Henry Rolle
Encyclopedia
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but that changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005,...
.
Early life and career
Henry Rolle, the second son of Robert Rolle (d. 1633) of Heanton Sachville, DevonDevon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
(a scion of the family of Rolle of Stevenstone), by Joan, daughter of Thomas Hele of Fleet in the same county, was born about 1589. John Rolle (1598–1648) was his brother. He matriculated from Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...
on 20 March 1606-1607, and was admitted on 1 February 1608-9 of the Inner Temple
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
, where he was called to the bar in 1618, was elected bencher in 1633, and reader in 1637 and 1638, but, owing to the prevalence of the plague, did not give his reading until Lent 1639. Among his contemporaries at the Temple and his intimate friends were Sir Edward Littleton
Edward Littleton, 1st Baron Lyttleton of Mounslow
Edward, Baron Littleton , from Munslow in Shropshire, was a Chief Justice of North Wales. He was descended from the judge and legal scholar, Thomas de Littleton. His father, also Edward, had been Chief Justice of North Wales before him.-Education and career:He was educated at Oxford before...
(1589–1645), afterwards lord keeper and baron Littleton; Sir Edward Herbert, afterwards attorney-general ; Sir Thomas Gardiner, afterwards recorder of London; and John Selden
John Selden
John Selden was an English jurist and a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law...
, by whose conversation and friendly rivalry he profited no little in the study of the law and humane learning. Rolle practised with eminent success in the court of king's bench, was appointed recorder of Dorchester in 1636, and was called to the degree of serjeant-at-law
Serjeant-at-law
The Serjeants-at-Law was an order of barristers at the English bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law , or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writs dating to 1300 which identify them as descended from figures in France prior to the Norman Conquest...
on 10 May 1640.
He sat for Callington
Callington (UK Parliament constituency)
Callington was a rotten borough in Cornwall which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in the English and later British Parliament from 1585 to 1832, when it was abolished by the Reform Act 1832.-History:...
, Cornwall, in the last three parliaments of King James (1614 to 1623-4), and for Truro in the first three parliaments of his successor (1625 to 1629). He early identified himself with the popular party; no member was more urgent for the impeachment of Buckingham
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England. Despite a very patchy political and military record, he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...
, none more determined that supply must be postponed to the redress of grievances. On the outbreak of the civil war
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
he adhered to the parliament, contributed ₤100 to the defence fund, and took the covenant.
Judicial career
His advancement to a judgeship in the king's bench was one of the stipulations included in the propositions for peace of January 1642-3; on 28 October 1645 he was sworn in as such, and on 15 November 1648, pursuant to votes of both houses of parliament, he was advanced to the chief-justiceshipLord Chief Justice of England and Wales
The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but that changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005,...
of the court. After the execution of the king
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
he accepted, 8 February 1648-9, a new commission as lord chief justice of the upper bench on the understanding that no change should be made in the fundamental laws, and on the 13th of the same month he was voted a member of the council of state
English Council of State
The English Council of State, later also known as the Protector's Privy Council, was first appointed by the Rump Parliament on 14 February 1649 after the execution of King Charles I....
. His accession strengthened the government, and his charges on the western circuit contributed much to the settlement of the public mind. On 4 August 1654 he was appointed commissioner of the exchequer. Rolle yielded the palm to none of his contemporaries either as advocate or judge, with the single exception of the great Sir Matthew Hale
Matthew Hale (jurist)
Sir Matthew Hale SL was an influential English barrister, judge and jurist most noted for his treatise Historia Placitorum Coronæ, or The History of the Pleas of the Crown. Born to a barrister and his wife, who had both died by the time he was 5, Hale was raised by his father's relative, a strict...
. His decisions, reported by Style, rarely relate to matters of historic interest. Nevertheless he established in the case of Captain Streater, committed to prison by order of the council of state and the speaker of the House of Commons
Speaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
for the publication of seditious writings, the principle that a court of justice cannot review parliamentary commitments if regular in form ; and his name is associated with one of the causes celebres of international law. Don Pantaleon Sa, brother of the Portuguese ambassador, was arrested for murder committed in an affray in the New Exchange in the Strand
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
. The fact was undeniable, but the Don claimed the privilege of exterritoriality, as being of the household of the ambassador. The point was discussed by Rolle in consultation with two of his puisnes, two admiralty judges, and two civilians, and on 16 January 1653-4 was decided against the Don. The decision was without precedent, for it could neither be denied that the Don was of the household of the ambassador, nor that the privilege of exterritoriality had theretofore been understood to extend even to cases of murder. At the trial, over which Rolle presided on 6 July following, the prisoner was conceded a jury, half English half Portuguese, but was denied the assistance of counsel, and compelled to waive his privilege and plead to the indictment by a threat of peine forte et dure. He was found guilty, sentenced to death, and executed at Tyburn
Tyburn, London
Tyburn was a village in the county of Middlesex close to the current location of Marble Arch in present-day London. It took its name from the Tyburn or Teo Bourne 'boundary stream', a tributary of the River Thames which is now completely covered over between its source and its outfall into the...
on 10 July.
On the outbreak of the Penruddock uprising
Penruddock uprising
The Penruddock uprising was one of a series of coordinated uprisings planned by the Sealed Knot for a Royalist insurrection to start in March 1655 during the Protectorate of the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell....
, 12 March 1654-5, Rolle was at Salisbury
Salisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
on assize business, when he was surprised by the cavaliers under Sir Joseph Wagstaffe
Joseph Wagstaffe
Sir Joseph Wagstaffe was a Royalist officer during the English Civil War and one of the leaders in the Penruddock uprising of 1655.-Origins and birth:...
, who coolly proposed to hang him. At Penruddock
John Penruddock
Colonel John Penruddock , of Compton Chamberlayne, was an English Cavalier during the English Civil War and the English Interregnum. He is remembered as the leader of the Penruddock uprising in 1655....
's intercession, however, he was released; he served as one of the commissioners for the trial of the insurgents at Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
in the following May. Shortly afterwards, being unable to decide against the merchant George Cony, who had sued a customs officer for levying duty from him by force without authority of parliament, he resigned (7 June 1655) rather than give further offence to the Protector
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
, and was succeeded by Sir John Glynne. He died on 30 July 1656, and was buried in the church of Shapwick
Shapwick, Somerset
Shapwick is a village on the Somerset Levels, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. It is situated to the west of Glastonbury.-History:Shapwick is the site of one end of the Sweet Track, an ancient causeway dating from the 39th century BC....
, near Glastonbury, in which parish he had a house.
Private life
By his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Foot, alderman, of London, Rolle had issue an only son, Francis, who was knighted at PortsmouthPortsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
on 1 March 1664-5 and was lord of the manor of East Titherley, Hampshire, which he represented in the parliament of 1681.
Publications
While at the bar Rolle spent much of his leisure in making reports and abridgments of cases. His Abridgment des plusieurs Cases et Resolutions del Commun Ley, published at London in 1668, 2 vols. fol., is prefaced by his portrait and a memoir by Sir Matthew HaleMatthew Hale (jurist)
Sir Matthew Hale SL was an influential English barrister, judge and jurist most noted for his treatise Historia Placitorum Coronæ, or The History of the Pleas of the Crown. Born to a barrister and his wife, who had both died by the time he was 5, Hale was raised by his father's relative, a strict...
, in which he is characterised as 'a person of great learning and experience in the common law, profound judgment, singular prudence, great moderation, justice, and integrity.' His Reports de divers Cases en le Court del Banke le Roy en le Temps del Reign de Roy Jacques, appeared at London in 1675-6, 2 vols. fol.