William Neave

William Neave (c.1662-1713) was an Irish barrister, politician and law officer. He held the office of Serjeant-at-law (Ireland) and in that capacity played a crucial role in the Dublin Castle administration from 1696 to 1711. He sat in the Irish House of Commons in four successive Parliaments as MP for Tulsk.

He was a highly successful barrister by his early 30s, and quickly took silk. He was first elected to the House of Commons for the 1692-3 session, and again in 1695–99. During the latter session he played a leading part in the impeachment of Sir Charles Porter, the flamboyant and controversial Lord Chancellor of Ireland, for what were vaguely described as " high crimes and misdemeanours". The impeachment (which was a purely political attack by his enemies) failed, largely due to Porter's eloquent speech in his own defence.

Porter during his speech said that he would forgive his enemies, but he did not forgive Neave. When Lord Capell, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, told Porter in late 1695 that he intended to appoint Neave as Second Serjeant, Porter reacted with fury, saying he would not endure it. Capell, whose professional relations with Porter were always bad, replied that the matter was already decided. He argued that Neave was highly regarded by the Law Officers and had been recommended by several influential peers, and that it was vital for the Government to have gifted lawyers to manage its legal business in the Commons. He pointed out sharply that he had allowed Porter to have his own way on several other appointments, including the Prime Serjeant, Sir Thomas Pakenham. As for his personal grievance against Neave, he reminded Porter of his promise to forgive his accusers.

Neave was duly appointed Second Serjeant and became Prime Serjeant in 1708. He played a leading role in the Irish Government until 1711, when the new Tory administration dismissed him on strictly political grounds. He was re-elected to Parliament in 1703 and served as an MP for the remainder of his life. He died in early December 1713.

Sources
  • Hart, A.R. History of the King's Serjeant at law in Ireland Four Courts Press Dublin 2000
  • Johnston-Liik, E.M. MPs in Dublin-Companion to History of the Irish Parliament 1962-1800 Ulster Historical Foundation 2006
  • Kenny, Colum King's Inn and the Kingdom of Ireland: Irish Inn of Court 1541-1800 Irish Academic Press Dublin 1992
gollark: Hmm...
gollark: Whitespace?
gollark: So you can implement forth atop my thing, obviously*.
gollark: Invent macro(n)s for the assembler.
gollark: It's constrained by me wanting to make the assembler very small due to laziness, and the fact that the ISA has no immediate operands at all.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.