Charles Hemphill, 1st Baron Hemphill
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Privy Council of Ireland
The Privy Council of Ireland was an institution of the Kingdom of Ireland until 31 December 1800 and of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801-1922...
QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(August 1822 – 4 March 1908), was an Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
politician and barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
.
Born in County Tyrone
County Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Hemphill was the son of son of John Hemphill. He was made a Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(QC) shortly before being appointed Solicitor-General for Ireland
Solicitor-General for Ireland
The Solicitor-General for Ireland was the holder of an Irish and then United Kingdom government office. The holder was a deputy to the Attorney-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. At least one holder of the office, Patrick Barnewall played a significant role in...
in 1892, a post he held until 1895. He then sat as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for North Tyrone
North Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)
North Tyrone was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament to the British House of Commons 1885–1918.Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1885 the area was part of the Tyrone constituency...
from 1895 to 1906, after which he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Hemphill, of Rathkenny and of Cashel in the County of Tipperary
Tipperary
Tipperary is a town and a civil parish in South Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 4,415 at the 2006 census. It is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, and is in the historical barony of Clanwilliam....
. While most Irish Law Officers could confidently look forward to promotion to the Bench, Hemphill's age apparently ruled him out of serious consideration.
As Solicitor-General, he is remembered mainly for the somewhat malicious " compliments" paid to him by the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Peter O'Brien, in the celebrated 1894 case of R. ( Bridgeman ) v. Drury. Hemphill, who appeared for Dublin Corporation, had argued , apparently with a good deal of hyperbole, that the members of the Corporation were entitled to charge the ratepayers of Dublin for an especially lavish picnic. The Lord Chief Justice paid ironic tribute to Hemphill's eloquence and persuasiveness but added drily that he had entirely failed to persuade the Court that the members of the Corporation would " starve " if they were unable to make the ratepayers foot the blil for fine claret, whiskey and cigars.
Lord Hemphill married Augusta Mary, daughter of Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
the Hon. Sir Francis Charles Stanhope, in 1849. He died in March 1908 and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son Stanhope Charles John Hemphill. His daughter, Mary Hannah Augusta Hemphill, was the mother of the decorated R.A.M.C.
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...
officer and surgeon Herbert St Maur Carter
Herbert St Maur Carter
Lieutenant Colonel Herbert St Maur Carter D.S.O., M.D. was an Irish-born British military officer, doctor and surgeon, who served with the Royal Army Medical Corps and the British Red Cross, and was decorated by both the British and Serbian governments.He was born in Ireland, the son of Major...
, D.S.O., M.D.
Hemphill was a cousin of John Hemphill, a Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
of the Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
Supreme Court
Texas Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Texas is the court of last resort for non-criminal matters in the state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, is the court of last resort for criminal matters.The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices...
, and a United States Senator, whose father was the Rev. John Hemphill from County Tyrone
County Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
.