Charles Calthorpe

Sir Charles Calthorpe (c.1540-1616 ) was an English-born judge in Elizabethan and early Jacobean Ireland. Prior to appointment to the Bench he had been Attorney General for Ireland for more than 20 years. He was a close associate of the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir John Perrot, and Perrot's downfall almost ended his career, but he was eventually restored to favour.

Early life

He came of an old Norfolk family; his father was Francis Calthorpe of Hempstead and his mothe was Elizabeth Berney of Gunton.^[1] He entered Lincoln's Inn in 1560. He gave readings on the law of copyhold at Furnivall's Inn which were published in 1562. He was called to the bar in 1569 and became a Bencher of his Inn in 1582, He sat in the House of Commons as member for Eye in the parliament of 1572. In 1584 he became Attorney General for Ireland and was quickly identified as a supporter of the Deputy, Perrot. From the outset he was subject to intense criticism, being accused of partisanship , insufficient learning and undue deference to his Irish colleagues.^[2] Criticism mounted after Perrot's recall in 1588, although Calthorpe retained office, possibly due to the perennial difficulty in finding a suitable replacement.

Perrot's downfall

The final downfall of Perrot, who was convicted of treason in 1592 and died in the Tower of London, had repercussions in Ireland. His close ally Nicholas White, the Master of the Rolls was arrested and like Perrot died in the Tower.It was widely expected that Calthorpe would suffer a similar fate. He was accused of corruption by two dubious characters, Henry Bird, a former royal clerk ,and an eccentric ex-priest, Denis O'Roghan. Bird had been convicted of forging Perrot's signature on O'Roghan's evidence.^[3] Calthorpe had prosecuted the case with great vigour and there is no reason to doubt that he believed Bird guilty. O'Roghan however retracted his evidence and made charges of treason against Perrot. Sir William Fitzwilliam, the new Deputy, set up an inquiry, but ORoghan's charges were so wild that it was doubtful that the inquiry could proceed. A second commission of inquiry was set up into the manner in which the charges were made. Callthotpe sat on the commission, which proved to be a serious mistake when O'Roghan accused the commissioners of torturing him.

Fitzwilliam was now ordered to resume his own inquiry, and Calthorpe faced two serious charges: wrongly pressing for Bird's conviction, and acting corruptly in the examination of O'Roghan. He was suspended from office between 1590 and 1592, and it was widely believed that he would be prosecuted. In February 1591 he wrote to Burghley pleading for his protection. Given that Burghley was a close associate of Fitzwilliam, he might seem an unlikely patron of Calthorpe , but in the event it was decided that a severe censure of his conduct would suffice. He also suffered the embarrassment of seeing the conviction of Henry Bird publicly reversed. He was restored to office in the autumn of 1592, but his reputation never fully recovered.^[4]

Later life

Calthorpe, understandably, began pressing for promotion to the, presumably, less stressful life of a judge. The first offer was Chief Justice of Munster, but Calthorpe refused it and sought the office of Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas instead.^[5] On hearing that the salary was to be reduced however he withdrew his name .In later years he seems to have neglected his office: in 1604 he was living in London, and the following year Sir Arthur Chichester, the new Deputy, complained of his inefficiency, although he did receive a knighthood.^[6] The decision to appoint Sir John Davies as Attorney General made it necessary to promote Calthorpe, and in 1606 he finally reached the bench as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland). He was not a success as a judge : in 1611 he was described as old,weak and unable to serve,^[7] although he remained on the Bench until his death in 1616.

Calthorpe married firstly Winifred Toto, daughter of the Italian-born painter Anthony Toto, Serjeant Painter to Henry VIII. She died in 1605. He married secondly Dorothy Deane, who had been twice married already; she outlived him by a few months.

Reputation

Calthorpe was judged harshly in his own time, but has been somewhat more favourably judged by recent historians. As Crawford points^[8] out the whole judicial process regarding the disgrace of Perrot was deeply political and Calthorpe, as one of Perot's closest allies, could not have hoped to escape censure. Despite the abuse heaped on him it is notable that he retained office for 22 years. Casey praises him for his constructive and business-like management of the office,^[9] although Chichester's criticism suggests that he let matters slide in his later years.

References

1. ^ Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 John Murray London 1926 Volume 1 p.318
2. ^ Ball p.318
3. ^ Crawford Jon G. A Star Chamber Court for Ireland-the Court of Castle Chamber 1571-1641 Four Courts Press Dublin 2006 pp.261-2
4. ^ Crawford pp.261-2
5. ^ Ball p.318
6. ^ Ball p.318
7. ^ Ball p.318
8. ^ Crawford p.262
9. ^ Casey, James The Irish Law Officers Round Hall Press Dublin 1995 p.11

Persondata
Name	Calthorpe, Charles
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death	1616
Place of death