Lawson was born in Waterford. He was the eldest son of James Lawson and Mary Anthony, daughter of Joseph Anthony, and was educated at the endowed school there. Having entered Trinity College Dublin, he was elected a scholar in 1836, obtained a senior moderatorship in 1837 and earned a gold medallist and first-class honours in ethics and logic. He graduated with a BA in 1838, an LLB in 1841 and LLD in 1850. He served as Whately professor of political economy from 1840 to 1845.
As attorney-general he had in to grapple with the Fenian conspiracy of 1865, when he suppressed the Irish People newspaper, and the leaders of that movement were arrested and prosecuted. On 4 April 1857, he had unsuccessfully contested the seat for Dublin University, but on 15 July 1865 won the seat of Portarlington for the Liberals. However, he was defeated in the general election of December 1868. He was appointed fourth justice of the Court of Common Pleas, Ireland, in December 1868 and held the post till June 1882, when he was transferred to the Queen's Bench division.
During the Land League agitation he presided over several important political trials. An attempt was made to murder him while walking in Kildare Street, Dublin, on 11 November 1882, by Patrick Delaney, who was afterwards tried for the Phoenix Park murders and became a Crown informer. Lawson was made one of the Irish Church Commissioners in July 1869, gazetted a privy councillor in England on 18 May 1870, acted as a commissioner for the Great Seal of Ireland from March to December 1874, was a vice-president of the Dublin Statistical Society and became a DCL of Oxford in 1884.
Personal lifeedit
Lawson died at Shankill, near Dublin, on 10 August 1887. In 1842, he married Jane Merrick, eldest daughter of Samuel Merrick of Cork, with whom he had a son, James. In the 1860s he built a Victorian gothic mansion by the sea in Shankill called Clontra, which was designed by Deane & Woodward.
Publicationsedit
‘Five Lectures on Political Economy,’ 1844.
‘Duties and Obligations involved in Mercantile Relations. A lecture,’ 1855.
‘Speech at the Election for Members to serve in Parliament for the University of Dublin,’ 1857. With H. Connor he compiled
‘Reports of Cases in High Court of Chancery of Ireland during the time of Lord Chancellor Sugden,’ 1865.
'Hymni Usitati Latine Redditi, with Other Verses'. Kegan Paul, Trench & Co. 1883.
'A Century of Irish Government' [Manuscript life of Sir Thomas Larcom, Bart], Edinburgh Review, no. 336, 1886.
Armsedit
Coat of arms of James Anthony Lawson
Crest
An arm embowed in armour the hand holding a broken spear Proper.[1]
Escutcheon
Azure a castle Argent supporting in bend a scaling ladder Proper.
james, anthony, lawson, 1817, 1887, irish, academic, lawyer, judge, contents, background, education, legal, judicial, career, personal, life, publications, arms, references, external, linksbackground, education, editlawson, born, waterford, eldest, james, laws. James Anthony Lawson PC Ire QC 1817 1887 was an Irish academic lawyer and judge Contents 1 Background and education 2 Legal and judicial career 3 Personal life 4 Publications 5 Arms 6 References 7 External linksBackground and education editLawson was born in Waterford He was the eldest son of James Lawson and Mary Anthony daughter of Joseph Anthony and was educated at the endowed school there Having entered Trinity College Dublin he was elected a scholar in 1836 obtained a senior moderatorship in 1837 and earned a gold medallist and first class honours in ethics and logic He graduated with a BA in 1838 an LLB in 1841 and LLD in 1850 He served as Whately professor of political economy from 1840 to 1845 Legal and judicial career editLawson was called to the Irish Bar in 1840 and soon obtained a good practice especially in the courts of equity On 29 January 1857 he was gazetted a Queen s Counsel elected bencher of King s Inns Dublin 1861 and acted as Law Adviser to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1858 to 1859 He was appointed Solicitor General for Ireland in February 1861 and in 1865 Attorney General for Ireland when he was sworn a member of the Irish privy council As attorney general he had in to grapple with the Fenian conspiracy of 1865 when he suppressed the Irish People newspaper and the leaders of that movement were arrested and prosecuted On 4 April 1857 he had unsuccessfully contested the seat for Dublin University but on 15 July 1865 won the seat of Portarlington for the Liberals However he was defeated in the general election of December 1868 He was appointed fourth justice of the Court of Common Pleas Ireland in December 1868 and held the post till June 1882 when he was transferred to the Queen s Bench division During the Land League agitation he presided over several important political trials An attempt was made to murder him while walking in Kildare Street Dublin on 11 November 1882 by Patrick Delaney who was afterwards tried for the Phoenix Park murders and became a Crown informer Lawson was made one of the Irish Church Commissioners in July 1869 gazetted a privy councillor in England on 18 May 1870 acted as a commissioner for the Great Seal of Ireland from March to December 1874 was a vice president of the Dublin Statistical Society and became a DCL of Oxford in 1884 Personal life editLawson died at Shankill near Dublin on 10 August 1887 In 1842 he married Jane Merrick eldest daughter of Samuel Merrick of Cork with whom he had a son James In the 1860s he built a Victorian gothic mansion by the sea in Shankill called Clontra which was designed by Deane amp Woodward Publications edit Five Lectures on Political Economy 1844 Duties and Obligations involved in Mercantile Relations A lecture 1855 Speech at the Election for Members to serve in Parliament for the University of Dublin 1857 With H Connor he compiled Reports of Cases in High Court of Chancery of Ireland during the time of Lord Chancellor Sugden 1865 Hymni Usitati Latine Redditi with Other Verses Kegan Paul Trench amp Co 1883 A Century of Irish Government Manuscript life of Sir Thomas Larcom Bart Edinburgh Review no 336 1886 Arms editCoat of arms of James Anthony Lawson Crest An arm embowed in armour the hand holding a broken spear Proper 1 Escutcheon Azure a castle Argent supporting in bend a scaling ladder Proper References edit Debrett s Judicial Bench 1869 nbsp This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Lawson James Anthony Dictionary of National Biography London Smith Elder amp Co 1885 1900 External links editHansard 1803 2005 contributions in Parliament by James Anthony Lawson Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded byLionel Dawson Damer Member of Parliament for Portarlington1865 1868 Succeeded byLionel Dawson Damer Legal offices Preceded byThomas O Hagan Solicitor General for Ireland1861 1865 Succeeded byEdward Sullivan Preceded byThomas O Hagan Attorney General for Ireland1865 1866 Succeeded byJohn Edward Walsh Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title James Anthony Lawson amp oldid 1224738344, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
