William Aston (Irish judge)

Sir William Aston (1613-1671) was an English born barrister and soldier who fought with distinction in Ireland for King Charles I during the English Civil War. Although he made his peace with the Cromwellian regime after the King's defeat, he was generally believed to have remained a convinced Royalist, and was rewarded for his loyalty to the Crown with a seat on the Irish High Court Bench after the Restoration.[1] His eldest son was hanged for murder in 1686; his last direct male descendant, also named William Aston, was de jure 6th Lord Aston of Forfar.[2]

Background

He was born at Leigh in Staffordshire, son of John Aston and Margery Walton, and great-grandson of Sir Walter Aston, who was the grandfather of the 1st Lord Aston of Forfar. He entered Gray's Inn in 1639, and then moved to Ireland. In 1646 he was serving as a major in the Royalist army, and was then described as an "honest royalist"; yet a few years later he was serving in the Cromwellian army, and later sat in the Irish Protectorate Parliaments of 1656 and 1659.[3] Elrington Ball argues that despite his apparent change of side, his loyalty to the Crown was never really in doubt: certainly in 1660 he was known to be actively supporting the Restoration of Charles II. The new regime praised him for his "early and faithful adherence to the King": he was knighted and made a justice of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland).[4]

Judge

As a judge he presided over one of the last Irish witch trials. [5] He also engaged in a dispute over precedence with his colleague Sir Jerome Alexander, who is said to have challenged him to a duel, and then accused him of cowardice for refusing to accept the challenge. Ironically they were close neighbours in Ship Street, Dublin; Aston obtained permission to widen the street in front of his house. He also quarreled with the well-known Roman Catholic barrister Patrick D'Arcy, who had carried Alexander's challenge: according to one report, Aston tried unsuccessfully to have D'Arcy prosecuted. D'Arcy in turn threatened to horsewhip Aston, who is said to have gone in fear of him for some time, although the story that he went to England and stayed there until after D'Arcy's death is not borne out by the evidence.[6]

As well as his town house, he also had a country estate at Richardstown in County Louth. His exact date of death is disputed but it was probably in January 1671.[7] He was Treasurer of the King's Inns from 1665 to 1669.[8]

Family

He married firstly Sarah Wingfield of Shrewsbury, by whom had two daughters, Elizabeth and Anne; she died before 1642. He married secondly in 1642 Elizabeth Gill (née Fellgate), the daughter and widow of merchants of London, by whom he had two sons, William junior and John; she died in 1661.

His son William- hanged for murder (1686)

Aston's eldest son by Elizabeth, William Aston junior (1643-1686), a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, killed a Mr Keating in a street brawl in Dublin in 1686 and was hanged for his murder.[9] The crime was considered so heinous, and the defence so feeble, that the Crown evidently decided to make an example of young Aston: considerable trouble was taken to empanel a "good jury" i.e. one which could be trusted to bring in a guilty verdict.[10] The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, described Aston with contempt, and wrote to his brother Lord Rochester that despite "great intercession" having been made on the young man's behalf, he could see no grounds for James II to exercise his prerogative of mercy.[11] The only concession was that rather than being hanged, drawn, and quartered and exposed in public, Aston's body would be released to his family for private burial.[12]

Third marriage

Sir William married thirdly, after 1661, Ursula Stockton, daughter of his judicial colleague, Thomas Stockton, and had one surviving son, Thomas. Thomas's son married the daughter and heiress of Henry Tichborne, 1st Baron Ferrard: their grandson William Aston (died 1769) was de jure 6th Baron Aston, although he never made out a claim to the title, and may not have been aware of his right to it.[13]

After Sir William's death Ursula remarried Sir Charles Fielding, and died in 1720. Lord Clarendon, describing her stepson's conviction for murder, also gossiped that Ursula had a jointure of £300 a year.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in ireland 1221-1921 London John Murray 1926 Vol. 1 p.346
  2. ↑ Cokayne Complete Peerage Reprinted Gloucester 2000 Vol. 1 p.289
  3. ↑ Ball p.268
  4. ↑ Ball p.268
  5. ↑ Ball p.346
  6. ↑ Burke, Oiver Anecdotes of the Connaught Circuit Hodges Figgis Dublin 1885 p.64
  7. ↑ Ball p.346
  8. ↑ Kenny, Colum The King's Inns and the Kingdom of Ireland Irish Academic Press Dublin 1992 p.290
  9. ↑ Ball p.346
  10. ↑ It was not then thought improper for judges to "persude" i.e. coerce a jury into returning the desired verdict- Kenyon, J.P. The Stuart Constitution 2nd Edition Cambridge University Press 1986 p.406
  11. ↑ The Correspondence of Henry Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, with his brother Lawrence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester Vol.1 p.391
  12. ↑ In England this was the normal penalty for treason, not murder, but in Ireland it seems that the more severe punishment could be inflicted for both crimes - see Clarendon Correspondence p.391
  13. ↑ Cokayne p.289
  14. ↑ Clarendon Correspondence p.391