Simon Fitz-Richard

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Sir Simon Fitz-Richard (died c.1348 ) was an Irish barrister and judge. He became Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, and fought a long and generally successful campaign against the efforts of his enemies to remove him.

He was probably a native of County Louth, where he later owned land. He was appointed Deputy Escheator of that county about 1315, and was given custody of the temporalities of the Archdiocese of Armagh in 1321. He appears as a Crown prosecutor in the 1320s and in 1326 he became Serjeant.[1] In 1331 he became justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) and in 1335 Chief Justice.[2] He held lands in Louth and Ulster and at Gormanston, and had a royal licence to export corn.[3]

The 1330s saw serious complaints in England about the quality of the Irish administration, and in particular the quality of the Irish-born judges. In 1337 Thomas Charlton, Bishop of Hereford, was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland, with specific instructions to replace Irish judges who were unfit for office with English replacements.[4] Robert de Scardeburgh, Fitz-Richard's predecessor, was nominated to take his place again but never arrived.[5] Fitz-Richard went to England, pleaded his case before the King, was reappointed and given various favours.[6]

He resigned in 1341; this was probably in connection with the various charges made against him. The following year he was accused of felony in England and arrested for trespass in Ireland, but nothing seems to have come of these charges.[7] He went to England in 1348 on official business and was knighted around that time but seems to have died shortly afterwards.

References

  1. ↑ Hart, A. R. History of the King's Serjeants at law in Ireland Four Courts Press Dublin 2000 p.170
  2. ↑ Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 John Murray London 1926 Vol.1 p.71
  3. ↑ Ball p.170
  4. ↑ Otway-Ruthven, A.J. History of Medieval Ireland Reprinted Barnes and Noble 2003 p.157
  5. ↑ Otway-Ruthven p.157
  6. ↑ Frame, Robin Ireland and Britain 1170-1450 Hambledon Press Ltd. 1998 p.115
  7. ↑ Ball p.170
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