William Gerard

Sir William Gerard (1518–1581) was an Elizabethan statesman with a distinguished record of service in England, Wales and Ireland. He sat in the House of Commons for Chester for many years, and was Vice-President of the Council of Wales and the Marches. He was Lord Chancellor of Ireland for five years: historians have praised his energetic efforts to reform the legal system, although they differ on his effectiveness. Despite being a layman he was Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, although he admitted to an uneasy conscience on the subject.

Early life

He was born at Ince in Lancashire, son of Gilbert Gerard and Elizabeth Davison, daughter of an alderman of Chester, a city with which he had a long association. Sir Gilbert Gerard, later Master of the Rolls was a cousin and is said to have advanced William's career.

William entered Gray's Inn in 1543, was called to the Bar in 1546, and became an Ancient of Gray's Inn in 1552. Elrington Ball argued that his legal qualifications were insufficient for the office of Chancellor, but in fact Gerard acquired considerable experience: he was made Attorney General for Wales in 1554, Recorder of Chester in 1556, a justice in Wales in 1559 and vice-justice of Chester in 1561.

Political career

He entered Parliament as member for Preston in 1553, but from 1558 on always sat as member for Chester. He became a member of the Council of Wales and the Marches in 1560, and Vice-President of the Council in 1562. He had the reputation of being an energetic and efficient administrator, and it was probably for that reason that the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir Henry Sidney, asked for him to be appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland : the office had been more or less in abeyance for three years, and Sidney wanted an energetic official to assist him in his ambitious reform program.

Lord Chancellor of Ireland

Even Elrington Ball, who had a rather poor opinion of Gerard, admits that he came to Ireland with good intentions and at first showed himself an energetic and capable Chancellor. He announced his intention of extending the assize system, and quickly established regular sessions throughout the east and south-east ( Ball however argued that by going on circuit so often he neglected his proper office). He initially urged the removal of most of the High Court judges as being old and unfit, and their replacement by English judges; later however, he was prepared to appoint Irish judges of sufficient quality. He argued for the need to introduce large numbers of English settlers ( in Ball's opinion Gerard constantly interfered in matters which were not his business).

As Lord Chancellor, Crawford argues that Gerard had a twofold aim- to establish the authority of the common-law courts throughout Ireland, and to supplement their authority by using his own office to turn the Court of Castle Chamber, the Irish equivalent of Star Chamber into an effective body for maintenance of public order. In the second aim at least he had considerable success in the early years: Castle Chamber heard a very large volume of cases mainly dealing with riot and other offences against public order. Gerard has been praised for the meticulous care he took in investigating causes before the Court and his willingness to bring them to resolution. So heavy was the volume of public order cases that in 1579 he apologised to Lord Burghley for being unable to hear a private case. One notable private case was against Lord Howth for cruelty to his wife and daughter Jane. The Castle Chamber accepted evidence that he had beaten his wife so severely that she was in fear of her life, and that Jane had actually died soon after a similar beating, if not necessarily as a direct result of it. Given Howth's rank the penalties were severe enough: he was briefly imprisoned, subjected to heavy fines and order to pay maintenance to his wife, who was allowed to live separately and given custody of the children.

Tax controversy

The administration was weakened by the intense opposition to Sidney's proposals on tax reform. This reached its height in 1577 when Sidney persuaded the Queen to imprison three eminent Irish lawyers who had gone to London to petition for the proposals to be withdrawn. At this point differences between Sidney and Gerard emerged: Gerard seems to have honestly believed that Sidney's coercive approach was a mistake, and he was friendly with Barnaby Scurlocke, the leader of the deputation which had been imprisoned. Gerard travelled to London to urge a policy of moderation and release of the lawyers. The Queen, having initially supported Sidney, was persuaded by Gerard's arguments and rebuked Sidney, who was recalled in 1578.

Last years and death

Gerard's efforts slacked off in later years : Sidney's recall and the outbreak of the Desmond Rebellion destroyed the impetus for reform. Gerard, like most English settlers, found the Irish climate hard to bear and from 1579 was in very poor health, and spending most of his time in Chester. In that year he was appointed Master of Requests. In 1580 it became clear that he could not live long : he wrote a loyal letter to Elizabeth I saying he hoped to see her even if he had to crawl to London, but by then was to ill to leave Chester, where he died in March 1581. He was buried in St. Oswald's Church.

Family

Gerard married Dorothy Barton of Lancashire; their daughters were:

• Elizabeth, who married Sir Edward Leighton
• Sydney, who married Sir John Wynne.

Reputation

Historians agree, at least, that Gerard began his Irish carer with an energetic attempt to reform the legal system. Elrington Ball argues that he soon abandoned the effort, neglected his office and interfered in matters outside his remit. Ball also criticises him for accepting, though with qualms of conscience, the Deanery of St.Patrick's and suggests he was not free from corruption. O'Flanagan, on the other hand in his rather brief study regards Gerard as an energetic and conscientious Chancellor who probably damaged his health by overwork. Crawford goes further in praising Gerard as an outstanding Chancellor, an energetic and capable reformer who in his early years in Ireland did much to reestablish the authority of the courts and, as the Howth case showed, was willing to administer impartial justice even against members of the nobility.