Gerard Lowther (judge) facts for kids

Sir Gerard Lowther (1589–1660), sometimes referred to as Gerald Lowther, was a member of the well-known Lowther family of Westmoreland. He had a distinguished judicial career in Ireland, becoming Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, although his enemies claimed his success was due to a complete lack of moral principles.

Origins

He was born in Westmorland, and was undoubtedly a member of the leading landowning family of Lowther, although his exact relationship to the family is unclear. Sir Gerard Lowther senior (died 1624) and his brother Sir Lancelot Lowther, who were both High Court judges in Ireland, acknowledged him as their nephew. It is generally thought that he was the illegitimate son of their eldest brother Sir Christopher Lowther (1557–1617) in which case he should not be confused with Christopher's legitimate son Gerald, by his second wife Eleanor Musgrave. This Gerald was a professional soldier who joined the Polish army and died fighting against the Ottoman Empire. Sir Christopher and his brothers were the sons of Sir Richard Lowther (1532-1607) and his wife Frances Middleton. Sir Richard's reputation for long and loyal service to the English Crown was damaged by his adherence for a time to the cause of Mary Queen of Scots, although he managed to avoid permanent disgrace.

Early career

Gerard matriculated from Queen's College, Oxford in 1605, entered Gray's Inn in 1608 and was called to the Bar in 1616. No doubt because he had relatives on the Irish Bench, he was called to the Irish Bar three years later.

The Lowthers were supporters of the "Great Earl", Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, the dominant Irish magnate of his time, and ties were strengthened when in 1621 Gerald married Anne Parsons, daughter of Sir Lawrence Parsons, the Earl's legal adviser. Gerald succeeded to the role of legal adviser to the Earl, and followed his father-in-law as Attorney-General for Munster in 1621 and to the bench as Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) in 1628. He was knighted in 1631. He became a substantial landowner, with his main estates in County Wexford and County Fermanagh. In 1624 he inherited considerable property from his uncle and namesake Sir Gerard, who amassed a fortune but died childless. He lived mainly at Oxmantown near Dublin. He accumulated money as well as land, and was able to lend James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, £1000, a very substantial amount in the seventeenth century.

In 1633 Dominick Sarsfield, 1st Viscount Sarsfield, the Chief Justice of Common Pleas, was removed from office for corruption, and the Earl of Cork is said to have paid a thousand pounds to secure the place for Lowther. As Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, assumed complete control of the Irish administration Lowther, despite the increasing hostility between Strafford and the Earl of Cork, became one of Strafford's chief assistants, and largely broke his ties with Lord Cork. In 1640 he became Attorney-General to the Irish Court of Wards, while retaining office as Chief Justice.

Downfall of Lord Chancellor Loftus

During the protracted struggle for political supremacy between Strafford and Adam Loftus, 1st Viscount Loftus, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Lowther and his fellow Chief Justices, as members of the Privy Council of Ireland, gave their full support to Strafford, and Loftus was removed from office and imprisoned. On being released Loftus went to London to appeal to King Charles I for his reinstatement. Lowther accompanied Strafford there to argue the opposing case, which he did with such skill that Strafford said: I shall be beholden to you as long as I live.

Civil War

The attainder and execution of Strafford in May 1641 led to Lowther, recognised as one of his staunchest adherents, along with the Lord Chancellor Sir Richard Bolton, being impeached by the Irish Parliament and dismissed from the Privy Council;

Character

Lowther was a gifted lawyer and a shrewd and adaptable politician, but historians, in general, have had little good to say of him. O'Flanagan calls him "a most unprincipled man". Smyth says "He acquired a large landed property by steering with unprincipled craft through the boisterous ocean of contemporary troubles". Wedgwood, on the other hand, states that while he may have owed his rise to high office to patronage and a certain lack of scruples, he was well qualified by legal ability and strength of character for it.

See also

• Lowther Baronets
• Richard Lowther (1532-1608)