Thomas Bavand (1600–1643) was an English

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 ...

, who was appointed a

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 ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, but died before he could take up his office. Chester Row ext

He was born in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, where the Bavands were a numerous and prosperous family, related to other leading families of the city like the Gamulls. He may have been a grandson of Richard Bavand, ( Mayor of Chester in 1581 and 1600 and MP for

in the

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of 1584,) who died in 1603, survived by several children by his wife Jane Bannvile. Thomas had some interest in

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

and had a family pedigree drawn up. From his deposition in the

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

case of ''Done v Babington'', it is reasonably certain that Thomas was born in 1600. He entered the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in 1614 and graduated from Broadgates Hall (renamed Pembroke College shortly afterwards) in 1618. He entered

Clifford's Inn Clifford's Inn is the name of both a former Inn of Chancery in London and a present mansion block on the same site. It is located between Fetter Lane and Clifford's Inn Passage (which runs between Fleet Street and Chancery Lane) in the City of ...

, 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 ...

at the

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in 1632, and built up a flourishing practice. He owned several properties in Chester, and his name appears as lessor on two

leases A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the Lessor (leasing), ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are l ...

of houses in the city. He was chosen to be a judge of 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 ...

in 1643, but died almost at once. He was married, but it is not known if he had any children. His wife was a distant cousin of Sir Ralph Done of

Tarvin Tarvin is a village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It had a population of 2,693 people at the 2001 UK census, rising to 2,728 at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census, ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. When Done sued Henry Babington, a respected London

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

merchant (who employed Sir Ralph's son) for libel in 1639, Bavand filed a deposition on behalf of Sir Ralph, which gives some useful information about his own life. He later acted as

mediator Mediation is a structured, voluntary process for resolving disputes, facilitated by a neutral third party known as the mediator. It is a structured, interactive process where an independent third party, the mediator, assists disputing parties ...

between the parties, at the suggestion of Babington. It seems that neither side wished to proceed to a final hearing in the matter: Done withdrew his claim and agreed to pay half the

legal costs Court costs (also called law costs in English procedure) are the costs of handling a case, which, depending on legal rules, may or may not include the costs of the various parties in a lawsuit in addition to the costs of the court itself. In the ...

of the action.

Sources

*Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' London John Murray 1926 *''Done v Babington''

Court of Chivalry His Majesty's High Court of Chivalry is a civil law (as opposed to common law) court in English and Welsh law with jurisdiction over matters of heraldry. The court has been in existence since the fourteenth century; however, it rarely sits. T ...

1639/40 *Smyth, Constantine Joseph ''Chronicle of the Law Officers of Ireland'' London Butterworths 1839 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bavand, Thomas People from Chester Justices of the Irish King's Bench Members of the Inner Temple Alumni of Broadgates Hall, Oxford