200px, Robert Price.
Robert Price (14 January 1653 – 2 February 1733) was a British judge and politician.
Early life
Robert Price, a Welshman, was born in early 1653 (1654 in the
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years di ...
), the eldest son of Thomas Price of Giler in
Cerrigydrudion
Cerrigydrudion, sometimes spelt ''Cerrig-y-drudion'', () is a village and community in Conwy, Wales. Until 1974 it was part of the historic county Denbighshire, when it became part of the newly formed county of Clwyd. When the county of Clwyd wa ...
,
Denbighshire
Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnew ...
, by Margaret, only child of Thomas Wynn of Bwlch y Beudy in the same parish. He was educated at
Ruthin Grammar School and
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. Th ...
, after which he entered
Lincoln's Inn before making the
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tu ...
.
Career
On 23 September 1679 Price married Lucy, eldest daughter and coheiress of Robert Rodd of Foxley in
Yazor,
Herefordshire
Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...
, by Ann Sophia, only child of Thomas Neale of Warneford,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
. Robert Rodd died two years later and Price inherited the Foxley estate. With her he had two sons and a daughter but in 1690, after her
adultery
Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and leg ...
with a cousin of hers (whom she bore a child), the couple separated without
divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
, Price providing for her and their children throughout his life and in his will.
History of Parliament Online article by D.W. Hayton
In 1682 Price was appointed
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
for
South Wales
South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
, as well as alderman of the city of
Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a populatio ...
; the following year he became recorder of
Radnor; then steward to
Catherine of Braganza
Catherine of Braganza ( pt, Catarina de Bragança; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to King Charles II, which lasted from 21 May 1662 until his death on 6 February 1685. She ...
in 1684; town clerk of
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of t ...
1685; and
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 ...
for
Ludlow
Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which ...
in 1686.
Price was removed as Attorney General and from other offices in 1688; he later successfully opposed
William III's 1695 grant of lands in Denbighshire to
William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland
Hans William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, (20 July 164923 November 1709) was a Dutch and English nobleman who became in an early stage the favourite of William, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder in the Netherlands, and future King of England. ...
, earning the appellation "patriot of his native country". He was appointed a judge in Wales in 1700.
Robert Price also served as
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...
for
Weobley
Weobley ( ) is an ancient settlement and civil parish in Herefordshire, England.
Formerly a market town, the market is long defunct and the settlement is today promoted as one of the county's black and white villages owing to its abundance of ...
during this period, resigning the seat in favour of his elder son
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the ...
in 1702;
Queen Anne upon her succession had elevated Price to the bench as a
Baron of the Exchequer
The Barons of the Exchequer, or ''barones scaccarii'', were the judges of the English court known as the Exchequer of Pleas. The Barons consisted of a Chief Baron of the Exchequer and several puisne (''inferior'') barons. When Robert Shute was ...
. In 1726 he became 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 ...
.
Price died at
Kensington in February 1732 (1733
New Style
Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...
) and was buried at Yazor. His elder son Thomas, who had resigned his parliamentary seat to make a Grand Tour in Europe, had died at
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...
in 1706 (by differing accounts, murder or
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...
History of Parliament Online article on Thomas Price by D.W. Hayton.), so the younger son
Uvedale Tomkins Price
Uvedale Tomkins Price (17 September 1685 – 17 March 1764), of Poston Lodge and Foxley, Yazor, Herefordshire, was a British Tory and later Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1713 and 1734.
Early life
Price was the youn ...
succeeded to the family estates in Herefordshire and Denbighshire. There was also a daughter Lucy, who married Bampfylde Rodd of
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
, a distant cousin.
[Robinson, Rev. Charles John (1873).]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Robert (judge)
1653 births
1733 deaths
Politicians from Denbighshire
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
18th-century Welsh judges
Barons of the Exchequer
Justices of the Common Pleas
17th-century Welsh judges