Maurice Coppinger

Maurice Coppinger (1727–1802) was an Irish lawyer and politician, who sat in the Irish House of Commons for many year, and held the office of King's Serjeant.[1] His name is commemorated in Coppinger Row, a side street in central Dublin.

He was born in Dublin, the elder son of John Coppinger and Mary Ann Crosbie, daughter of Maurice Crosbie, 1st Baron Brandon, and sister of William Crosbie, 1st Earl of Glandore. His father belonged the well-known Coppinger (or Copinger) family of County Cork. John's principal estate was Glenville a few miles from Cork city; he also had property in County Kildare. He spent his later years in Dublin and died there in 1752. His death caused a lawsuit between Maurice, who was executor of the will, and his brother Robert. Maurice married Anne Mitchell, daughter of Henry Mitchell of Dublin, in 1766.

Maurice went to Trinity College Dublin where he took his degree in 1743, and entered Middle Temple in 1747.[2] He was called to the Bar in 1754.[3] He sat for many years in the Irish House of Commons: as member for Ardfert 1758–83, for Roscommon 1783–90 and for Belturbet 1790–97.[4] He was appointed Third Serjeant-at-law (Ireland) in 1770[5] and promoted to Second Serjeant in 1774.[6] He went as an extra judge on the Leinster circuit in 1774.[7] He was dismissed from office in 1777, and served again as an extra judge of assize in 1776.[8] He wrote at least one legal text book, "Coppinger's Abridgment".

He sold Glenville in 1779: this may have been because his marriage, after 13 years, had not produced an heir, but was more likely the result of a protracted lawsuit against him by Theobald Wolfe, which resulted in a Court decree against Coppinger in 1778. He did later have one son, John James (1780–1813). In Dublin he lived at South William Street, and nearby Coppinger Row was named after him. He died in 1802: his wife Anne Mitchell, who was an aunt of the distinguished Army officer Hugh Henry Mitchell, survived him. In 1785 she was granted a Government pension of £300 a year.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Hart p.167
  2. ↑ Hart p.167
  3. ↑ Hart p.167
  4. ↑ Parliamentary Register 1785 p.304
  5. ↑ Smyth p.201
  6. ↑ Smyth p198
  7. ↑ Commons Journal Vol.17 p.155
  8. ↑ Hart p.167
  9. ↑ Parliamentary Register 1789 p.172

Sources

Notes

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