Geoffrey Osbaldeston
Geoffrey Osbaldeston (1558-c.1635) was an English born politician and judge who had a long but rather undistinguished career in Ireland.[1]
He was the third son of Edward Osbaldeston of Osbaldeston Hall, a member of an old and prominent Lancashire family, and Maud, daughter of Sir Thomas Halsall.[2] The Osbaldestons were related to the Stanleys, Earls of Derby, and Edward seems to have owed his success to their patronage. Edward Osbaldeston , the Roman Catholic martyr, was his first cousin. He was educated at St Mary Hall, Oxford and entered Gray's Inn in 1577, becoming an Ancient of the Inn in 1593.[3] He sat in the House of Commons of England as member for Newton in the Parliament of 1597-8.
In 1601 Alice, Countess of Derby, who acted as his patroness, lobbied on his behalf to obtain an official position for him in Ireland. In 1605 he was sent there as a justice of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland). Unfortunately for his future career prospects the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir Arthur Chichester, soon formed a very poor view of his efficiency,[4] and within two years he was moved to the office of Chief Justice of Connacht;[5] a step which was generally seen as a demotion on the ground of his professional incompetence.[6] He served on a number of Crown commissions and wrote a report on the state of Galway City in 1626. He retired in 1634;[7] his precise date of death does not seem to be recorded.
He married Lucy Warren of Poynton in Cheshire and had three children;[8] through his daughter Deborah he was the ancestor of the prominent Lyster family of County Roscommon. Richard Osbaldeston, Attorney General for Ireland, was a cousin of Geoffrey's of the next generation.
References
- Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 London John Murray 1926
- Burke, Oliver Anecdotes of the Connaught Circuit Hodges Figgis Dublin 1885
- Hesler, P.W. ed. The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603 1981