Francis Alexander FitzGerald

Francis Alexander FitzGerald (1807-1897) was an Irish barrister and judge, who had a distinguished judicial career, but resigned from the Bench in somewhat unusual circumstance on a point of principle.

He was the third son of Maurice FitzGerald (died 1838), Royal Physician to the British Crown at Madras, and his wife Mary Burton. William FitzGerald, Bishop of Killaloe and Clonfert (1814-1883), was his youngest brother.[1]

Early life

He was born on 5 June 1807, in Madras, India; his family moved to Ireland when he was a young boy and settled in County Limerick. He went to a local school and then the University of Dublin where he took his B.A. with a gold medal in 1827. He entered Middle Temple the same year, and was called to the Irish Bar in 1834.[2]

Career

He was widely regarded as a fine common lawyer, but his great expertise was in the field of equity: it was said that his arguments were so subtle that no judge could resist them.[3] He was never appointed a Law Officer and seems to have had little interest in politics, although he would occasionally take a brief for the defence in political trials, notably that of William Smith O'Brien in 1848.[4] He took silk in 1849, and was a Bencher of the King's Inns. He was spoken of as a possible Lord Chancellor of Ireland, but was passed over; he became third Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland),[5] and following the reorganisation of the Irish Courts system in 1877, continued to sit as a judge of the Exchequer Division. It was said that he was offered a seat on the new Irish Court of Appeal, but refused, as he believed that judges should not seek promotion.[6]

Resignation

FitzGerald resigned from the Bench in 1882: according to V.T.H. Delaney this was in protest at the enactment of the Prevention of Crime (Ireland) Act 1882, which provided for trial by judge without jury in cases of capital crime.[7] All the Irish judges objected to this provision, stating in a joint letter to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland that its enactment would greatly damage public confidence in the administration of justice;[8] but in the wake of the Phoenix Park Murders, public opinion was strongly on the Government's side. The Act passed into law with the objectionable clause (although it was never used in practice), and FitzGerald, who was widely regarded as a man of high principles, felt sufficiently strongly about the matter to resign.[9]

FitzGerald died in 1897.[10]

Family

Francis Alexander FitzGerald married Janet Burton, daughter of Major Charles Burton of Williamstown, Blackrock, Dublin. Their children included:

They were members of the Church of Ireland.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 London John Murray 1926 Vol. 2 p.302
  2. ↑ Ball p.302
  3. ↑ The Voice of the Bar Issue 1 "The Reign of Mediocrity" Dublin 1850
  4. ↑ Ball p. 296
  5. ↑ Ball p.302
  6. ↑ Delaney, V.T.H Christopher Palles Allen Figgis and Co. 1960 p.89
  7. ↑ Delaney p.90
  8. ↑ Delaney p.90
  9. ↑ Delaney p.90
  10. ↑ Ball p.302
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