John Penros

John Penros or Penrose (died 1411) was a Cornish lawyer and judge who held high office as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, and subsequently served as a High Court judge in England and Wales.[1] Despite his professional eminence, he was guilty of "an extraordinary career of crime" which stretched over nearly thirty years. When the charges against him were eventually proved, he was removed from the Bench.[2]

He belonged to a landowning family based at Escalls near Land's End in Cornwall.[3] He was a qualified advocate, but also became notorious as a law-breaker. Along with his associates John Trevarthian senior (died 1395), and his son John Trevarthian junior (died 1405) he was for many years one of the principal disturbers of the peace in Cornwall.

What was later described as his "remarkable career of crime" began about 1370.[4] In 1383 he was indicted in Surrey for his role in the murder of Richard Eyre, a fellow Cornishman whose family had a long-standing feud with the Trevarthians.[5] The following year an arrest warrant on the charge of murder was issued for his apprehension, but was later withdrawn, apparently on the ground that he was not the principal in the murder.[6] The list of serious crimes of which the Trevarthians were accused, and to which Penrose was an accessory, grew to a remarkable length: it included their private war with the Eyre family, which had resulted in the murder of Richard Eyre in 1383, as well as piracy, burglary and treason. In time however the Trevarthian family became both wealthy and outwardly respectable: at the time of his death in 1405 John Trevarthian junior was Sheriff of Cornwall.[7]

Despite his appalling criminal record, Penros was sent to Ireland as Lord Chief Justice in 1385. He returned without permission to England the following year and as a result was accused of misconduct.[8] Again he seems to have escaped serious censure, despite his reputation as "a notorious criminal". In 1391 he was appointed a justice of the King's Bench [9] and became justice of South Wales in 1393. He was a trier of petitions in the House of Commons of 1394,[10] but was eventually removed from the Bench on the ground of his record as a notorious criminal (meanwhile the career of his accomplice John Trevarthian junior was still flourishing).[11]

Penros married firstly Joan, daughter of Richard Carnver, who died about 1391, and secondly, in about 1395, Constance, of whom little is known. By Joan he had at least two sons,[12] William and John; John is said to have been an "imbecile from birth". Penros died in 1411.[13]

References
  1. Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 London John Murray 1926 Vol. 1 p.166
  2. The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1411 J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe editors 1993
  3. Foss, Edward The Judges of England London Longmans 1851 Vol.4 p.66
  4. History of Parliament
  5. Ball p.166
  6. History of Parliament
  7. History of Parliament
  8. Ball p.166
  9. Some sources say the Common Pleas, but Foss believed that the King's Bench was more likely- Judges of England p.66
  10. Foss p.66
  11. History of Parliament
  12. History of Parliament
  13. His date of death is given according to the History of Parliament. Elrington Ball, the great authority on Irish judges at this period, gives a much earlier date of death, but may be confusing his political downfall with his death.
Legal offices
Preceded by
John de Sotheron		 Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland
1385–1386		 Succeeded by
Edmund de Clay
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.