Robert French (1690 – 29 May 1772) was an Irish judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He was extremely unpopular with his colleagues, who thought poorly of him both as a lawyer and a judge. He was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, and grew up in Dungar, now

Frenchpark Frenchpark, historically known as Dungar (), is a village in County Roscommon, Republic of Ireland, Ireland on the N5 road (Ireland), N5 national primary road. It was the home of Douglas Hyde, the first President of Ireland. The nearby French ...

County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...

. He was the second son of the wealthy landowner Colonel John French, who was nicknamed ''An

Tiarna A tiarna ( Irish), tighearna from the Old Irish tigerna, is a lord in the Gaelic world and languages. An Ard Tiarna is a "high lord", approximately equal in rank to a count or earl, although many of such higher rank still happen to prefer the tit ...

Mór'' (the Great Lord). Colonel French was the eldest son of Dominick French and his wife Anne King, daughter of John King and Sarah Conway, and granddaughter of Edward King,

Bishop of Elphin The Bishop of Elphin (; ) is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Elphin, County Roscommon, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but ...

. Robert's mother was Anne Gore, daughter of

Sir Arthur Gore, 1st Baronet Sir Arthur Gore, 1st Baronet ( – 20 December 1697) was an Irish people, Irish soldier and politician. Early life Gore was the second son of Sir Paul Gore, 1st Baronet and his wife Isabella Wycliffe, daughter of Francis Wycliffe. Career ...

and his wife Eleanor St. George. While his father's wealth and connections no doubt helped him in his career, he also owed much to his mother's family, in particular his uncle

George Gore George F. Gore (May 3, 1854 – September 16, 1933), nicknamed "Piano Legs", was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for 14 seasons, eight for the Chicago White Stockings, five for the New York Giants, one for the St. ...

, justice of the Court of Common Pleas. Snow 219

He attended the local school in

Roscommon Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...

, matriculated from

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 ...

in 1708, took his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1715 and was made Doctor of Law in 1730. He 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 ...

in 1710 and was called to the

Irish Bar The Bar of Ireland () is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Bar of Ireland, commonly c ...

in 1717. He 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 member for Jamestown,

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...

from 1727 to 1745. In 1745 his uncle Mr Justice Gore announced that he would retire on health grounds from 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 ...

on condition that French replace him. This put the Government in an awkward position; Gore, although he was not considered an especially good judge was personally very popular, whereas French was both a notoriously bad lawyer and personally a most unpopular individual. However, since Gore, who suffered greatly from

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

, was clearly unable to continue with his duties, the Crown reluctantly agreed to appoint French. French's conduct as a judge fully justified the official misgivings: an anonymous satire refers to "snarling, bridling, self-corroding French" and asked where his like for ignorance could be found. He retired in 1761 and died in 1772. His marriages to Frances, daughter of Sir Richard Hull of Leamcon, County Cork, and to his second wife, Frances Pooley, were childless. He was buried in St. Michan's Church, Dublin.Ball p.208

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Robert 1690 births Alumni of Trinity College Dublin 1772 deaths Members of the Middle Temple Lawyers from County Roscommon Irish MPs 1727–1760 Justices of the Irish Common Pleas Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Leitrim constituencies 18th-century Irish lawyers

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

People from Frenchpark Burials at St Michan's Church, Dublin