Sir Vicary Gibbs, KC (27 October 1751 – 1820) was an 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...

 judge and politician. He was known for his caustic wit, which won for him the sobriquet of "Vinegar Gibbs".

Early life and education

Gibbs was the first surviving son of George Abraham Gibbs, a surgeon and apothecary of Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

, and his wife Anne Vicary. He attended Eton

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

 from 1764 until 1771 and obtained a 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...

 at King's College, Cambridge

King's College, Cambridge

King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....

. During this period, he was a devoted classical scholar, a King's Scholar

King's Scholar

A King's Scholar is a foundation scholar of one of certain public schools...

 at Eton and a Craven scholar at King's College.

He was a fellow

Fellow

A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...

 of King's from 1774 until 1784, when he married Frances Cerjat Mackenzie, the sister of Lord Seaforth

Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth

Francis Humberston Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth FRS was a British politician and general and Chief of the Highland Clan Mackenzie....

. This marked the end of his classical career, although he had as early as 1769 shown himself committed to the law by enrollment at Lincoln's Inn

Lincoln's Inn

The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...

; nonetheless, he remained fond of classical literature and English drama throughout his life.

Legal career

Gibbs's unpleasant voice, disagreeable temper, and jejune pedigree presented formidable handicaps at the start of his career. He initially employed himself as a special pleader, in which capacity he developed a good professional reputation, and was called to the bar in 1783. He proved successful, if acidulous, as an advocate, and powerful in marshaling evidence. He unsuccessfully defended William Winterbotham

William Winterbotham

Rev. William Winterbotham was a British Baptist minister and a political prisoner. He wrote some books introducing general information about China and the United States.-Biography:...

 for sedition

Sedition

In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...

 in 1793, but so impressed John Horne Tooke

John Horne Tooke

John Horne Tooke was an English politician and philologist.-Early life and work:He was born in Newport Street, Long Acre, Westminster, the third son of John Horne, a poulterer in Newport Market. As a youth at Eton College, Tooke described his father to friends as a "turkey merchant"...

 that he was retained as junior counsel to Erskine

Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine

Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine KT PC KC was a British lawyer and politician. He served as Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom between 1806 and 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents.-Background and childhood:...

 in the successful defense of Tooke and Hardy

Thomas Hardy (political reformer)

Thomas Hardy was an early Radical, the founder and also the first Secretary of the London Corresponding Society....

 in autumn 1794. Gibbs' abilities were already being courted by the government, leading to his appointment as recorder

Recorder (judge)

A Recorder is a judicial officer in England and Wales. It now refers to two quite different appointments. The ancient Recorderships of England and Wales now form part of a system of Honorary Recorderships which are filled by the most senior full-time circuit judges...

 of Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 that February. His efforts during the trial of Tooke and Hardy impressed Sir John Scott

John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon

John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon PC KC FRS FSA was a British barrister and politician. He served as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain between 1801 and 1806 and again between 1807 and 1827.- Background and education :...

, the prosecutor, and Gibbs took silk in December.

Politics

The Pitt

William Pitt the Younger

William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...

 ministry continued to court him, and he held legal office for the Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...

 from 1795 until 1805. Furthermore, in 1804, he obtained the post of Chief Justice of Chester. As part of the Welsh circuit, this post did not debar him from being returned as Member of Parliament

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 Totnes

Totnes (UK Parliament constituency)

Totnes is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament , using the first-past-the-post voting system....

 in December. He was made Solicitor General

Solicitor General for England and Wales

Her Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, often known as the Solicitor General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to advise the Crown and Cabinet on the law...

 in February 1805 and knighted; however, he went out of office after Pitt's death in January 1806.

Hostile to Grenville, he lost his seat at Totnes, but the formation of the second Portland

William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland

William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, KG, PC was a British Whig and Tory statesman, Chancellor of the University of Oxford and Prime Minister. He was known before 1762 by the courtesy title Marquess of Titchfield. He held a title of every degree of British nobility—Duke,...

 government in 1807 saw him made Attorney General

Attorney General for England and Wales

Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...

 and returned to Parliament for Great Bedwyn

Great Bedwyn (UK Parliament constituency)

Great Bedwyn was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act.-1295–1640:-1640–1832:Notes...

. In the 1807 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1807

The election to the 4th Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1807 was the third general election to be held after the Union of Great Britain and Ireland....

, he defeated Lord Henry Petty

Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne

Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne KG, PC, FRS , known as Lord Henry Petty from 1784 to 1809 and then as The Earl of Kerry to 1818, was a British statesman...

 to become member for Cambridge University

Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency)

Cambridge University was a university constituency electing two members to the British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950.-Boundaries, Electorate and Election Systems:...

. Under the Portland and Perceval

Spencer Perceval

Spencer Perceval, KC was a British statesman and First Lord of the Treasury, making him de facto Prime Minister. He is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated...

 ministries, he was noted for his zealous activities against publishers of seditious libel

Seditious libel

Seditious libel was a criminal offence under English common law. Sedition is the offence of speaking seditious words with seditious intent: if the statement is in writing or some other permanent form it is seditious libel...

s. In 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...

, his most significant activity occurred in 1809, during the inquiry into military corruption and the activities of Mary Anne Clarke

Mary Anne Clarke

Mary Anne Clarke was the mistress of Frederick, Duke of York. Their relationship began in 1803, while he was Commander-in-Chief of the army. Later in 1809, she wrote her memoirs which were published...

, mistress of the Duke of York

Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany

The Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany was a member of the Hanoverian and British Royal Family, the second eldest child, and second son, of King George III...

. However, her adroit response to his examination delighted the press, many members of whom had suffered from Gibbs's activities. His caustic tongue did not make him a favorite among the House, and his principles were quite conservative.

Judge

In May 1812, he resigned as Attorney General, accepting an appointment as a puisne judge in the Court of Common Pleas

Court of Common Pleas (England)

The Court of Common Pleas, or Common Bench, was a common law court in the English legal system that covered "common pleas"; actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, the Common...

. This may have been the result of poor health; Henry Brougham

Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux

Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux was a British statesman who became Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.As a young lawyer in Scotland Brougham helped to found the Edinburgh Review in 1802 and contributed many articles to it. He went to London, and was called to the English bar in...

 attributed it to personal anxiety after the assassination of Perceval. In any case, Gibbs accepted a great reduction in income to do so, although his appointment as Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer

Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer

The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" of the English Exchequer of pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who presided in the equity court and answered the bar i.e...

 in November 1813 somewhat eased this. He was, at the same time, sworn of the Privy Council

Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

. In February 1814, another promotion made him Chief Justice of the Common Pleas

Chief Justice of the Common Pleas

The Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench or Common Place, was the second highest common law court in the English legal system until 1880, when it was dissolved. As such, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas was one of the highest judicial officials in England, behind only the Lord...

. His tenure there was characterized by a thorough mastery of law, although opinions vary as to whether his temper had by this time been checked. Probably the most celebrated case he heard was the libel action brought by Lady Frances Webster and her husband over the allegation ( almost certainly untrue) that she had an affair with the Duke of Wellington

Duke of Wellington

The Dukedom of Wellington, derived from Wellington in Somerset, is a hereditary title in the senior rank of the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first holder of the title was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington , the noted Irish-born career British Army officer and statesman, and...

. A further decline in health led to his resignation in November 1818, and he died on 8 February 1820 at his house in London.

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