Sir Jerome Alexander (c.1585–1670) was an English-born
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 ...
,
judge
A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...
and politician, who spent much of his career in
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
(after he had been professionally ruined in England), and became a substantial Irish landowner. He was a noted benefactor of
Trinity College Dublin
Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
. As a judge, he was so ruthless in securing guilty verdicts in criminal cases, and in imposing the
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
on the guilty party, that for many years after his death "to be Alexandered" was an Irish
synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...
for being hanged.
[Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921'' John Murray London 1926 Vol.1 p.279-86]
Early career
His precise date of birth is uncertain, but he was stated in 1637 to be several years older than Sir Maurice Eustace, who was born in the early 1590s. He was born at
Gressenhall,
Norfolk
Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
, the eldest son of Jerome Alexander senior of Thorpland, an employee of
Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel; the younger Jerome was also employed for a time as steward and
bailiff
A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary.
Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...
to the Earl, and remained on friendly terms with him in later life. Elrington Ball states that the Alexander family were of
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
origin.
[Ball pp. 348-349.] He was educated at
Aylsham
Aylsham ( or ) is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, nearly north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea ...
before attending
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...
, where he matriculated in 1609. He entered
Furnivall's Inn and then proceeded to
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...
in 1617, and was
called to the bar
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
in 1623.
[
]
Disgrace
His legal career in England was destroyed by a finding of professional misconduct
Professional ethics encompass the personal and corporate standards of behavior expected of professionals.
The word professionalism originally applied to vows of a religious order. By no later than the year 1675, the term had seen secular appli ...
against him: unusually, this did not arise from his services to a client. He was, unlike many barristers, very litigious on his own behalf, and, in 1626, the Star Chamber
The court of Star Chamber () was an English court that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster, from the late to the mid-17th century (), and was composed of privy counsellors and common-law judges, to supplement the judicial activities of the ...
found him guilty of tampering with evidence
Tampering with evidence, or evidence tampering, is an act in which a person alters, conceals, falsifies, or destroys evidence with the intent to interfere with an investigation (usually) by a law-enforcement, governmental, or regulatory authority. ...
in one of his own lawsuits
A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. T ...
; he was disbarred, fined and given a prison sentence. He moved to Ireland, where he entered the King's Inn and began to practice at the Irish Bar. It is unclear if the Benchers of the King's Inn were aware from the beginning of his criminal record; if not, they certainly learned of it within the next few years.
In 1633, he received a Royal pardon, on condition that he did not return to legal practice in England, although he was permitted to continue practice in Ireland. In 1644, he published his ''Breviate'', a 100-page pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...
in defence of his actions.[
]
Politics
He entered politics, and sat in the Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...
as MP for Lifford
Lifford (, historically anglicised as ''Liffer'') is the county town of County Donegal, Ireland, the administrative centre of the county and the seat of Donegal County Council, although the town of Letterkenny is often mistaken as holding this ...
in the Parliaments of 1634–35 and 1639–49. He was a friend and client of the wealthy and influential young nobleman James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde
Lieutenant general, Lieutenant-General James FitzThomas Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, Knight of the Garter, KG, Privy Council of England, PC (19 October 1610 – 21 July 1688), was an Anglo-Irish statesman and soldier, known as Earl of Ormond fr ...
, who granted him the use of Kilcooly Abbey in County Tipperary
County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...
for his dwelling. He was also granted lands near Kells, County Meath
Kells (; ) is a town in County Meath, Ireland. The town lies off the M3 motorway, from Navan and from Dublin. Along with other towns in County Meath, it is within the commuter belt for Dublin, and had a population of 6,608 as of the 2022 ce ...
.[
He was also befriended by other influential figures in Ireland, including ]James Ussher
James Ussher (or Usher; 4 January 1581 – 21 March 1656) was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific Irish scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his ...
, Archbishop of Armagh
The Archbishop of Armagh is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from the Episcopal see, see city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic success ...
: but his hope of further career advancement was destroyed by the arrival in Ireland of the new Lord Lieutenant
A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ov ...
, Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (13 April 1593 (New Style, N.S.)12 May 1641), was an English people, English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament of England, Parliament ...
, who despised Alexander and described him with contempt as "a scurvy puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...
". Strafford, who became almost all-powerful in Ireland, and who was well aware that Alexander had been professionally disgraced in England, vetoed his appointment as an extra judge of assize
The assizes (), or courts of assize, 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 ex ...
in 1637.
The ostensible reason was that only Sir Maurice Eustace, the King's Serjeant, was qualified to act as an extra judge, but Strafford's references to Eustace as a "man of integrity" can also be read as an attack on Alexander's character. He refused him leave to go to England, and when Alexander went anyway he was imprisoned in the Fleet Prison
Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the River Fleet. The prison was built in 1197, was rebuilt several times, and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846.
History
The prison was built in 1197 off what is now ...
, nor following his release was he able to return to Ireland until after Strafford's downfall. Given the enmity between the two men, it is not surprising that Alexander was active in the impeachment
Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements.
In Eur ...
and subsequent attainder
In English criminal law, attainder was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditary titles, but ...
of Strafford in 1641.[
]
Civil War
He returned briefly to Ireland after Strafford's death, but on the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641
The Irish Rebellion of 1641 was an uprising in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, initiated on 23 October 1641 by Catholic gentry and military officers. Their demands included an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and ...
went back to England. He was an active Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...
, and attempted to raise troops to subdue the rebels; at the same time, he was among those who urged the King, if necessary, to make an alliance with the Irish Confederacy.
For attempting to arrange this alliance he was briefly imprisoned by Parliament in 1643, and on his release, he went abroad. In 1650, he was in Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
in the service of Charles II, and was active in raising money for his cause. He was still in the city in March 1653 but returned to Ireland in 1655.[
He made his peace with the new regime, and acquired an estate in ]County Westmeath
County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...
; but in view of the rewards he received in 1660, (even if, as he complained, they were not overly generous), there is no reason to doubt that he remained a Royalist at heart.
Restoration
At the Restoration of Charles II, Alexander claimed to have played a major part in securing the support of the Irish Government for the new regime (but in fact, there was virtually no opposition in Ireland to the Restoration), and he complained at length about the great losses he had suffered during the Interregnum
An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of revolutionary breach of legal continuity, discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one m ...
. He was rewarded with a knighthood
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
and a place on the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland)
The Court of Common Pleas was one of the principal courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror image of the equivalent court in England. Common Pleas was one of the four courts of justice which gave the Four Courts in Dublin, which is sti ...
, no doubt largely through the influence of the Duke of Ormonde, who had the last word on appointments to the Irish Bench after the Restoration, and was always loyal (some thought overly so) to old friends like Alexander, although he is not thought to have rated him highly as a judge. Nonetheless, Alexander was plainly dissatisfied at being only second justice of the Court: he claimed that he should have been given the office of Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas
The chief justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, which was known in its early years as the Court of Common Bench, or simply as "the Bench", or "the Dublin bench". It was one of the ...
(Ormonde apparently vetoed the appointment), and quarrelled with Sir William Aston
Sir William John Aston, Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG (19 September 1916 – 21 May 1997) was an Australian politician. Born in Sydney, he attended state schools before becoming an accountant and company director. He served in World W ...
, justice of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland) over which of them had precedence. Rumour had it that he challenged Aston to a duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons.
During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...
on the issue, but that to Alexander's disgust Aston refused the challenge. He also acted as legal adviser to the future King James II on his Irish affairs.[
]
Judge
He was a stern enforcer of religious conformity: in his will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
he refers to the Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
as "the best form of Government in all this world". On the Ulster
Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...
assizes, to which he was regularly assigned, he became noted for severity against non-conforming Protestants: his ally John Bramhall, Bishop of Derry
The Bishop of Derry is an episcopal title which takes its name after the monastic settlement originally founded at Daire Calgach and later known as Daire Colm Cille, Anglicised as Derry. In the Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in ...
wrote that if the non-conformists "could not love him, they began to fear him".
Religious beliefs and attitudes
It has been suggested that he had an equally harsh attitude towards Roman Catholics
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
, but was unable to show similar severity towards them, due to the relaxed attitude of the Duke of Ormonde, now Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who recognised that as Catholics comprised the large majority of the country's population, a generous if unofficial measure of toleration of that faith was inevitable.
However, Alexander's attitude to Roman Catholics was perhaps more complex than this: he was, for example, on friendly terms with the well-known Catholic barrister Patrick D'Arcy and reportedly offered to act as D'Arcy's second in the abortive duel with Sir William Aston. Through marriage Alexander himself had Catholic connections. His wife, Elizabeth Havers, belonged to a staunchly Roman Catholic family. Her ancestor, Mr Havers of Thelton (or Thelveton) Hall, built a chapel
A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...
on the grounds of Thelton Hall which became the hub of the Catholic community in and around Diss, Norfolk, before, during and after the period of the Penal Laws. Elizabeth's elder brother William Havers, who inherited Thelton in 1651, and who died in 1670, was a known recusant
Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation.
The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...
. This suggests that Alexander, like many Protestants of his time, was prepared to turn a blind eye to recusancy when it was practised by his own friends or relatives, and even to marry into an openly Catholic family himself.
"Alexandered"
The Duke of Ormonde, who was a merciful man by the standards of the time, is known to have disapproved of Alexander's notorious severity in criminal trials, and this is said to have ended their friendship. This attitude was in notable contrast to the conduct of most other Irish judges of the time who were, like Ormonde, inclined to clemency. Where Ormonde would always reprieve a man where he could, Alexander, it was said, would hang as many men as ''he'' could: on one occasion he sentenced fourteen men to death at a single assize, though it is not clear how many of them were actually hanged. His reputation for severity became such that for many years after his death "to be Alexandered" was widely used in Ireland as a synonym for "to be hanged".
Death and will
He died in the summer of 1670 and was buried in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin
Saint Patrick's Cathedral () in Dublin, Ireland is the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Christ Church Cathedral, also a Church of Ireland cathedral in Dublin, is designated as the local cathedral of ...
. Much of his property, including Kilcooley Abbey, passed to his daughter Elizabeth, on condition that she did not marry an Irishman (she did not); he also left £100 to each of the three children of his eldest surviving daughter, Jeromina Langham. His law books and other texts were left to Trinity College Dublin
Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
, with enough money to pay for a librarian as the King's Inns, of which he was a senior member, had no facilities for storing books at the time, and had to wait till 1788 for the foundation of its own library
A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...
. His friend, Sir Edward Massey
Sir Edward Massey, also spelt Massie, () was an English soldier and politician from Cheshire, who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1646 and 1674. He fought for Parliament in the First English Civil War, when he became famou ...
, received many of his personal valuables and curiosities, such as "my cane with the silver head of a rhinoceros
A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...
".
As he had done in his ''Breviate'', he dwelt in his will on the machinations of his enemies, and rejoiced that God's grace had enabled him to triumph over them. More humanely, he noted that God in return required him to help the poor and needy.
Ball suggests that he would have been most unhappy had he known that his place on the Bench would be taken by Oliver Jones, who was noted for his impartiality towards Roman Catholics, and was widely suspected of being a secret Catholic himself. However, it seems that Alexander, whose wife was a member of a notable Roman Catholic family, may have been more tolerant of the Catholic faith in private than his severe public stance against would suggest.
Family
Sir Jerome married Elizabeth Havers, a staunch Catholic and the daughter of John Havers of Shelfhanger, Norfolk, a noted recusant (who, like Alexander's father, was an employee of the Earl of Arundel), and his wife, Elizabeth Tindal, of Banham. Elizabeth, Lady Alexander, died in 1667. They had sixteen children but only three daughters survived their father:
*Jeromina, who married Humphrey Langham, and had at least five children;
*Rose, who married firstly Roger Mallock of Cockington, Devon
Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
, and secondly Thomas Gorges, Deputy Governor of Maine
Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
, and died in April 1671, leaving a son and a daughter;
*Elizabeth, who heeded her father's warning that he would disinherit her if she married an Irishman: her (English) husband was Sir William Barker (died c.1719), first of the Barker baronets
There have been five baronetcies created for persons with the surname Barker, three in the Baronetage of England, one in the Baronetage of Great Britain and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. All five creations are extinct.
The Barke ...
of Bocking Hall, Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
. She died in 1702, leaving issue, including Sir William Barker, 2nd Baronet.
Personality
Elrington Ball describes Alexander as a "strongly complex character". He was a bitter enemy but a good friend; he was merciless towards criminals, but charitable towards the poor. Throughout his life he was inclined to blame his misfortunes on the machinations of his enemies, even attributing to them responsibility for those disasters which to any detached observer would seem to be entirely his own fault. As a young 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 ...
he was found guilty of misconduct, but as a judge prided himself on not taking bribes
Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official duty, to act contrar ...
. He publicly called for the persecution of Roman Catholics, but married into an openly Catholic family. Burke called him a man of strong passions, but also a man of great integrity and public spirit.[Burke ''Anecdotes'' p.64]
Published works
*''A Breviate of a sentence given against Jerome Alexander, utter-barrister of Lincoln's Inn, in the Court of Star Chamber... with exceptions taken to the said sentence to unfold the iniquity thereof.'' Published in London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in 1644.[Ball p.266]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Jerome
1670 deaths
People from Gressenhall
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Donegal constituencies
Irish MPs 1639–1649
Year of birth uncertain
Members of Lincoln's Inn
Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Justices of the Irish Common Pleas
Knights Bachelor
Lawyers awarded knighthoods