William Fletcher

William Fletcher (1750–1823) was an Irish barrister, politician and judge. He sat in the Irish House of Commons and became a justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland). He was a man of strong opinions, which were forcefully expressed. He felt especially strongly about the condition of Ireland in his time, and a highly political address he delivered to a grand jury in 1814 caused much controversy and public comment.

The Fletcher family He was the son of George Fletcher and Mary Meyler, eldest daughter of Stephen Meyler. William himself later bought a house on Merrion Square in Dublin city centre, and an estate at Donnybrook, south of Dublin city. Ironically it was as a judge that he earned a reputation for strong political views. This was most notable in his charge to a grand jury in County Wexford at the summer Assizes in 1814, where the jurors were treated to a fiery oration on all the evils afflicting the nation.

The charge caused a sensation, and the published version went through numerous editions. It was greeted with uproar from the Orange Societies, and a petition was presented to the House of Commons for an inquiry into Fletcher's conduct. and the controversy eventually died away. Fletcher remained on the Bench till his death, which occurred in 1823 at his home at Montrose, Donnybrook, Dublin.

Marriage and children

He married Sarah Whitly of Portlaoise in 1780, and had one son, also named William. The younger William married Francesca, youngest daughter of the leading United Irishman, Archibald Hamilton Rowan, and his wife Sarah Dawson, and had issue. He died in 1845, and his widow in 1861.