Richard Pyne

Sir Richard Pyne (1644 – December 1709) was Lord Chief Justice of Ireland from 1695-1709.

Background

He was born in County Cork, fourth son of Nicholas Pyne of Monageely. He matriculated from Queen's College, Oxford in 1662, was called to the English Bar in 1669 and the Irish Bar in 1674. In 1686 he became counsel to the Revenue Commissioners; although willing to accept preferment under King James II he was a Whig in politics and strong supporter of the Revolution of 1688.

Judicial career

After the Battle of the Boyne, he was appointed joint Commissioner of the Great Seal of Ireland with Sir Richard Ryves and Sir Robert Rochfort. Early in 1691 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas and promoted to Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland in 1695. He held the latter office until his death, although he seems to have been in failing health for some time, visiting Bath for a cure. As Chief Justice he clashed with the powerful cleric William King, Bishop of Derry and future Archbishop of Dublin, who accused him of interfering in Church affairs.^[1]

Property

Pyne was a substantial landowner in County Cork, living mainly at Waterpark. In 1703 he bought Blarney Castle but sold it a few months later, apparently having heard a rumour (unfounded as it turned out) that the dispossessed owners were about to recover it. He also owned an estate at Ashley in Surrey, where he died. He is remembered nowadays as the builder of Ballyvolane House near Fermoy, although it was not completed till a considerable time after his death.

Family

Few details of his marriage survive; Elrington Ball suggests that his wife was a relative of the Norton family of Abbots Leigh, famous for their assistance to Charles II after the Battle of Worcester.^[2] His only son Henry married Anne Edgecume, sister of Richard Edgecumbe, 1st Baron Edgecumbe.^[3] Their daughter Anne married Sir Henry Cavendish and was the mother of the statesman Sir Henry Cavendish, 2nd Baronet, whose descendants took the title Baron Waterpark.

Reputation

In 1698 the Irish born author and publisher, John Dunton, on a visit to Dublin, gave a favourable picture of most of the Irish judiciary, including Pine: "men whose reputation is such that no one complains of them".

References