Henry Hene or Henn ( died 1708 ) was an English-born judge who had a distinguished career in Ireland, becoming Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer.
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He was the eldest son of Hugh Henn, who was page of the bedchamber to James I and Charles I[1] and was appointed Keeper of the Queen's Garden, Greenwich in 1639.[2]
Henry entered the Inner Temple in 1645 and was called to the Bar in 1653. Although he became a Bencher of the Inner Temple his practice at the Bar was not especially successful and he moved in 1669 to Ireland where he had relatives.[3] He was admitted to the King's Inns and his Irish practice prospered: he was appointed Second Sergeant in 1670 and a Commissioner of Appeals in Revenue in 1671.
He became third baron of the Irish Court of Exchequer in 1673 and went regularly as judge of assize to Connaught; this became the subject of a well known satire, Elegy on the Pig that followed Chief Baron Henn from Connaught to Dublin [4].When John Bysse died in 1680 the Lord Lieutenant suggested Sir Richard Reynell as the new Chief Baron. However the Popish Plot was at its' height and Reynell was suspected of Catholic leanings. Charles II preferred Henn as a staunch Protestant and a man with strong connections at Court.[5]
Henn's Protestantism however made him unacceptable to James II and he was removed in 1687, retiring to Tandridge, Surrey, where he had inherited the family estate. After the Revolution of 1688, unlike some of Charles II's irish judges he showed no interest in returning to the Bench but lived in retirement till his death in 1708.
Henn married, but whether or not he had children is a matter of dispute. Elrington Ball states that his marriage was childless, and his English property passed to his sister's son. On the other hand most sources agree that Richard Henn of Paradise Hill, founder of the prominent Henn family of Ballynacally, was the Chief Baron's son, and Ball agrees that he was a close relative.[6] Richard's descendants included several distinguished judges and barristers, including William Henn, justice of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland).
Elrington Ball[7] describes him as a man of integrity, learning, good judgment and blameless private life; but he was not a good advocate, hence his long struggle to build up a practice at the Bar.