The Justice of Chester was the chief judicial authority for the county palatine of Chester, from the establishment of the countyYates, p. 6 until the abolition of the Great Sessions in Wales and the palatine judicature in 1830.Yates, p. 7
Within the County Palatine (which encompassed Cheshire, the City of Chester, and Flintshire), the Justice enjoyed the jurisdiction possessed in England by the Court of Common Pleas and the King's Bench.Yates, pp. 32–33 While the legal reorganisation of Wales and the Marches under Henry VIII diminished the authority of the Earl of Chester (i.e., the Prince of Wales) in the County Palatine, the authority of the Justice was, in fact, increased. In 1542, the Great Sessions were established in Wales, that country being divided into four circuits of three shires each. Denbighshire, Flintshire, and Montgomeryshire were made part of the Chester circuit, over which the Justice presided. Under Elizabeth I, a second justice was added to each of the Welsh circuits,The Penny Cyclopedia, p. 505 after which the senior and junior justice are generally referred to as the Chief Justice of Chester and the Second or Puisne Justice of Chester.
Because the Cheshire justices were free to practise as barristers in the English courts or sit in Parliament, the post of Chief Justice was often awarded as a form of patronage by the Government to aspiring lawyers. The offices of Chief and Puisne Justice were abolished in 1830, as part of reforms that also brought Wales under the jurisdiction of the courts at Westminster.
Justices of Chester
Philip Orreby 1202–29 John de Grey c.1246 William de Vernon 1229–?1236 Richard de Vernon Earl of Lincoln John Lestrange 1241-1245 John Grey 1245-1249 Alan la Zouche 1250–1255 Gilbert Talbot 1255– Roger de Montalt/Mohaut (aka Mold) 1258–1259 Fulk de Orreby 1259–1261 Thomas de Orreby 1261–1262 William la Zouche 1262– Luke de Thaney c.1265 James de Audley c.1265 Reginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Wilton c.1270 Robert de Ufford c.1276– Guncelin Badelesmere 1276-79 Reginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Wilton 1281-1290 Reginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Wilton c.1297 Richard Massy c.1300 Robert Holland, 1st Baron Holand c.1307–c.1320 Pain de Tibetot c.1311 Richard Daumary c.1325 William de Clinton, 1st Earl of Huntingdon c.1330 Hugh de Freyne c.1335 Henry Ferrers, 2nd Baron Ferrers of Groby 1336–1342 Thomas de Felton 1369–1381 Sir John Holland 1381–1385 Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York 1385–1387 Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland 1387–1388 Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester 1388–1391 John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter 1391–1394 Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk 1394–1398 William le Scrope, 1st Earl of Wiltshire 1398–1399 Henry Percy 1400–1403 Gilbert Talbot, 5th Baron Talbot 1403–1419 Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter 1420–1427 Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester 1427–1440 William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk 1440–1450 (jointly from 1443, murdered 1450)) Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley 1443–1459 (jointly to 1450) John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury 1459–1460 (KIA 1460) in commission 1460 John Needham 1461 Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby 1461–1471 Richard, Duke of Gloucester 1471 Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby 1471–1504 Sir Thomas Englefield 1505–1514? Sir Nicholas Hare 1540–1545 Sir Robert Townshend 1545–1557 Sir John Pollard 1557 George Wood Esq.1558 of Hall atte Wood, Balterley, Staffordshire John Throckmorton 1558–1578 Sir George Bromley 1564–1589 Richard Shuttleworth 1589–1592 Sir Richard Lewknor 1592–1616
Chief and Puisne Justices of Chester YearChief JusticePuisne Justice1603Sir Richard Lewknor Henry Townshend1616Sir Thomas Chamberlayne1620Sir James Whitelocke1624Sir Thomas Chamberlayne1625 Sir John Bridgeman Marmaduke Lloyd1636 Richard Prytherg1638Sir Thomas Milward1648 John Bradshaw Peter Warburton1649 Thomas Fell1660Timothy Turner1661Sir Geoffrey Palmer, Bt Robert Milward1662 Sir Job Charlton1674 George Johnson1680Sir George Jeffreys1681 John Warren1684Sir Edward Herbert1686Sir Edward Lutwyche1686Sir Job Charlton1689Sir John Trenchard Lyttelton Powis1690 John Coombe1696 Salathiel Lovel1697 Joseph Jekyll1707John Pocklington1711John Warde1714 Edward Jeffreys1717 Spencer Cowper1726John Willes1729Sir John Willes William Jessop1734John Verney Richard Potenger1738 Matthew Skinner1740 John Talbot1749 William Noel1756 Taylor White1762 John Morton1771John Skynner1777Francis Buller1778 Daines Barrington1780Lloyd Kenyon1784Richard Pepper Arden1788Edward Bearcroft Francis Burton1796James Adair1798William Grant1799James Mansfield1804Vicary Gibbs1805Robert Dallas1813Richard Richards1814 Sir William Garrow1815William Draper Best1816Samuel Marshall1817John Leach Thomas Jervis1818William Draper Best1818John Copley1819Charles Warren Offices abolished 1830
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