Edward Gibson, 1st Baron Ashbourne

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Edward Gibson, 1st Baron Ashbourne (September 4, 1837May 22, 1913) was an Irish lawyer and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College, graduating BA in 1858. He was also an Auditor and a Gold Medallist of the College Historical Society, and became its president in 1883.

Having been called to the Irish bar in 1860, Gibson was made an Irish Queen's Counsel in 1872 and three years later was elected Conservative Member of Parliament for Dublin University. He was appointed Attorney-General for Ireland in 1877, being admitted to the Privy Council of Ireland, and was finally appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1885, becoming a British Privy Counsellor that same year.

On his appointment as Lord Chancellor, Gibson was created Baron Ashbourne, of Ashbourne in the County of Meath. He resigned office in February 1886 on the return of the Liberals to power, but was re-appointed by Lord Salisbury in August of that year. For the next twenty years (with a short interval of three years when Gladstone returned to power in 1892), Lord Ashbourne held office as Lord Chancellor of Ireland, finally retiring at the age of 68.

He died in London in 1913 and was cremated at Golders Green crematorium, his ashes being placed in Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin.

Legal Offices
Preceded by
C. May
Attorney General for Ireland
1877–1880
Succeeded by
Hugh Law
Political offices
Preceded by
John Naish
Lord Chancellor of Ireland
1885–1886
Succeeded by
John Naish
Preceded by
John Naish
Lord Chancellor of Ireland
1886–1892
Succeeded by
Samuel Walker
Preceded by
Samuel Walker
Lord Chancellor of Ireland
1895–1905
Succeeded by
Samuel Walker
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
New Creation
Baron Ashbourne
1886–1913
Succeeded by
William Gibson