Portrait of Lord Chief Justice Nicholas Hyde

Sir Nicholas Hyde (c. 1572 – 25 August 1631) was

Lord Chief Justice The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English a ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Origins

Hyde was born at Wardour, in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, a son of Lawrence Hyde (d. 1590) of

West Hatch West Hatch is a hamlet and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south east of Taunton. It has a population of 306. History The name of the hamlet indicates it lies to the west of Hatch Beauchamp. The parish of West Hatch was part of t ...

, Wiltshire, MP for Heytesbury in 1584, by his second wife Anne Sibell, daughter of Nicholas Sibell of Farningham, Kent, and widow of Matthew Colthurst of Claverton, Somerset. He was the brother of

Henry Hyde Henry John Hyde (April 18, 1924 – November 29, 2007) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 2007, representing the 6th District of Illinois, an area of Chicago' ...

(c.1563–1634), MP, and Lawrence Hyde (1562–1641), attorney-general to

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I. She was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and List of English royal consorts, Queen of Engl ...

, wife of King James I.

Education

Hyde joined

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

in May of 1590 and following the examples of his two older brothers, 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 entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

on 14 July 1591, although he was not admitted to a chamber there for another three years. He 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 1598.

Career

Hyde entered the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in 1597 as one of the two members for

Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest recor ...

. He represented

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...

in 1601,

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

in 1604,

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

in 1614 and the county seat of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

in 1625. He soon became prominent as an opponent of the king's court, although he does not appear to have distinguished himself in the

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

. Before long, however, he deserted the popular party and in 1626 was employed by

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham ( ; 20 August 1592 – 23 August 1628), was an English courtier, statesman, and patron of the arts. He was a favourite and self-described "lover" of King James VI and I. Buckingham remained at the heigh ...

, to defend him against

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 ...

by the House of Commons. In the following year be was appointed a Serjeant-at-law and

Chief Justice of the King's Bench The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English a ...

, in which office it fell to him to give judgment in the celebrated case of Sir Thomas Darnell and others who had been committed to prison on warrants signed by members of the Privy Council, and which contained no statement of the nature of the charge against the prisoners. In answer to the writ of ''

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...

'' the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

relied on the

Royal Prerogative The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, Privilege (law), privilege, and immunity recognised in common law (and sometimes in Civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy) as belonging to the monarch, so ...

, supported by a precedent of

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...

's reign. Hyde, with three other judges concurring, decided in favor of the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

but without going so far as to declare the right of the Crown to refuse indefinitely to show cause against the discharge of the prisoners. He was knighted the same year (1627). In 1629, Hyde was one of the judges who condemned

Eliot Elliot (also spelled Eliot, Elliotte, Elliott, Eliott and Elyot) is a personal name which can serve as either a surname or a given name. Although the given name has historically been given to males, females have increasingly been given the name ...

, Holles and Valentine for

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

in parliament to resist the King's orders, refusing to admit their plea of

parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties ...

that they could not be called upon to answer out of parliament for acts done in parliament.

Family

He married Mary Swayne, daughter of Arthur Swayne of Sarson in Amport,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. They had one daughter and three surviving sons together. One of their sons,

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

(c.1610–1682) sat in Parliament for

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

Death

On 25 August 1631 he died of

gaol fever Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

at his home in Hinton Daubney, Catherington, Hampshire. He is buried with his wife in a tomb inside All Saints Church

Catherington Catherington is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Horndean, in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 1 mile (1.8 km) northwest of Horndean. The village is also close to Cowplain and Clanfield, Hampsh ...

in Hampshire. File:Tomb of Sir Nicholas Hyde - All Saints church, Catherington (detail - 1) - geograph.org.uk - 2624042.jpg, Tomb of Sir Nicholas Hyde and his wife File:Tomb of Sir Nicholas Hyde - All Saints church, Catherington (detail - 2) - geograph.org.uk - 2624060.jpg, Detail of tomb

References

*
HYDE, Nicholas (c.1572–1631) of the Middle Temple, London and Marlborough, Wilts
– History of Parliament Online {{DEFAULTSORT:Hyde, Nicholas Lord chief justices of England and Wales Serjeants-at-law (England) Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Year of birth uncertain English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1601 English MPs 1604–1611 English MPs 1614 English MPs 1625 16th-century English judges 16th-century English lawyers 1570s births 1631 deaths