William Yonge or Young (died c.1437) was an Irish cleric and judge, who held office as Lord Chancellor of Ireland.Ball p.175 He was appointed

Archdeacon of Meath The archdeacon of Meath is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the united Diocese of Meath and Kildare. The archdeaconry can trace its history from Helias, the first known incumbent, who held the office in the twelfth century to the last disc ...

and

parson A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term ...

of the parish of St. Columba's, Kells, which was attached to the Archdeaconry, in 1412.''Patent Roll 13 Henry IV'' In 1415 the Crown

pardoned A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

him for any illegal intrusions he had made into the lands attached to St. Columba's, and granted to him and to all his successors as Archdeacon the right to hold the lands in question quietly and without disturbance. In the same year John Young, presumably a close relative of William, was granted certain lands in

County Meath "Stronger Together" , anthem = " Beautiful Meath" (unofficial) , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Meath.svg , area_total_km2 = 2342 , area_rank = 14th , seat_type ...

formerly held by him. William was also a relative (possibly a brother) of James Yong (died c.1425), the political writer and staunch supporter of

James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormonde James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond (23 May 1393 – 23 August 1452) was the son of James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond. He was called 'The White Earl', and was esteemed for his learning. He was the patron of the Irish literary work, 'The Book of the ...

.Beresford, David "Yong, James" ''Cambridge Dictionary of Irish Biography'' Whether William was related to Thomas Yong, Prior of Mullingar in the 1430s, is unclear. He was Lord Chancellor of Ireland sometime between 1418 and 1422; as so often in this period there is confusion over the precise dates on which he held office. Smyth, writing in 1839, had seen his

Patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling disclo ...

of Appointment as Lord Chancellor dated 19 October 1422 (the original was presumably destroyed in the Public Records Office fire of 1922).Smyth ''Chronicle of the Law Officers'' His tenure as Lord Chancellor seems to have been brief. However he had enough knowledge of the law to be subsequently appointed one of the

justices A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

and Keepers of the Peace for County Meath in 1426.''Patent Roll 5 Henry VI '' In 1430 the Crown granted him custody of the manor of Portlester in Meath during the minority of the heir, Richard, Duke of York.''Patent Roll 9 Henry VI''In 1435 he objected to the appointment of Robert Dyke, Archdeacon of Dublin, as rector of St. Patrick's Church, Trim, County Meath (now Trim Cathedral). Yonge had his own candidate, John Ardagh, one of his

chaplains A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligence ...

, but the Crown preferred Dyke, who had an exceptionally long and distinguished career as a public servant, culminating in his appointment as

Lord Treasurer of Ireland The Lord High Treasurer of Ireland was the head of the Exchequer of Ireland, chief financial officer of the Kingdom of Ireland. The designation ''High'' was added in 1695. After the Acts of Union 1800 created the United Kingdom of Great Britain a ...

in 1444.Potterton p.12 Yonge's date of death is generally agreed to have been 1437.

Sources

*Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' London John Murray 1926 *Potterton, Michael ''The Archaeology and History of Medieval Trim, County Meath'' Ph.D Thesis National University of Ireland Maynooth 2003 *Smyth, Constantine Joseph ''Chronicle of the Law Officers of Ireland'' London Butterworths 1839

Notes

{{reflist Lord chancellors of Ireland