Richard Wilson Greene PC, KC (1791–1861) was an Irish barrister and

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 ...

. He was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, the son of Sir Jonas Greene, who was

Recorder of Dublin The Recorder of Dublin was a judicial office holder in pre-Independence Ireland. Functions and duties of the Recorder The Recorder was the chief magistrate for Dublin, and heard a wide range of civil and criminal cases. The office existed by th ...

from 1822 until his death in 1828, and his wife, the leading actress Marianne Hitchcock, daughter of the playwright

Robert Hitchcock Robert Charles Hitchcock (born 18 August 1944) is an Australian sculptor. He commenced his career in 1970 and works in a wide variety of subjects and materials. Hitchcock is one of the leading portrait sculptors currently working in Australia ...

(died 1809) and his wife Sarah Webb. Robert, originally from

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, was an author and playwright, who was deputy manager of the

Theatre Royal, Dublin Over the centuries, there have been five theatres in Dublin called the Theatre Royal. In the history of the theatre in Great Britain and Ireland, the designation "Theatre Royal", or "Royal Theatre", once meant that a theatre had been granted a ...

: he is best remembered for his book ''An Historical View of the Irish Stage''. Sarah Hitchcock like her daughter was a very popular actress on the London and Dublin stages. Richard attended

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 ...

, where he was auditor of the

College Historical Society The College Historical Society (CHS) – popularly referred to as The Hist – is a debating society at Trinity College Dublin. It was established within the college in 1770 and was inspired by the club formed by the philosopher Edmund ...

. 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 1814 and became

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1830. 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 attended (without a brief) the hearing of ''R. v Waller O'Grady'', a much publicised case concerning the power 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 ...

of Standish O'Grady, the

Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer was the Baron (judge) who presided over the Irish Court of Exchequer. This was a mirror of the equivalent court in England, and was one of the four courts which sat in the building in Dublin which is still ...

, who had sought to appoint his younger son Waller to the office of Clerk of the Pleas in the Court of Exchequer. Greene co-wrote an account of the case which he published and which gained him some favourable attention. In 1831 he was the first person to be appointed to the new position of Law Adviser to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, which ranked below the two senior law officers, but was nonetheless a very onerous Crown office. The choice of Greene for the position was an interesting one since he was generally regarded as a political opponent of the Government of the day. He quickly gained the respect of both political parties. He became

Solicitor-General for Ireland The Solicitor-General for Ireland was the holder of an Kingdom of Ireland, Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office. The holder was a deputy to the Attorney-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish ...

in 1842 and was

Attorney-General for Ireland The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Kingdom of Ireland, Irish and then, from 1801 under the Acts of Union 1800, United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on ...

briefly in 1846. He was raised to the Bench as Baron of the

Court of Exchequer (Ireland) The Court of Exchequer (Ireland), or the Irish Exchequer of Pleas, was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was the mirror image of the equivalent court in England. The Court of Exchequer was one of the four royal courts of jus ...

in 1852 and served on that Court until shortly before his death in 1861. He married Elizabeth Wilson, daughter of Thomas Wilson of

Fulford, North Yorkshire Fulford is a historic village and civil parish on the outskirts of York, within the York district, in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located to the south of the city, on the east bank of the River Ouse. The populatio ...

in 1819, and took her surname as well as his own. They had six children, five sons and a daughter. He made his reputation as an advocate with an impressive closing speech for the Crown at the trial of

Daniel O'Connell Daniel(I) O’Connell (; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilisation of Catholic Irelan ...

in 1844. According to Elrington Ball, his appointment to the Bench was due to the personal regard which

Lord Derby Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby (29 March 1799 – 23 October 1869), known as Lord Stanley from 1834 to 1851, was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served three times as Prime Minister of the United K ...

, the Prime Minister, who had known him for many years, had for him. One of his sons was

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

, Dean of

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Irish: ''Ardeaglais Theampall Chríost''), is the cathedral of the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough, United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the e ...

and one of his grandsons was Sir William Conyngham Greene, a noted

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

who became Ambassador to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

.Arthur Charles Fox-Davies. Armorial families: a directory of gentlemen of coat-armour
p. 140 There was also a family connection to another eminent judge,

Sir Samuel Walker, 1st Baronet Sir Samuel Walker, 1st Baronet, PC (Ire), KC (19 June 1832 – 13 August 1911) was an Irish Liberal politician, lawyer and judge. He was the first of the Walker baronets of Pembroke House. Career He was born at Gore Port, Finea, County ...

, whose first wife was Greene's niece Cecilia, daughter of his brother Arthur. Another son, Richard Jonas Greene, the father of Sir William Conyngham Greene, followed his father and grandfather to the Bar. He married the children's writer Louisa Plunket. Their other children included the famous

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

Professor

Harry Plunket Greene Harry Plunket Greene (24 June 1865 – 19 August 1936) was an Irish baritone who was most famous in the formal concert and oratorio repertoire. He wrote and lectured on his art, and was active in the field of musical competitions and examinatio ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greene, Richard Wilson 1791 births 1861 deaths Auditors of the College Historical Society Irish barristers Lawyers from Dublin (city) Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Barons of the Irish Exchequer Serjeants-at-law (Ireland)