Richard Wilson Greene

Richard Wilson Greene PC, KC (1791–1861) was an Irish judge.

He was born in Dublin, the son of Sir Jonas Greene, Recorder of Dublin, and graduated from the University of Dublin, where he was auditor of the College Historical Society. He was called to the Bar in 1814 and became King's Counsel in 1830.

As a young barrister he attended the hearing of R. v Waller O'Grady, a much publicised case of quo warranto on the power of patronage of the Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer who sought to appoint his younger son the Clerk of the Pleas in the Court of Exchequer, and co-wrote an account of the case which he published and which gained him some attention.^[1]

In 1831 he was the first person to be appointed to the new position of Law Adviser to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,^[2] which ranked below the two senior law officers, but was nonetheless a very onerous Crown office. The choice of Greene was an interesting one since he was a political opponent of the Government of the day.^[3]

He became Solicitor-General for Ireland in 1842 and was Attorney-General for Ireland briefly in 1846. He was raised to the Bench as Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) in 1852 and served till shortly before his death in 1861. He married Elizabeth Wilson of Fulford.

He made his reputation as an advocate with an impressive closing speech for the Crown at the trial of Daniel O'Connell in 1844; according to Elrington Ball his appointment to the Bench was due to the personal regard of Lord Derby, the Prime Minister.^[4]

One of his sons was William, Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin and one of his grandsons was Sir Conyngham, a diplomat.^[5] There was also a family connection to another eminent judge, Sir Samuel Walker, 1st Baronet, whose first wife was Greene's niece Cecilia.

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