Anthony Upton (judge)

Anthony Upton (1656-1718) was an English-born judge, much of whose career was spent in Ireland. He was a close friend of the poet William King, who lived for a time at Mountown, Upton's country house near Dublin. Upton was accused by his critics of neglecting his official duties, but he showed a notably enlightened attitude at the Carrickfergus witchcraft trials, where he urged the jury, without success, to acquit all the accused women. He was removed from the Bench in 1714, on account of his political views, and returned to England, where for unknown reasons he committed suicide in 1718.[1]

Early life

He was born at Monken Hadley in Middlesex; little is known of his family.[2] He was educated at Oxford, first at Trinity College and then at All Souls College, from which he graduated in 1674. He entered Lincoln's Inn and was called to the Bar in 1683.[3]

St Mary's Church, Monken Hadley

William King

He was appointed a judge of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) in 1702.[4] He acquired a comfortable house at Mountown, previously the family home of the noted writer Sir Richard Steele, near present-day Monkstown, County Dublin. He was accused by his political opponents of spending most of his time at Mountown, to the neglect of his office, in the company of his friend, the poet William King. King wrote one of his best-known poems, Mully of Mountown (a mock ode to a red cow) while staying with Upton.[5] They shared a taste for poetry and a keen enjoyment of country life. Since King was also a Crown official, who held several senior positions including Judge Advocate and Commissioner for Prizes, there may be some justice in the criticism that they were both ignoring their official duties.[6] It was said that the pair 'thought of nothing but spending their last years in their rural retreat"; but in the event King returned to England in 1708 and died there in 1712.[7]

Upton, to do him justice, was not alone in neglecting his official duties: his colleague Sir Gilbert Dolben, 1st Baronet, despite his position on the Irish Court of Common Pleas, refused to vacate his seat in the House of Commons of England and spent part of every year in England.[8]

Witch trials

On at least one occasion Upton showed himself to be a responsible and humane judge: this was at the Carrickfergus witchcraft trials in 1711. These were the last witchcraft trials in Ireland, and are said to have originated in a dispute between two Protestant factions, the accusers being non-confomists while the accused were Anglicans. Eight women- Janet Mean, Janet Latimer, Janet Miller, Margaret Mitchell, Catherine McCalmond, Janet Liston, Elizabeth Seller and Janet Carson- were accused of bewitching a young woman called Mary Dunbar.[9]

Upton in his summing-up to the jury did not say that he disbelieved in witchcraft- which was a very advanced view for the time- but rather he dwelt on the good character of the accused. Since witches were expected to renounce churchgoing on giving their allegiance to the Devil, he pointed to the accuseds' regular attendance at church as evidence of their innocence (a similar point had been frequently made during the Salem witch trials of 1692) and referred to their accuser Mary Dunbar's evidence as "visionary imaginings" (another echo of the Salem trials, where the mental health of the accusers was a crucial issue).[10] He told the jury that they "could not bring the accused in guilty upon such evidence".[11]

Unfortunately for the accused his fellow judge James Macartney urged the jury to convict, which they duly did. Since witchcraft was in theory a capital crime, the sentence- a year in prison and four sessions in the pillory- may seem relatively lenient, although it is said that the convicts were treated very roughly by an angry crowd while being pilloried.[12] Upton's enlightened attitude may have helped to ensure that there were no further witch trials in Ireland.[13]

Death

On the death of Queen Anne in 1714, her Irish judges were removed en masse [14] and most of them were in temporary disgrace. No permanent damage was done to their reputations, but Upton perhaps felt the disgrace more keenly then the others. Abandoning his beloved home at Mountown, he returned to England and resumed his practice at the English Bar, but in 1718, while suffering from what was described as "delirium", he cut his throat.[15]

References

1. Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 John Murray London 1926 Vol. 2 p.87
2. He was not a son of John Upton (died 1687) of Lupton, Brixham, Devon, and his wife "Jane Lytcott, daughter of Sir John Lytcott of Molesey", as John Upton's monument in Brixham Church, Devon, states clearly that he had three sons and one daughter, and that all three sons (named Arthur I (1666-1666), Arthur II (1667-1680) and John (1668-1686)) predeceased their father.
3. Ball p.67
4. Ball p.68
5. Ball p.27
6. "William King" in Cibber, Shiels "Lives of the Poets 1753 p.228
7. Cibber, Shields Lives of the Poets
8. Ball p.27
9. The Dublin Penny Journal 1833 Vol. 1 issue 47
10. Cawthorne, Nigel Witch Hunt- the History of Persecution Arcturus Publishing London 2011
11. Dublin Penny Journal
12. Ball p.37
13. Cawthorne
14. Except Gilbert Dolben, despite his record of absenteeism-Ball p.27
15. Ball p.87