Michael Morris, Baron Morris
The Right Honourable The Lord Morris PC, QC | |
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Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland | |
In office 1887–1889 | |
Monarch | Victoria |
Preceded by | George Augustus Chichester May |
Succeeded by | Peter O'Brien |
Personal details | |
Born |
14 November 1826 Galway, County Galway |
Died |
8 September 1901 (aged 74) Spiddal, County Galway |
Nationality | Irish |
Alma mater | Trinity College, Dublin |
Michael Morris, Baron Morris and 1st Baron Killanin PC, QC (14 November 1826 – 8 September 1901), known as Sir Michael Morris, Bt, from 1885 to 1889, was an Irish lawyer and judge. He was Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland from 1887 to 1889 and sat in the House of Lords as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1889 to 1900.
Background and education
Born in Galway, Morris was educated at Galway College and Trinity College, Dublin, graduating BA in 1847.
Legal and judicial career
After being called to the Irish bar in 1849, Morris was appointed High Sheriff of Galway Town for 1849–50. Eight years later he was made recorder of Galway, and in 1863 became one of the country's Queen's Counsels. Elected to Parliament in 1865 as Liberal member for Galway,[1] Morris became a Conservative the following year when he took office in Lord Derby's administration as Solicitor-General for Ireland. In late 1866 he was appointed Attorney-General for Ireland, and the following year became third Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, eventually being made its Chief Justice in 1876.
In 1885, Morris was created a Baronet, of Spiddal in the County of Galway,[2] and two years later he was appointed Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland. In 1889, on being made a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, he was given a life peerage as Baron Morris, of Spiddal in the County of Galway,[3] and sworn a member of the Privy Council.[4] Eleven years later, on his retirement from office, Lord Morris was made an hereditary peer as Baron Killanin, of Galway in the County of Galway.[5]
Judgements
- British South Africa Co v Companhia de Moçambique [1893] AC 602 - the House of Lords overturned a Court of Appeal decision and by so doing established the Mozambique rule, a common law rule in private international law that renders actions relating to title in foreign land, the right to possession of foreign land, and trespass to foreign land non-justiciable in common law jurisdictions.[6]
Family
Lord Morris died at Spiddal in September 1901, aged 74, and was buried at Galway.
He married, in 1860, Anna Hughes, daughter of Henry George Hughes, Baron of the Court of Exchequer. They had four sons and six daughters. The eldest son Martin Morris was an MP and succeeded in the barony of Killanin and baronetcy. Another son was George Henry Morris.
References
- ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 1)
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 25511. p. 4334. 15 September 1885.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 25999. p. 7014. 6 December 1889.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26002. p. 7275. 17 December 1889.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27202. p. 3751. 15 June 1900.
- ↑ "Report 63 (1988) – Jurisdiction of Local Courts Over Foreign Land.". Law Reform Commission, New South Wales. 30 May 2001. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
- "The North Queensland Register (Townsville, Qld. : 1892 – 1905) Monday 16 September 1901-DEATH OF A LAW LORD". Trove. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Michael Morris, 1st Baron Killanin. |
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Lord Killanin
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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Preceded by John Orrell Lever Lord Dunkellin |
Member of Parliament for Galway Borough 1865–1867 With: Sir Rowland Blennerhasset, Bt |
Succeeded by Sir Rowland Blennerhasset, Bt George Morris |
Legal offices | ||
Preceded by Edward Sullivan |
Solicitor-General for Ireland August–November 1866 |
Succeeded by Hedges Eyre Chatterton |
Preceded by John Edward Walsh |
Attorney-General for Ireland 1866–1867 |
Succeeded by Hedges Eyre Chatterton |
Preceded by James Henry Monahan |
Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas 1876–1887 |
Office abolished |
Preceded by George Augustus Chichester May |
Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland 1887–1889 |
Succeeded by Peter O'Brien |
Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
New creation | Baron Killanin 1900–1901 |
Succeeded by Martin Morris |