Robert Catlyn
Encyclopedia
Sir Robert Catlyn (died 1574) was an English judge and Chief Justice of the Queen’s Bench
.
in Northamptonshire
. He was born at Thrapstone in that county, and became a member of the Middle Temple
, where he was elected reader in autumn, 1547. In October, 1555, he was admitted with six others to the degree of the coif
; and on November 4, in the following year, Philip
and Mary
appointed him one of their serjeants
.
on 10 October 1558, five weeks before the death of Queen Mary
; and, like all the other judges, received a new patent the day after the accession of Queen Elizabeth
. Previous to the following term, on the removal of the two Catholic chief justices, Catlyn was, on 22 January, promoted to the head of the court of King's Bench, in the place of Sir Edward Saunders
. He was then knighted, and continued to preside as chief justice
for the next sixteen years, with a high reputation for wisdom and gravity. That he was bold and independent also is apparent from a letter to Lord Burleigh
, who had conveyed a message from the queen, complaining of his judgment in a suit in which the Earl of Leicester
was a party, wherein he says he "dares not alter the ancient forms of court."
's reign. While Catlyn was chief justice
, only two are mentioned in the "State Trials
" and the "Baga de Secretia" adds very few more. The principal one was that of the Duke of Norfolk
, in January, 1571, at which all the judges attended. The whole proceedings are minutely detailed from the report, apparently, of "Mr. Thomas Norton, who wrote down the trial on the scaffold," being, it is to be presumed, the "short-hand writer" employed by the crown. The duke
being tried by his peers, neither of the chief justices interfered, except when questions of law were raised, which they decided fairly, according to the acknowledged practice of the times. On pronouncing judgment against Robert Hickford, one of the duke's servants, who pleaded guilty, Chief Justice Catlyn made him a long and eloquent speech on the heinousness of treason, thus happily referring to a passage in Chaucer's
House of Fame — "As for them that seek fame by Treason, and by procuring the destruction of Princes, where shall sound that fame? Shall the golden Trump of Fame and Good Report, that Chaucer speaketh of? No; but the black Trump of Shame shall blow out their infamy for ever."
relates that on one occasion the chief justice, having taken exception to a man who had two names, saying "no honest man had a double name, and came in with an alias," was somewhat inapplicably asked, "what exception he could take to Jesus Christ, alias Jesus of Nazareth?"
Chief Justice Catlyn died at his seat at Newenham in Bedfordshire
towards the end of 1574, when he was succeeded by Sir Christopher Wray
.
, and relict of John Burgoyne. By her he left an only daughter, Mary
, who married first Sir John Spencer, and secondly Sir Robert Fowler. Her son by Sir John Spencer was Robert
, who was created Baron Spencer of Wormleighton in 1603, and whose grandson Henry
was advanced to the earldom of Sunderland
in 1643. The fifth earl
succeeded under the act of parliament as Duke of Marlborough, his mother being second daughter of the great duke
. The earldom of Spencer
of Althorp
is derived from the same stock, the first earl
having been the son of a younger son of the third Earl of Sunderland
.
This article incorporates text from Foss's
Judges of England, a publication now in the public domain.
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,...
.
Origins and early career
The branch of the Catlyn family from which Robert Catlyn was descended was anciently seated at RaundsRaunds
Raunds is a small market town in rural Northamptonshire, England. It has a population of 8,275 , is a civil parish, and is part of the East Northamptonshire district.- Geography :Raunds is situated 21 miles north-east of Northampton...
in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
. He was born at Thrapstone in that county, and became a member of the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
, where he was elected reader in autumn, 1547. In October, 1555, he was admitted with six others to the degree of the coif
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...
; and on November 4, in the following year, Philip
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
and Mary
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
appointed him one of their serjeants
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...
.
Judicial advancement
He was raised to the bench as a judge of the Common PleasCourt of Common Pleas (England)
The Court of Common Pleas, or Common Bench, was a common law court in the English legal system that covered "common pleas"; actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, the Common...
on 10 October 1558, five weeks before the death of Queen Mary
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
; and, like all the other judges, received a new patent the day after the accession of Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
. Previous to the following term, on the removal of the two Catholic chief justices, Catlyn was, on 22 January, promoted to the head of the court of King's Bench, in the place of Sir Edward Saunders
Edward Saunders (judge)
Sir Edward Saunders was an English judge and Chief Justice of the Queen’s Bench.-Early life and career:Saunders was the third son of Thomas Saunders of Sibertoft or of Harrington, Northamptonshire, by Margaret, daughter of Richard Cave. His younger brother was Laurence Saunders, the martyr. He was...
. He was then knighted, and continued to preside as chief justice
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,...
for the next sixteen years, with a high reputation for wisdom and gravity. That he was bold and independent also is apparent from a letter to Lord Burleigh
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572...
, who had conveyed a message from the queen, complaining of his judgment in a suit in which the Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...
was a party, wherein he says he "dares not alter the ancient forms of court."
Trial of the Duke of Norfolk
Crown prosecutions seem to have been uncommonly rare during the early years of ElizabethElizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
's reign. While Catlyn was chief justice
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,...
, only two are mentioned in the "State Trials
State trials
State trials, in English law, a name which primarily denotes all trials relating to offences against the state, but in practice is often used of cases illustrative of the law relating to state officers or of international or constitutional law....
" and the "Baga de Secretia" adds very few more. The principal one was that of the Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was an English nobleman.Norfolk was the son of the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. He was taught as a child by John Foxe, the Protestant martyrologist, who remained a lifelong recipient of Norfolk's patronage...
, in January, 1571, at which all the judges attended. The whole proceedings are minutely detailed from the report, apparently, of "Mr. Thomas Norton, who wrote down the trial on the scaffold," being, it is to be presumed, the "short-hand writer" employed by the crown. The duke
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was an English nobleman.Norfolk was the son of the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. He was taught as a child by John Foxe, the Protestant martyrologist, who remained a lifelong recipient of Norfolk's patronage...
being tried by his peers, neither of the chief justices interfered, except when questions of law were raised, which they decided fairly, according to the acknowledged practice of the times. On pronouncing judgment against Robert Hickford, one of the duke's servants, who pleaded guilty, Chief Justice Catlyn made him a long and eloquent speech on the heinousness of treason, thus happily referring to a passage in Chaucer's
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
House of Fame — "As for them that seek fame by Treason, and by procuring the destruction of Princes, where shall sound that fame? Shall the golden Trump of Fame and Good Report, that Chaucer speaketh of? No; but the black Trump of Shame shall blow out their infamy for ever."
Reputation
However high the character of a judge may be, it is not to be expected that those against whom he decides will always join in his praises. In 1566, one Thomas Welsh of London was indicted in the King's Bench for saying, "My Lord Chief Justice Catlyn is incensed against me, I cannot have justice, nor can be heard ; for that court now is made a court of conscience," and was fined accordingly. CamdenWilliam Camden
William Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...
relates that on one occasion the chief justice, having taken exception to a man who had two names, saying "no honest man had a double name, and came in with an alias," was somewhat inapplicably asked, "what exception he could take to Jesus Christ, alias Jesus of Nazareth?"
Chief Justice Catlyn died at his seat at Newenham in Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
towards the end of 1574, when he was succeeded by Sir Christopher Wray
Christopher Wray
Sir Christopher Wray was an English judge and Chief Justice of the King’s Bench.-Early life and career:Wray, the third son of Thomas Wray, seneschal in 1535 of Coverham Abbey, Yorkshire, by Joan, daughter of Robert Jackson of Gatenby, Bedale, in the same county, was born at Bedale in 1524...
.
Family and descendants
He married Ann, the daughter of John Boles of Wallington, HertfordshireWallington, Hertfordshire
Wallington is a small village and civil parish in the county of Hertfordshire, near the town of Baldock. Nearby villages include Rushden and Sandon.-George Orwell:...
, and relict of John Burgoyne. By her he left an only daughter, Mary
Mary Catlin
Mary Catlin was the daughter of Sir Robert Catlin. She married Sir John Spencer, son of Sir John Spencer and Katherine Kitson. Later in life she married Edward Glascoke after 1600....
, who married first Sir John Spencer, and secondly Sir Robert Fowler. Her son by Sir John Spencer was Robert
Robert Spencer, 1st Baron Spencer of Wormleighton
Sir Robert Spencer, 1st Baron Spencer of Wormleighton KG was an English peer.He was born in Althorp, Northamptonshire, England to Sir John Spencer and Mary Catlin.- Life :...
, who was created Baron Spencer of Wormleighton in 1603, and whose grandson Henry
Henry Spencer, 1st Earl of Sunderland
Henry Spencer, 1st Earl of Sunderland, 3rd Baron Spencer of Wormleighton , known as The Lord Spencer between 1636 and June 1643, was an English peer who fought and died in the English civil war on the side of the Cavaliers.Henry was born at Althorp to William Spencer, 2nd Baron Spencer and was...
was advanced to the earldom of Sunderland
Earl of Sunderland
Earl of Sunderland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1627 in favour of Emanuel Scrope, 12th Baron Scrope of Bolton. The earldom became extinct on his death in 1630 while the barony became either extinct or dormant...
in 1643. The fifth earl
Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough
Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough KG, PC , known as The Earl of Sunderland between 1729 and 1733, was a British soldier and politician. He briefly served as Lord Privy Seal in 1755...
succeeded under the act of parliament as Duke of Marlborough, his mother being second daughter of the great duke
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
. The earldom of Spencer
Earl Spencer
Earl Spencer is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain that was created on 1 November 1765, along with the title Viscount Althorp, of Althorp in the County of Northamptonshire, for John Spencer, 1st Viscount Spencer, a great-grandson of the 1st Duke of Marlborough...
of Althorp
Althorp
Althorp is a country estate of about and a stately home in Northamptonshire, England. It is about north-west of the county town of Northampton. The late Diana, Princess of Wales is buried in the estate.-History:...
is derived from the same stock, the first earl
John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer
John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer was a British peer and politician.Spencer was born in 1734, at his family home, Althorp. He was the son of Hon. John Spencer and Georgiana Carolina Carteret , and a grandson of the 3rd Earl of Sunderland...
having been the son of a younger son of the third Earl of Sunderland
Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland
Sir Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland KG PC , known as Lord Spencer from 1688 to 1702, was an English statesman...
.
This article incorporates text from Foss's
Edward Foss
Edward Foss was an English lawyer and biographer.He was born in London. He became a solicitor, and on his retirement from practice in 1840, devoted himself to the study of legal antiquities. His Judges of England was regarded as a standard work, characterized by accuracy and extensive research...
Judges of England, a publication now in the public domain.