Richard Wilson Greene PC, KC (1791–1861) was an Irish barrister and judge. He was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, the son of Sir Jonas Greene, who was

Recorder of Dublin 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 new ...

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 with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

, 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 , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, 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 Bu ...

. He was called to the Bar in 1814 and became

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

in 1830. As a young barrister he attended (without a

brief Brief, briefs, or briefing may refer to: Documents * A letter * A briefing note * Papal brief, a papal letter less formal than a bull, sealed with the pope's signet ring or stamped with the device borne on this ring * Design brief, a type of educ ...

) the hearing of ''R. v Waller O'Grady'', a much publicised case concerning the power of patronage 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 Court of Exchequer (Ireland). The Irish Court of Exchequer was a mirror of the equivalent court in England and was one of the four courts which sat in the build ...

, 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 The Law Adviser to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was a Law Officer of the English Crown in nineteenth-century Ireland. The office lapsed in the 1880s, due apparently to concerns that it was becoming too political, but was briefly revived in the e ...

, 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 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 legal matters. On r ...

in 1842 and was

Attorney-General for Ireland The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. With the ...

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 justi ...

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, in the York district, in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. to the south of the city, on the east bank of the River Ouse, it was the site of the Battle of ...

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 O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 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 mobilizat ...

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 before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley) was a British statesman, three-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...

, 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 Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

, Dean of

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, is the cathedral of the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of the United Provinces of Dublin and Cashel in the ( ...

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

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

who became Ambassador to Japan.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 W ...

, 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 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)