Sir Richard Newton KS (died 13 December 1448) was a British justice. He was educated as a lawyer at

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 ...

, and created a Serjeant-at-law in 1425, followed by a promotion to King's Serjeant in 1430. By December of the same year he had also become

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

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 ...

, where he had close ties; he also had links with

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, where by September 1426 he had been appointed as an

Itinerant justice An eyre or iter, sometimes called a general eyre, was the name of a circuit travelled by an itinerant royal justice in medieval England (a justice in eyre), or the circuit court over which they presided, or the right of the monarch (or justices a ...

Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester Humphrey of Lancaster, Duke of Gloucester (3 October 1390 – 23 February 1447) was an English prince, soldier and literary patron. He was (as he styled himself) "son, brother and uncle of kings", being the fourth and youngest son of Henry IV ...

at his court in

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

. In 1438 he led a commission of

Oyer and terminer In English law, oyer and terminer (; a partial translation of the Anglo-French , which literally means 'to hear and to determine') was one of the commissions by which a judge of assize sat. Apart from its Law French name, the commission was also ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

and

Cardiganshire Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a county in the west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Ab ...

, and in November of that year he was appointed a justice of 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 ...

. Less than a year later on 17 September 1439 he was made

Chief Justice of the Common Pleas The chief justice of the common pleas was the head of the Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench, which was the second-highest common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body ...

, being granted £93 6s. 8d. as well as the usual fee. By July 1440 he had been knighted, and in 1441 he acted as an arbitrator to decide the dispute over the inheritance of Thomas Berkeley. He died on 13 December 1448 and was buried in St Mary's,

Yatton Yatton is a village and civil parish within the unitary authority of North Somerset, which falls within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located south-west of Bristol. Its population in 2011 was 7,552. The parish includes Clav ...

, leaving money to finance a bell for the church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Richard Chief justices of the common pleas Knights Bachelor Justices of the common pleas Members of the Middle Temple Year of birth missing 1448 deaths