The Justice of Chester was the chief judicial authority for the

county palatine In England, Wales and Ireland a county palatine or palatinate was an area ruled by a hereditary nobleman enjoying special authority and autonomy from the rest of a kingdom. The name derives from the Latin adjective ''palātīnus'', "relating t ...

of Chester, from the establishment of the county until the abolition of the Great Sessions in Wales and the palatine judicature in 1830. Within the County Palatine (which encompassed

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, the City of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, and

Flintshire Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...

), the Justice enjoyed the jurisdiction possessed in England by the Court of Common Pleas and the King's Bench. While the legal reorganisation of Wales and the

Marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a state's "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diffe ...

under

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

diminished the authority of the Earl of Chester (i.e., the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

) in the County Palatine, the authority of the Justice was, in fact, increased. In 1542, the Great Sessions were established in Wales, that country being divided into four circuits of three shires each.

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

, and

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire ( ) was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was named after its county town, Montgomery, Powys, Montgomery, which in turn was named after ...

were made part of the Chester circuit, over which the Justice presided. Under

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

, a second justice was added to each of the Welsh circuits, after which the senior and junior justice are generally referred to as the Chief Justice of Chester and the Second or Puisne Justice of Chester. Because the Cheshire justices were free to practise as

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

s in the English courts or sit in

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, the post of Chief Justice was often awarded as a form of

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

by the Government to aspiring lawyers. The offices of Chief and

Puisne Justice Puisne judge and puisne justice () are terms for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. The term comes from a combination of the two French words, (since, later) and (born) which have been combined as or ; meaning ...

were abolished in 1830, as part of reforms that also brought Wales under the jurisdiction of the courts at Westminster.

Justices of Chester

*Philip Orreby 1202–29 *John de Grey c.1246 *William de Vernon 1229–?1236 *Richard de Vernon *Earl of Lincoln * John Lestrange 1241-1245 *John Grey 1245-1249 *Alan la Zouche 1250–1255 *Gilbert Talbot 1255– *Roger de Montalt/Mohaut (aka Mold) 1258–1259 *Fulk de Orreby 1259–1261 *Thomas de Orreby 1261–1262 *William la Zouche 1262– *Luke de Thaney c.1265 *James de Audley c.1265 *

Reginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Wilton Reginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey of Wilton (c. 1240 – 5 April 1308) was an English nobleman after whom one of the four Inns of Court is named. He was son of Sir John de Grey and grandson of Henry de Grey. The property upon which Gray's Inn si ...

c.1270 *Robert de Ufford c.1276– *Guncelin Badelesmere 1276-79 *

1281-1290 *

c.1297 * Richard Massy c.1300 * Robert Holland, 1st Baron Holand c.1307–c.1320 *Pain de Tibetot c.1311 * Richard Daumary c.1325 * William de Clinton, 1st Earl of Huntingdon c.1330 *Hugh de Freyne c.1335 * Henry Ferrers, 2nd Baron Ferrers of Groby 1336–1342 *Thomas de Felton 1369–1381 * Sir John Holland 1381–1385 * Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York 1385–1387 * Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland 1387–1388 * Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester 1388–1391 * John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter 1391–1394 *

Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the ...

1394–1398 * William le Scrope, 1st Earl of Wiltshire 1398–1399 * Henry Percy 1400–1403 * Gilbert Talbot, 5th Baron Talbot 1403–1419 * Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter 1420–1427 * Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester 1427–1440 *

William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk (16 October 1396 – 2 May 1450), nicknamed Jackanapes, was an English magnate, statesman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He became a favourite of Henry VI of England, and consequent ...

1440–1450 (jointly from 1443, murdered 1450)) * Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley 1443–1459 (jointly to 1450) * John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury 1459–1460 (KIA 1460) *''in commission'' 1460 *John Needham 1461 * Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby 1461–1471 * Richard, Duke of Gloucester 1471 * Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby 1471–1504 * Sir Thomas Englefield 1505–1514? * Sir Nicholas Hare 1540–1545 * Sir Robert Townshend 1545–1557 * Sir John Pollard 1557 *George Wood Esq.1558 of Hall atte Wood, Balterley, Staffordshire * John Throckmorton 1558–1578 * Sir George Bromley 1564–1589 *Richard Shuttleworth 1589–1592 * Sir Richard Lewknor 1592–1616

Chief and Puisne Justices of Chester

''Offices abolished 1830''

References

Bibliography

* * {{Judiciary of England and Wales, state=collapsed Chester Judiciary of England and Wales Lists of British people