Sir James Andrews, 1st Baronet
Encyclopedia
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...
, PC (NI)
Privy Council of Northern Ireland
The Privy Council of Northern Ireland was a formal body of advisors to the sovereign and was a vehicle for the monarch's prerogative powers in Northern Ireland. It was modelled on the Privy Council of the United Kingdom....
(3 January 1877 – 18 February 1951) was the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland is the head of the judiciary in Northern Ireland, presiding over the Courts of Northern Ireland. The present Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland is Sir Declan Morgan...
and brother of Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was the de facto head of the Government of Northern Ireland. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920. However the Lord Lieutenant, as with Governors-General in other Westminster Systems such as in Canada, chose to appoint someone...
John Miller Andrews and Thomas Andrews, builder of the Titanic.
Early life
Andrews was born in ComberComber
Comber is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies 5 miles south of Newtownards, at the northern end of Strangford Lough. It had a population of 8,933 people in the 2001 Census. Comber is part of the Borough of Ards...
, Co. Down,, the third son of Thomas Andrews, flax spinner, of Ardara, Comber, and his wife, Eliza, daughter of James Alexander Pirrie and sister of William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie
William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie
William James Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie, KP, PC was a leading Irish shipbuilder and businessman. He was chairman of Harland and Wolff, shipbuilders, between 1895 and 1924, and also served as Lord Mayor of Belfast between 1896 and 1898...
.
Sir James was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution
Royal Belfast Academical Institution
The Royal Belfast Academical Institution, is a Grammar School in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Locally referred to as Inst, the school educates boys from ages 11–18...
, and then at Stephen's Green School, Dublin. At 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...
, he had a distinguished career: he became a senior exhibitioner (1897) and a prizeman in civil and international law (1898), and graduated in 1899 with honours in ethics and logic. He was also gold medallist and auditor of the college historical society. A sports fan Andrews had passions for shooting, golf, cricket and sailing (mainly on Strangford Lough
Strangford Lough
Strangford Lough, sometimes Strangford Loch, is a large sea loch or inlet in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the Irish Sea by the Ards Peninsula. The name Strangford is derived ; describing the fast-flowing narrows at its mouth...
).
In 1922 he married Jane Lawson Ormrod (d. 1964), daughter of Joseph Ormrod, of Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, and widow of Captain Cyril Gerald Haselden RE. from her first marriage Jane had three children, Alexander Gerrard Haselden, Mick Haselden and Joyce Haselden.
Career
Although from a family of industrialists Andrews chose to read law (his uncle had been a barrister and Judge). In 1900 he was called to the Irish Bar at King's InnsKing's Inns
The Honorable Society of King's Inns , is the institution which controls the entry of barristers-at-law into the justice system of Ireland...
.
He built up a lucrative practice and soon established himself as an advocate. In 1918 Andrews took silk (becoming a King's Counsel (KC)
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 1920 he was elected a bencher of King's Inns; and in 1921 he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal in the new Supreme Court of Northern Ireland, established under the Government of Ireland Act, 1920.
In 1924 he became a member of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland
Privy Council of Northern Ireland
The Privy Council of Northern Ireland was a formal body of advisors to the sovereign and was a vehicle for the monarch's prerogative powers in Northern Ireland. It was modelled on the Privy Council of the United Kingdom....
and in 1926 a bencher at the Inn of Court of Northern Ireland. He sat on the senate of the Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University Belfast is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB...
and on many of its committees from 1924 and he was a pro-chancellor from 1929.
In 1937 he succeeded Sir William Moore, 1st Baronet
Sir William Moore, 1st Baronet
Sir William Moore, 1st Baronet PC was a Unionist member of the British House of Commons from Ireland and a Judge of Ireland, then of Northern Ireland. He was created a Baronet in 1932.Sir William was the eldest son of Queen Victoria's honourary physician in Ireland, Dr...
as lord chief justice, an office which he held until his death. In 1938 an honorary LLD from his old university and, in 1942, he 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...
.
He died in Comber in 1951, his estate valued at £40,142 1s. 3d. in England; Northern Irish probate sealed in England, 30 June 1951.
The School of Law at Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University Belfast is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB...
named its building on University Square Sir James Andrews House in his honour.