- Hugh Holmes
Hugh Holmes QC (
17 February 1840 –19 April ,1916 ) was an Irish Conservative Party then after 1886 a UnionistMember of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom Parliament and subsequently a Judge. He was born inDungannon ,County Tyrone .He attended
Trinity College, Dublin . He was called to the English bar in 1864 and to the Irish bar in 1865. He became aQueen's Counsel (QC) in 1877.Holmes was appointed
Solicitor General for Ireland on14 December 1878 and served until the Conservative government was defeated in 1880. He becameAttorney General for Ireland 1885–1886 and 1886–1887. He was made a member of thePrivy Council of Ireland on2 July 1885 .He was MP for Dublin University 1885–1887.
Holmes retired from the House of Commons when he was appointed a Judge in 1887. He was a Justice of the
Common Pleas Division of theHigh Court of Justice in Ireland until 1888 when he became a Justice of theQueen's Bench Division. He was promoted to be aLord Justice of Appeal in 1897. Ill health caused his retirement in 1914.He appeared to be a stern judge, who did not suffer fools gladly and often imposed severe sentences in criminal cases. His judgments did however display some good humour and humanity and the sentences he imposed sometimes were less severe than those he actually announced in Court.
References
* "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography"
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