James Whiteside (12 August 1804 – 25 November 1876) was an Irish politician and judge.

Background and education

Whiteside was born at

Delgany Delgany () is a small rural village in County Wicklow in Ireland, located on the R762 road which connects to the N11 road at the Glen of the Downs. It is about south of Dublin city centre. While it is an older more rural settlement, it is cl ...

, County Wicklow, the son of William Whiteside, a clergyman of the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...

. His father was transferred to the parish of

Rathmines Rathmines () is an affluent inner suburb on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It lies three kilometres south of the city centre. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to t ...

, but died when his son was only two, leaving his widow in straitened circumstances. She is said to have schooled her son personally in his early years. He was educated at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

, and was called to the Irish bar in 1830.

Legal and judicial career

Whiteside very rapidly acquired a large practice, and after taking silk in 1842 he gained a reputation for

forensic Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal p ...

oratory surpassing that of all his contemporaries, and rivalling that of his most famous predecessors of the 18th century. He defended

Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...

in the state trial of 1843, and

William Smith O'Brien William Smith O'Brien ( ga, Liam Mac Gabhann Ó Briain; 17 October 1803 – 18 June 1864) was an Irish nationalist Member of Parliament (MP) and a leader of the Young Ireland movement. He also encouraged the use of the Irish language. He ...

in 1848; and his greatest triumph was in the Yelverton case in 1861. He was elected member for

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...

in 1851, and in 1859 became member for

Dublin University The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...

. In

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, he was no less successful as a speaker than at the bar, and in 1852 was appointed

Solicitor-General for Ireland The Solicitor-General for Ireland was the holder of an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office. The holder was a deputy to the Attorney-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. On ra ...

in the first administration of the

Earl of Derby Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...

, becoming

Attorney-General for Ireland The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. With the ...

in 1858, and again in 1866. In the same year he was appointed

Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...

, having previously turned down offers of a junior judgeship. His reputation as a judge did not equal his reputation as an advocate, although he retained his great popularity. In 1848, after a visit to Italy, he published ''Italy in the Nineteenth Century''; and in 1870 he collected and republished some papers contributed many years before to periodicals, under the title ''Early Sketches of Eminent Persons''.

Personal life

In July 1833 Whiteside married Rosetta, daughter of William and Rosetta Napier, and sister of Sir Joseph Napier, Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He died on 25 November 1876 in Brighton, Sussex. He was universally well-liked, being noted for charm, erudition and a sense of humour. Barristers who practised before him said that his charm, courtesy and constant flow of jokes made appearing in his Court a delightful experience. His brother-in-law Napier, from whom he was estranged in later years, was overcome with grief at his death, and collapsed at the funeral. Like his brother-in-law Joseph Napier, he was devoted to the

and strongly opposed its disestablishment.

Arms

References

* Andrew Shields, Irish Conservative Party, 1852–68 (Irish Academic Press, 2007) * * * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whiteside, James 1804 births 19th-century Irish lawyers Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Fermanagh constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Privy Council of Ireland 1876 deaths Solicitors-General for Ireland Attorneys-General for Ireland UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Dublin University Irish Conservative Party MPs Lords chief justice of Ireland