Richard Pyne

Sir Richard Pyne (1644 – December 1709) was an Irish barrister and judge. He held office as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland from 1695-1709.

Background

He was born in County Cork, the fourth son of Nicholas Pyne of Monageely. His father was probably the Nicholas Pyne who was a key witness for the prosecution at the trial of Florence Newton for witchcraft held at Youghal in 1661. He matriculated from Queen's College, Oxford in 1662. He was called to the English Bar in 1669 and to the Irish Bar in 1674. In 1686 he became counsel to the Irish Revenue Commissioners. Although he was willing to accept preferment under the Roman Catholic King James II, he was himself a strong Protestant and a Whig in politics, and was later a supporter of the Revolution of 1688.

Judicial career

After the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, he was appointed joint Commissioner of the Great Seal of Ireland with Sir Richard Ryves and Sir Robert Rochfort. Early in 1691 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, at the personal request of William III. This was a notable mark of royal favour, as the office had already been promised to John Osborne, the Prime Serjeant. The decision to appoint Pyne instead may reflect Osborne's growing unpopularity with his political superiors, who removed him from office the following year for gross insubordination.

Pyne was promoted to the office of Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland in 1695. He held the latter office until his death, although he seems to have been in failing health in his last years, and frequently visited Bath in hope of a cure. As Chief Justice he clashed with the powerful cleric William King, Bishop of Derry and future Archbishop of Dublin, who accused him of interfering in Church affairs. He is listed as one of the trustees of the King's Inns in 1706. He died at his English estate in Surrey in December 1709.

Property

Pyne was a substantial landowner in County Cork: he lived mainly at Waterpark, near Carrigaline, and also acquired estates at Ardra and Ballinaneala. In 1703 he bought Blarney Castle, but sold it a few months later, apparently on the basis of a rumour (unfounded as it turned out) that the dispossessed owners, the MacCarthys, were about to recover it. He also owned an estate at Ashley in Surrey, where he died, and Great Codham Hall near Braintree, Essex. He is chiefly remembered nowadays as the builder of Ballyvolane House near Fermoy, although it was not completed until a considerable time after his death.

Family

He married Catherine Wandesford, daughter of Sir Christopher Wandsford, 1st Baronet of Kirklington, Yorkshire and Eleanor Lowther, and grand-daughter of the statesman Christopher Wandesford, Lord Deputy of Ireland. His only son Henry married Anne Edgecume, daughter of Sir Richard Edgecumbe and Lady Anne Montagu, and sister of Richard Edgcumbe, 1st Baron Edgcumbe. Their daughter Anne married Sir Henry Cavendish and was the mother of the statesman Sir Henry Cavendish, 2nd Baronet, whose descendants took the title Baron Waterpark.

Pyne also left substantial lands, including Ballyvolane, to his nephew Robert Wakeham, the son of his sister Jane. As a condition of inheriting these lands laid down in his uncle's will, Robert adopted the surname Pyne; the Wykeham Pynes remained at Ballyvolane for several generations. Robert was dead by 1715, when his widow Margaret filed a lawsuit in the Court of Chancery.

Reputation

In 1698 the Irish born author and publisher John Dunton who was on a visit to Dublin, gave a favourable picture of most of the Irish judiciary, including Pyne, describing them as "men whose reputation is such that no one complains of them".