Walter Cotterell

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Walter FitzWilliam Cotterell (died after 1388) was an Irish barrister and Crown official of the late fourteenth century. He was Serjeant-at-law (Ireland) and acted as a judge of gaol delivery and assize. The evidence suggests that he was a conscientious and hard-working official who enjoyed the complete trust of the English Crown.[1]

He was born in Kells, County Kilkenny, the son of William Cotterell. The family had a long-standing association with Kells and later lived in Kilkenny city.[2]

Ruins of Kells Priory: the Cotterell family had a long-standing association with the town of Kells

He was appointed King's Serjeant in 1374. By that time he was already a valued Crown servant, who had been entrusted in 1359 with collecting a subsidy, and had acted as a judge of gaol delivery for Waterford.[2]In 1373-4 he conducted "numerous inquisitions" and was given power to arrest ships, for which labour he received a fee of 10 marks. [3] The hearings in question lasted for four weeks and involved the use of eight horses. Shortly afterwards he was appointed to a three-man commission of inquiry into the Crown's right of treasure trove in County Wexford, which lasted for 2 weeks; he did not receive a fee. The other two members were both serving High Court judges, John Keppock and William de Karlell, again an indication of Cotterell's high standing with the Crown.[1] In 1374 he was summoned to a meeting of the Great Council, to be held in England to discuss Irish affairs.[2]

He never became a High Court judge, but in 1380, when he was described as "Narrator Regis" (King's Serjeant), the Privy Council of Ireland appointed him as an acting judge of assize for Munster, County Kilkenny and Wexford. The judge assigned to ride that circuit, John Tirel, was unable or unwilling to act "on account of the dangers of the roads" (presumably the danger was from criminal gangs).[1] Cotterell received a fee of £75 for his nine months in temporary office, and a further years's fee for performing unspecified official duties in Leinster.[3] He was in County Cork on official business in 1382.[3] He was still King's Serjeant in 1385.

In 1388 he received permission to go on a pilgrimage to Rome, and may have died on the journey or in Rome itself, as his name disappears from the official records thereafter. His precise date of death is not recorded.[2]

He had a son, William, who was a burgess of Kilkenny in the early 1380s.[2]It is unclear if they were related to Sir Patrick Cotterell, who was Admiral of Ireland in 1412-14. Sir John Cotterell of Kells, who was hanged with Sir Eustace le Poer for taking part in the rebellion of Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond in 1346, was a cousin of William.[2] Robert Cotterell, possibly another relative of William, was appointed a justice of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland) in 1388.[4]

Notes[]

  1. ^ a b c Hart pp.19-20
  2. ^ a b c d e f Graves and Prim pp.253-4
  3. ^ a b c Smyth p.183
  4. ^ Smyth p.98

Sources[]

  • Hart, A. R. A History of the King's Serjeants-at-law in Ireland Dublin Four Courts Press 2000
  • Graves, James and Prim, John "The History, Architecture and Antiquities of the Cathedral Church of St Canice, Kilkenny" Dublin Hodges Smith and Co. 1857
  • Haydn, Joseph "Book of Dignities" London Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans 1851
  • Smyth, Constantine Joseph Chronicle of the Law Officers of Ireland London Butterworths 1839
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