Hugh de Burgh

Hugh de Burgh (died c. 1351) was a Crown official and judge in fourteenth-century Ireland, who held the offices of Lord High Treasurer of Ireland and Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer.[1] He was praised for his good service to the English Crown, but was also accused of maladministration.

Although he is said to have been born in England, he belonged to the leading Anglo-Irish de Burgh dynasty; he was a cousin of William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster,[2] and later acted as attorney for the Earl's daughter and heiress Elizabeth, Duchess of Clarence.[3] Her mother, Maud of Lancaster, who was second cousin to King Edward III, used her considerable influence at Court on Hugh's behalf.[4] Despite the later complaints about his misconduct, he was a professional lawyer, and as such he was better qualified for appointment to the Bench than some of his colleagues, since the Barons of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) in that era were often accused of being deficient in their knowledge of the law.[5] As was then usual when seeking appointment to the Bench, he took holy orders.

He was in the service of the Crown in 1331, when he came to Ireland. He later became the Irish attorney to the Queen, Philippa of Hainault.[6] In 1335 he became third Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland). In 1337 he was continued in office for four years in consideration of his past good service, and shortly after became Chief Baron. He was appointed Keeper of the Great Seal of Ireland in 1339 and Lord Treasurer in 1340. He was reappointed Chief Baron in 1344.[7]

In 1347 he was accused of misconduct, and a commission of oyer and terminer was set up to inquire into his "oppression". Precisely what form the alleged oppression (a term which has no precise modern equivalent) took is unclear. Similar charges against his successor John de Burnham were concerned with fraud and financial mismanagement, and it seems that the Privy Council of Ireland had some doubts about de Burgh's honesty.[8] The complaints against him formed part of a wider pattern of general dissatisfaction with the King's Irish royal servants, and as a result the commission's remit was soon extended into an examination of official wrongdoing.[9]

John de Burnham, an English Crown official with long experience of financial administration, was sent to Ireland as Treasurer to reform these perceived abuses, only to spend much of his career fighting similar charges of corruption. In 1348 de Burgh went to England to plead his case; presumably he made a convincing defence of his actions, since he received a royal pardon. He returned to Ireland, and remained Chief Baron until 1351, when he probably died.[10]

References
  1. Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 John Murray London 1926 Vol.i p.75
  2. Ball p.75
  3. Ball p.75
  4. Frame, Robin Ireland and Britain 1170-1450 Hambledon Press London 1998 p.119
  5. Ball p.18
  6. Ball p.75
  7. Ball p.75
  8. Otway-Ruthven, A.J. History of Medieval Ireland Reprinted Barnes and Noble 1993 p.266
  9. Otway-Ruthven p.266
  10. Ball p.78
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