James Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy
Encyclopedia
James Henry Mussen Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy PC
(4 April 1851 – 22 March 1931) was an Irish
lawyer
, politician in the Parliament
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
and later in the Oireachtas
of the Irish Free State
. He was also Lord Chancellor of Ireland
.
) and Trinity College, Dublin
, graduating BA
in 1874. After being called to the Irish bar
in 1878, Campbell was made an Irish Queen's Counsel
in 1892 and six years later was elected Irish Unionist MP
for the Dublin seat of St. Stephen's Green
. The following year he was called to the English
bar, and in 1903 was elected to the House of Commons
as representative for Dublin University, also becoming Solicitor General for Ireland that same year. He was made the country's Attorney General
in 1905, being appointed an Irish Privy Counsellor
, and in 1916 became Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
.
Considerable controversy surrounded the efforts to appoint him a judge: the initial proposal to appoint him Lord Chancellor of Ireland met with fierce resistance from Irish Nationalists, and great efforts were made to find another vacancy. It appears Baron Atkinson was asked to retire from the House of Lords
but refused. Pressure was then put on the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Richard Robert Cherry
who was seriously ill , to step down. Cherry was initially reluctant but eventually agreed to retire in December 1916.. Maurice Healy in his memoirs remarks that Campbell was considered the finest Irish barrister of his time, with the possible exception of Edward Carson; as a judge he was somewhat fretful and impatient.
Campbell was created a baronet
in 1917, and the following year was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland. During the Irish War of Independence, his position was somewhat ambiguous. As head of the judiciary, he was naturally expected by the British Government to do all in his power to uphold British rule; but as his later career showed he was by no means opposed to the existence of the Irish Free State or to playing a role in the new Government. This attitude naturally infuriated the British administration, some of whom regarded it as close to a betrayal. Mark Sturgis, the Dublin Castle official whose diaries give a vivid picture of the last years of British rule, condemned Campbell bitterly as a coward who "does nothing and apparently thinks of nothing but the best way to show Sinn Fein that he is neutral and passive."
On relinquishing office in 1921 he was ennobled as Baron Glenavy, of Milltown in the County
of Dublin
.
(Irish: Seanad) by WT Cosgrave, and was elected by almost all of his fellow-senators as its first Chairman (in Irish: Cathaoirleach) on 12 December 1922. After the Irish Free State Seanad election, 1925
he was again elected as Chairman on 9 December 1925 by a vote of 40-12. He did not seek re-election when his term in the Senate expired in 1928.
(cabinet) on the creation of a new courts system for the Irish Free State
. His recommendations were implemented in the Courts of Justice Act, 1924 which largely created the Irish courts system as it currently exists. This replaced the ad-hoc but politically important Dáil Courts
system.
. From 1925 Glenavy's influence decreased, being opposed to Patrick Hogan's
policy of economic support for the larger farmers.
Lord Glenavy died in Dublin in 1931 and was buried in the city's Mount Jerome Cemetery
.
. William and Delia lived at Prospect House, Terenure
, County Dublin
. His paternal grandfather's family was from Glenavy
and Magheragall in County Antrim
.
His son Charles
married the Irish artist Beatrice Elvery
, whose family founded Elverys Sports
.
His grandson, under the name Patrick Campbell
, was a noted satirist
in the early years of television. He was a longtime captain of one of the panels in the BBC
gameshow Call My Bluff against British
comedy writer Frank Muir
. Another grandson, Michael Campbell, later the 4th and last Lord Glenavy was the author of the homosexual novel Lord Dismiss Us.
Privy Council of Ireland
The Privy Council of Ireland was an institution of the Kingdom of Ireland until 31 December 1800 and of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801-1922...
(4 April 1851 – 22 March 1931) was an Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
lawyer
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, politician in the Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
and later in the Oireachtas
Oireachtas of the Irish Free State
The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State was the legislature of the Irish Free State from 1922 until 1937. It was established by the 1922 Constitution of Ireland which was based from the Anglo-Irish Treaty...
of the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
. He was also Lord Chancellor of Ireland
Lord Chancellor of Ireland
The office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801 it was also the highest political office of the Irish Parliament.-13th century:...
.
Barrister and Judge
He was born in Dublin and educated at Kingstown (now Dún LaoghaireDún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire or Dún Laoire , sometimes anglicised as "Dunleary" , is a suburban seaside town in County Dublin, Ireland, about twelve kilometres south of Dublin city centre. It is the county town of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County and a major port of entry from Great Britain...
) and Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
, graduating BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1874. After being called to the Irish bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
in 1878, Campbell was made an Irish Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
in 1892 and six years later was elected Irish Unionist MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for the Dublin seat of St. Stephen's Green
Dublin St Stephen's Green (UK Parliament constituency)
St Stephen's Green, a division of Dublin, was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament to the British House of Commons 1885–1922....
. The following year he was called to the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
bar, and in 1903 was elected to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
as representative for Dublin University, also becoming Solicitor General for Ireland that same year. He was made the country's Attorney General
Attorney-General for Ireland
The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Irish and then United Kingdom government office. The holder was senior to the Solicitor-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish legal matters...
in 1905, being appointed an Irish Privy Counsellor
Privy Council of Ireland
The Privy Council of Ireland was an institution of the Kingdom of Ireland until 31 December 1800 and of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801-1922...
, and in 1916 became Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
thumb|200px|The Four CourtsThe headquarters of the Irish judicial system since 1804. The Court of King's Bench was one of the original four courts that sat there....
.
Considerable controversy surrounded the efforts to appoint him a judge: the initial proposal to appoint him Lord Chancellor of Ireland met with fierce resistance from Irish Nationalists, and great efforts were made to find another vacancy. It appears Baron Atkinson was asked to retire from the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
but refused. Pressure was then put on the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Richard Robert Cherry
Richard Robert Cherry
Richard Robert Cherry PC, QC was an Irish politician and judge. He was Attorney-General for Ireland, a judge of the Irish Court of Appeal and Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench in Ireland 1913-1916. He was appointed Attorney-General in 1905. He was elected Member of Parliament for Liverpool...
who was seriously ill , to step down. Cherry was initially reluctant but eventually agreed to retire in December 1916.. Maurice Healy in his memoirs remarks that Campbell was considered the finest Irish barrister of his time, with the possible exception of Edward Carson; as a judge he was somewhat fretful and impatient.
Campbell was created a baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
in 1917, and the following year was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland. During the Irish War of Independence, his position was somewhat ambiguous. As head of the judiciary, he was naturally expected by the British Government to do all in his power to uphold British rule; but as his later career showed he was by no means opposed to the existence of the Irish Free State or to playing a role in the new Government. This attitude naturally infuriated the British administration, some of whom regarded it as close to a betrayal. Mark Sturgis, the Dublin Castle official whose diaries give a vivid picture of the last years of British rule, condemned Campbell bitterly as a coward who "does nothing and apparently thinks of nothing but the best way to show Sinn Fein that he is neutral and passive."
On relinquishing office in 1921 he was ennobled as Baron Glenavy, of Milltown in the County
Counties of Ireland
The counties of Ireland are sub-national divisions used for the purposes of geographic demarcation and local government. Closely related to the county is the County corporate which covered towns or cities which were deemed to be important enough to be independent from their counties. A county...
of Dublin
County Dublin
County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...
.
First Chairman of the Irish Free State Senate
In 1922 he was nominated to the new SenateSeanad Éireann (Irish Free State)
Seanad Éireann was the upper house of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State from 1922–1936. It has also been known simply as the Senate, or as the First Seanad. The Senate was established under the 1922 Constitution of the Irish Free State but a number of constitutional amendments were...
(Irish: Seanad) by WT Cosgrave, and was elected by almost all of his fellow-senators as its first Chairman (in Irish: Cathaoirleach) on 12 December 1922. After the Irish Free State Seanad election, 1925
Irish Free State Seanad election, 1925
An election was held on 17 September 1925, for 19 of the 60 seats in Seanad Éireann, the Senate of the Irish Free State. The election was by single transferable vote, with the entire state forming a single 19-seat electoral district. There were 76 candidates on the ballot paper, whom voters ranked...
he was again elected as Chairman on 9 December 1925 by a vote of 40-12. He did not seek re-election when his term in the Senate expired in 1928.
Courts Act 1924
In January 1923 Lord Glenavy chaired the Judicial Committee appointed to advise the Executive Council of the Irish Free StateExecutive Council of the Irish Free State
The Executive Council was the cabinet and de facto executive branch of government of the 1922–1937 Irish Free State. Formally, the role of the Executive Council was to "aid and advise" the Governor-General who would exercise the executive authority on behalf of the King...
(cabinet) on the creation of a new courts system for the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
. His recommendations were implemented in the Courts of Justice Act, 1924 which largely created the Irish courts system as it currently exists. This replaced the ad-hoc but politically important Dáil Courts
Dáil Courts
During the Irish War of Independence, the Dáil Courts were the judicial branch of government of the short-lived Irish Republic. They were formally established by a decree of the First Dáil Éireann on 29 June 1920, replacing more limited Arbitration Courts that had been authorised a year earlier...
system.
Financial role
Despite his age, Glenavy also served as Secretary of the new Department of Industry and Commerce, notably pushing for schemes to increase employment from 1922, which failed, and promoting the Shannon hydroeletric scheme with his minister Patrick McGilliganPatrick McGilligan
Patrick McGilligan was an Irish lawyer and Cumann na nGaedheal/Fine Gael politician.McGilligan was born in Coleraine, County Londonderry, Ireland. He was educated at St...
. From 1925 Glenavy's influence decreased, being opposed to Patrick Hogan's
Patrick Hogan (Cumann na nGaedheal)
Patrick Hogan was a Irish politician.He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1921 general election as a Sinn Féin candidate for the Galway constituency...
policy of economic support for the larger farmers.
Lord Glenavy died in Dublin in 1931 and was buried in the city's Mount Jerome Cemetery
Mount Jerome Cemetery
Mount Jerome Cemetery is situated in Harold's Cross on the south side of Dublin, Ireland. Since its foundation in 1836, it has witnessed over 300,000 burials...
.
Family
His parents were William Mussen Campbell and Delia Poole Graham, the daughter of Henry Francis Graham of Newtown Abbey, County KildareCounty Kildare
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...
. William and Delia lived at Prospect House, Terenure
Terenure
Terenure is a mainly residential suburb of Dublin, Ireland, largely in the administrative area of Dublin City Council but with parts in the administrative county of South Dublin County .-Location and transport:...
, County Dublin
County Dublin
County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...
. His paternal grandfather's family was from Glenavy
Glenavy
Glenavy is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, 17 kilometres north west of Lisburn on the banks of the Glenavy River. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 1,069 people. In early documents it was known as Lenavy.-Demographics:...
and Magheragall in County Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
.
His son Charles
Charles Campbell, 2nd Baron Glenavy
Charles Henry Gordon Campbell, 2nd Baron Glenavy succeeded his father James to become 2nd Baron Glenavy in March 1931. He was in turn succeeded as the 3rd Baron by his son, the satirist and television personality Patrick Campbell....
married the Irish artist Beatrice Elvery
Beatrice Elvery
Beatrice Moss Elvery was an Irish stained-glass artist and painter.She was the second daughter of a Dublin businessman whose family had originated from Spain where they were silk merchants. Her family owned the original Elverys Sports store in Wicklow Street, Dublin...
, whose family founded Elverys Sports
Elverys Sports
Elverys Sports is a sports store chain in Ireland. Founded in 1847, it is Ireland's oldest sports store. Elverys sell a large range of sports clothes and equipment, with top brands and Elverys' own brand goods.-History:...
.
His grandson, under the name Patrick Campbell
Patrick Campbell, 3rd Baron Glenavy
Patrick Gordon Campbell, 3rd Baron Glenavy , known as Patrick Campbell, was an Irish journalist, humorist and television personality....
, was a noted satirist
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
in the early years of television. He was a longtime captain of one of the panels in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
gameshow Call My Bluff against British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comedy writer Frank Muir
Frank Muir
Frank Herbert Muir was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wrote BBC radio's Take It From Here for over 10 years, and then appeared on BBC radio...
. Another grandson, Michael Campbell, later the 4th and last Lord Glenavy was the author of the homosexual novel Lord Dismiss Us.
