Sir William Fortescue (1687 – 16 December 1749) of

Buckland Filleigh Buckland Filleigh is a village, civil parish and former manor in the Torridge district of North Devon, England, situated about 8 miles south of the town of Great Torrington. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 170. It ...

, Devon, was a British judge and

Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and Head of Civil Justice. As a judge, the Master of ...

1741–1749.

Origins

Fortescue was the only son and heir of Henry Fortescue (1659–1691) of Buckland Filleigh by his wife Agnes Dennis, daughter of Edward Dennis of

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, but ...

, North Devon. The manor of Buckland Filleigh had been acquired by his 6-times great-grandfather William Fortescue (d.1548), the 2nd son of Martin Fortescue (d.1472), who had married the heiress of

Filleigh Filleigh is a small village, civil parish and former manor in North Devon, on the southern edge of Exmoor, west of South Molton. The village centre's street was, until the 1980s opening of the North Devon Link Road, the main highway between ...

(later the seat of his descendant

Earl Fortescue Earl Fortescue is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain that was created in 1789 for Hugh Fortescue, 3rd Baron Fortescue (1753–1841), a member of parliament for Beaumaris and Lord-Lieutenant of Devon. History The Earls Fortescue descend ...

) and

Weare Giffard Weare Giffard is a small village, civil parish and former manor in the Torridge district, in north Devon. The church and manor house are situated 2 1/2 miles NW of Great Torrington in Devon. Most of the houses within the parish are situated ...

. Martin was the son and heir of Sir John Fortescue ( 1394 – c. 1480) of Ebrington in Gloucestershire,

Chief Justice of the King's Bench Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the bo ...

of England and the author of ''De Laudibus Legum Angliæ''Foss (1870) p.278 and was the nephew of the latter's elder brother Sir Henry Fortescue (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1426), Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland.Vivian, p.353

Education

Fortescue was educated at Barnstaple Grammar School in North Devon, where he met the poet

John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for '' The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly ...

(1685–1732), who become a lifelong friend. He

matriculate Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used no ...

d at

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

in 1705.

Judicial career

The early death of Fortescue's wife prompted him to become a barrister, and he was admitted to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

in 1714, and transferred to the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and W ...

later in the same year before his

call 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 ...

in July 1715. Fortescue was a "sound and businesslike" barrister, and a "good lawyer", and built up a strong practice. He first became involved in politics in 1724 when Robert Walpole, Chancellor of the Exchequer, employed him as his secretary. In 1727 he was returned as a

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

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

, on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

, and despite his duties in Parliament and as secretary to Walpole he continued his practice as a barrister. In 1730 he became a

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 ...

, and in the same year was made Attorney General to the Duchy of Cornwall. On 9 February 1736 he was appointed 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 ...

, having resigned as an MP and as Attorney General. He was transferred to 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 ...

on 7 July 1738, replacing John Comyns, and on 5 November 1741 he succeeded Sir John Verney as

and became a

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

on 19 November. He remained Master of the Rolls until his death on 15 December 1749.

Literary career

As well as his work as a barrister and judge, Fortescue was also involved in the London literary scene, having been introduced by his school friend John Gay to

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

, and he became a founding member of the

Scriblerus Club The Scriblerus Club was an informal association of authors, based in London, that came together in the early 18th century. They were prominent figures in the Augustan Age of English letters. The nucleus of the club included the satirists Jonathan ...

. He was a co-author with Pope of "Stradling versus Stiles", and Pope dedicated his '' Imitation of the First Satire of Horace'' to him.

Marriage and children

On 7 July 1709 he married his cousin, Mary Fortescue (d.1710), daughter of Edmund Fortescue (1660–1734) of East Allington, from a junior branch of the Fortescues of Fallapit in the parish of East Allington,Vivian, p.360; p.366, Fortescue of Fallapit Devon, descended from Sir Henry Fortescue (

1426), Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland, who had married the heiress of Fallapit. Mary died an early death on 1 August 1710 and her monument exists in St Andrew's Church, East Allington.Vivian, p.360 Mary and William had a daughter, who was their sole heiress: *Mary Fortescue (1710–1752), who inherited the estate of Fallapit from her mother. She married John Spooner and produced an only daughter Mary Fortescue (d.1747) who died an infant.

Death

Fortescue died on 16 December 1749 aged 63 and was buried in the

Rolls Chapel The Maughan Library () is the main university research library of King's College London, forming part of the Strand Campus. A 19th-century neo-Gothic building located on Chancery Lane in the City of London, it was formerly the home to the head ...

in London, where exists his monument.

Arms

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortescue, William 1687 births 1749 deaths 18th-century English judges English King's Counsel Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Members of the Inner Temple Members of Parliament for Newport (Isle of Wight) 18th-century King's Counsel Masters of the Rolls Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Barons of the Exchequer Justices of the Common Pleas British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 Attorneys-General of the Duchy of Cornwall

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 ...