Edward Fitz-Symon

Edward Fitz-Symon ( 1530–1593) was a leading Irish barrister and judge of the Elizabethan era. He held the offices of Attorney General for Ireland and Serjeant-at-law (Ireland) and was very briefly Master of the Rolls in Ireland. Despite his appointment to these senior offices, he was derided by his contemporaries as being a man of "mean learning". His family were Lords of the Manor of Baldoyle for several generations.

Family Fitz-Symon was born in Dublin. Little seems to be known of his parentage, although the surname Fitzsimon is quite common in Ireland. An earlier bearer of the name was the explorer Symon Semeonis (aka Simon FitzSimon or Simon FitzSimmons). Walter Fitzsimon, son of Robert Fitzsimon of Dublin, was Archbishop of Dublin 1484-1511. James Stanyhurst, Recorder of Dublin and Speaker of the Irish House of Commons in three Tudor period parliaments, married Anne Fitzsimon, daughter of Thomas Fitzsimon, his predecessor as Recorder of Dublin.

Career

Edward entered the Inner Temple in 1555. For no very clear reason, the Crown gave him a pension of £4 a year "so long as he abode at the Inns of Court". He had returned to Ireland to practice at the Irish Bar by 1563. He was justice of the Liberties of Wexford and Commissioner for Munster. In 1570 he was made Attorney General, and in 1574 he became Serjeant-at-law, holding that office until his death in 1593. He was a surprising choice, since Irish serjeants-at-law in that era rarely became judges, due to Queen Elizabeth I's generally low opinion of her Irish law officers. In any case, the appointment was only a temporary one since White was restored to office within a few months. On another occasion he was asked to advise on a commission to reform the customs at Chester, but refused on the ground that he did not have adequate time. Gerard was clearly unimpressed by Fitz-Symon's abilities, calling him a man "of mean learning" (he thought poorly of Irish officials generally).

Fitz-Symon pleaded regularly before the Court of Castle Chamber, the Irish equivalent of Star Chamber, and often sat in a quasi-judicial capacity. In 1572 he sat on a commission to inquire into the extent of the former lands of the O'Doyne clan, and decide whether they should be incorporated into Queen's County. Later the same year he sat on the commission to oversee the muster of troops in Dublin. In 1584 he served on a commission to inquire into all persons who had been attainted for treason in seven counties, and in 1588 sat on a commission to inquire into what lands in Sligo were held from the Queen by the Clan O Connor Sligo.

Personal life

Fitz-Symon is said to have made a considerable fortune: he leased Grange Abbey, Baldoyle, from Dublin Corporation, and in 1575 he sent £100, then a large sum, to his son Christopher, who was a student in London.

Religion As an office holder, Fitz-Symon was obliged to conform in public to the Church of Ireland, and to swear an oath acknowledging Queen Elizabeth as the rightful Head of the Church, but his real sympathies were with the Roman Catholic faith. His son Christopher wrote to him from London in 1581 to say that he had temporarily left the Inner Temple, due to the recent establishment of a commission to inquire into the religious orthodoxy of all barristers and students who did not attend Anglican service. Clearly, Christopher, an open recusant, expected his father to share his views on the matter. In the next generation, however, the family conformed to the Church of Ireland.