...

. Speaking in the British House of Commons on 22 June 1920 Henry commented on how British troops in Ireland were instructed to behave as if on a battlefield. He later served as the first

from 1921 to 1925. In 1923, he became a Baronet, of Cahore in the County of Londonderry. He married Violet Holmes, daughter of Hugh Holmes, a judge of the

Court of Appeal in Ireland The Court of Appeal in Ireland was created by the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877 as the final appellate court within Ireland, then under British rule. A l ...

, and Olivia Moule of

Elmley Lovett Elmley Lovett in Worcestershire, England is a civil parish whose residents' homes are quite nucleated village, loosely clustered east of its Hartlebury Trading Estate, as well as in minor neighbourhood Cutnall Green to the near south-east. The ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. They had five children, including James Holmes Henry, who succeeded as second baronet. It was a mixed marriage as Violet was a staunch member of the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

. Despite their religious difference, the marriage is said to have been happy. He died in 1925, aged 61, and was buried near his native

References

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Denis 1864 births 1925 deaths Catholic Unionists Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Londonderry constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 Irish knights Irish King's Counsel Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Solicitors-general for Ireland Attorneys-general for Ireland Lawyers from County Londonderry Irish Unionist Party MPs Lord chief justices of Northern Ireland People educated at Mount St Mary's College Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Deputy lieutenants of Londonderry People educated at St Mary's College, Dundalk Politicians from County Londonderry Ulster Unionist Party MPs