William le Deveneys

Sir William le Deveneys (died 1319) was a Crown administrator and judge in late thirteenth and early fourteenth century Ireland, who was very briefly Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.^[1]

He was probably a native of Dublin, where he spent his whole career. The le Deveneys, later Devenish, family were among the first Anglo-Norman settlers in Ireland.^[2] William was probably a relative of Nicholas le Deveneys, who in 1302 was summoned for service in the Scottish War.^[3] William is first heard of in 1278, when he was an official of the Exchequer of Ireland. He held several senior positions in the Exchequer, including Chief Remembrancer and Prothonotary (Chief Clerk), at a salary of 100 marks a year. ^[1] This pluralism did give rise to some criticism: the view was expressed that "these offices ought not to be held by one person".^[4] He became Keeper of the Royal demesne lands in Ireland in 1281.^[1] His enemies claimed that he had bribed an eminent cleric to obtain at least some of his offices.^[5]

He was clearly a valued Crown official: he was given twelve oak trees from the royal forest at Glencree, County Wicklow in 1282.^[1] He also received a grant of lands adjacent to the Royal Forest.^[5] Glencree however proved a worthless gift: it was too far into County Wicklow to be free from raids by the local Gaelic clans, which became a serious problem in the early 1290s. ^[5]Within a few years William in a petition to the Crown alleged that all his tenants had fled, and that he would be obliged for his own safety to live closer to the city.^[5]

Glencree: le Deveneys was granted lands here, but later complained that they were uninhabitable

In 1283 King Edward I made him a grant of four carucates (480 acres) and 45 acres of land at Dunderg (Rathfarnham), "to hold of the King forever" in return for a twice yearly payment of £7.^[6] In 1299 he was granted the Royal manor of Thorncastle in south County Dublin, roughly corresponding to modern day Booterstown and Mount Merrion, and the fishery attached to the manor, which had previously been held by Sir Richard FitzJohn. ^[1]He also practiced as an attorney in the Royal Courts: no doubt the Crown was his main client, but he also worked for private individuals, including a certain Matilda, with whom he seems to have had a long association.^[7]

He was appointed to the Bench as an justice in eyre (itinerant justice) in 1302.^[1] He became a judge of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland), which was then simply called "the Bench", in 1303.^[1]In 1308 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas but resigned from that office shortly afterwards: he was reappointed to the Common Pleas in 1313.^[1]He was appointed Bailiff of Dublin in 1308, and was knighted in 1312.^[1] He died in 1319. Thorncastle was purchased after his death by his judicial colleague Walter de Islip. ^[1]

Sources[]

• Ball, F. Elrington "History of Dublin" Vol.2 Dublin Alexander Thom and Co 1903
• Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 London John Murray 1926
• Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland preserved in the Public Records Office London Longmans 1879
• Calendar of Irish Chancery letters c.1244-1509
• D'Alton, John King James's Irish Army List Dublin 1855
• Hamilton, Reverend John G. and Armstrong, E C.R. On the Ancient Deeds of St John's Parish, Dublin (1816) Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Vol. 33 p.175
• Hewer, S.G. Justice for all? Access by ethnic groups to the English Royal Courts in Ireland 1252-1318 Thesis submitted for degree of PhD University of Dublin 2018
• Public Record Office List of Inquisitions 26 Edward I

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