Sir Samuel Bradstreet, 3rd Baronet (October 1738 – 2 May 1791) was an Irish politician, 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 ...

. His independence of mind as a politician gave rise to the somewhat misleading nickname "Slippery Sam". He was the second son of Sir Simon Bradstreet, 1st Baronet of Riversdale House in

Kilmainham Kilmainham (, meaning " St Maighneann's church") is a south inner suburb of Dublin, Ireland, south of the River Liffey and west of the city centre. It is in the city's Dublin 8 postal district. History Origins Kilmainham's foundation dates ...

, Dublin and his wife and first cousin Ellen Bradstreet, daughter of Samuel Bradstreet of

Gowran Gowran (; ) is a town on the eastern side of County Kilkenny, Ireland. The historic St. Mary's Collegiate Church is in the centre of Gowran, close to Gowran Castle. Gowran Park race course and Golf Course are one kilometre from the centre of ...

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...

and Elizabeth Agar. In 1773, Samuel succeeded his older brother Simon as third baronet. He was educated at

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 ...

and was then called to the Bar by 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 1758, becoming

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 1767 In 1766, he became

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 ...

. Bradstreet entered 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 of Parliament (MP) for Dublin City in 1776, representing the constituency until 1784, when he was appointed Fourth Justice at the

Court of King's Bench (Ireland) The Court of King's Bench (of Queen's Bench when the sovereign was female, and formerly of Chief Place or Chief Pleas) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The King's Ben ...

. Ironically, like several of his colleagues, Bradstreet as a politician had opposed increasing the number of High Court judges: Elrington Ball remarked cynically that an increase in the salary and a guarantee of

security of tenure Security of tenure is a term with multiple meanings according to jurisdiction. In Australia, it is used in political science to describe a constitutional or legal guarantee that a political office-holder cannot be removed from office except in ex ...

soon convinced him of the error of his ways. Unlike many of his colleagues, he was able to work harmoniously with his Chief Justice,

John Scott, 1st Earl of Clonmell John Scott, 1st Earl of Clonmell PC (Ire) KC SL (8 June 1739 – 23 May 1798), known as The Lord Earlsfort between 1784 and 1789 and as The Viscount Clonmell between 1789 and 1793, was an Irish barrister and judge. Sometimes known as "Copper ...

, who called him "my assistant".Ball p. 168 He was a good and frequent speaker in Parliament: though loosely associated with the

Irish Patriot Party The Irish Patriot Party was the name of a number of different political groupings in Ireland throughout the 18th century. They were primarily supportive of British Whig Party, Whig concepts of personal liberty combined with an Irish identity that ...

he clashed on occasion with

Henry Grattan Henry Grattan (3 July 1746 – 4 June 1820) was an Irish politician and lawyer who campaigned for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century from Britain. He was a Member of the Irish Parliament (MP) from 1775 to 18 ...

, and claimed that the liberties granted by the

Constitution of 1782 The Constitution of 1782 was a group of Acts passed by the Parliament of Ireland and the Parliament of Great Britain in 1782–83 which increased the legislative and judicial independence of the Kingdom of Ireland by reducing the ability of t ...

were insufficient. He prided himself on independence of mind; according to Ball his nickname "Slippery Sam" did not mean that he was corrupt or untrustworthy but rather that no party could ever count on his support. He was described as firm and decisive in character, rough in manner, and enormously fat (Chief Justice Scott, who was himself rather heavy, flippantly called him "the double man"). On 19 January 1771, he married Elizabeth Tully, daughter of Dr. James Tully, a Dublin physician, and his wife Bridget Netterville, a distant cousin of

Viscount Netterville Viscount Netterville was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1622 for Nicholas Netterville, 1st Viscount Netterville (1581–1654), eldest son of John Netterville of Dowth, County Meath, and Eleanor Gernon, daughter of Sir James Ge ...

, and had by her four sons. Bradstreet died at his home in

Booterstown Booterstown () is a coastal suburb of the city of Dublin in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is also a townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in the modern county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. It is situated about south of Dublin ...

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his oldest son Simon. His widow died in 1799.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradstreet, Samuel 1738 births 1791 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland Irish MPs 1776–1783 Irish MPs 1783–1790 Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Dublin constituencies Recorders of Dublin Lawyers from County Dublin Politicians from County Dublin Irish barristers