Richard Ryves

Sir Richard Ryves ( 1643-1693 ) was a seventeenth-century Irish judge who served for several years as Recorder of Dublin.

Background

He was born in Dublin, eldest son of Charles Ryves, an official of the Court of Chancery (Ireland), and his wife Jane Ogden; he was a grandson of Sir William Ryves, judge of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland) 1636-1648. The Ryves family were originally from Dorset, but Richard prided himself on being "a true born Dubliner". He married Mary Savage of Dublin in 1673. He lived first at St. Michael's Lane, then at Capel Street.

Career

He graduated from the University of Dublin. He was called to the English Bar and then in 1669 returned to practice law in Ireland. He enjoyed the patronage of the Duke of Ormonde, through whom he obtained the position of Recorder of Kilkenny in 1671. In 1680 the office of Recorder of Dublin became vacant; Ryves who prided himself on being a "town-born child" applied for and obtained it. He was admitted to the Middle Temple, ("called of grace") in 1669.

In 1682 Sir Richard Stephens was dismissed from his office as Second Serjeant, on suspicion of being a non-conformist in religion. Ryves, who claimed to be the most senior of the King's counsel, expected the office and was bitterly disappointed to be passed over in favour of William Beckett. He was soon compensated with the office of Third Serjeant (this office was then a very recent creation, which had been created especially for Sir John Lyndon, who had been disappointed in his hopes of becoming either Second Serjeant or a High Court judge), and promoted to Second Serjeant later in 1683. He combined the offices of serjeant and Recorder, despite the fact that the latter had a notoriously heavy workload, which may have contributed to the breakdown of his health. He was replaced as Recorder by Garrett Dillon in 1685, possibly due to the strain of overwork.

As a Whig and a Protestant, he fell out of favour with the regime of the Roman Catholic King James II and was removed from his office of Serjeant in 1687. Following James's arrival in Ireland in 1689, Ryves was one of "the King's enemies" who were proscribed by the Jacobite Patriot Parliament.

He moved to England and supported the Revolution of 1688. Returning to Ireland in 1689, he was appointed one of the Commissioners of the Great Seal in 1690, and reappointed serjeant-at-law. He declined an offer to resume the Recordership of Dublin, which was a notoriously gruelling job, on the ground of ill-health (the offices of Second and Third Serjeants were lucrative but not onerous- his successor as Third Serjeant, Alan Brodrick, complained of having no work to do). He accepted the less burdensome office of Baron of the Exchequer.

Death

Ryves suffered from ill-health all through his life, and by 1691 he appears to have been almost incapacitated; although he accepted a seat on the Court of Exchequer in 1692, he died early the following year.