Robert de Scardeburgh, or de Scardeburg (died after 1351) was an English judge who also held high judicial office in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, from which he took his surname. He is thought to have been a nephew of Robert de Scarborough, who was

Dean of York Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles ...

1279-90. In 1331 he was commissioner of

assize The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...

for

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

, Guernsey, Alderney and

Sark Sark (french: link=no, Sercq, ; Sercquiais: or ) is a part of the Channel Islands in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, France. It is a royal fief, which forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of ...

, and in the same year he became Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' John Murray London 1926 Vol.1 p.72 In 1332 he received an unspecified reward for his good services in Ireland and a grant of lands at

Malahide Malahide ( ; ) is an affluent coastal settlement in Fingal, County Dublin, Ireland, situated north of Dublin city. It has a village centre surrounded by suburban housing estates, with a population of over 17,000. Malahide Castle dates from th ...

, north of Dublin city. In 1334 he returned to England to become a judge of the

Court of King's Bench The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions. * Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court court of common ...

. He was transferred to the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

and then back to King's Bench. He also served on a commission of array in Yorkshire in 1339. In the late 1330s, the poor quality of many of the Irish judges was giving great concern to the English Crown. The Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Thomas Charlton, Bishop of Hereford, was instructed to remove those Irish judges who were considered to be unfit for office and replace them with judges of English birth. Scardeburgh was re-selected for his old position of Chief Justice of Common Pleas in Ireland to replace

Simon Fitz-Richard Sir Simon Fitz-Richard (died c.1348 ) was an Irish landowner, barrister and judge. He became Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, and fought a long and successful campaign against the efforts of his enemies to remove him from office, despite t ...

, who had a bad reputation for bribery and corruption, but Fitz-Richard fought a successful campaign to retain his place and Scardeburgh did not come over to Ireland. In 1344, Fitz-Richard having stepped down, Scardeburgh finally returned to Ireland as

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge ...

, with custody of the seals of both the courts he presided over, and the fees attached to them.Otway-Ruthven, A.J. ''History of Medieval Ireland'' Reprinted New York Barnes and Noble 1993 p.157 He was still alive seven years later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scardeburgh, Robert de 14th-century English judges People from Scarborough, North Yorkshire Lords chief justice of Ireland Chief Justices of the Irish Common Pleas Lawyers from Yorkshire