William Methold

Sir William Methold (or Methwold) (c. 1560–1621) was an English-born judge in seventeenth-century Ireland, who held office as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer.

History

He was born in Norfolk, eldest of the three sons of William Methold or Methwold (died 1586), of Rushford, and his wife Susanna Alington, daughter of George Alington or Alyngton of Swinhope, Lincolnshire. His maternal grandmother was Ann Cheke, daughter of Peter Cheke, and sister of Sir John Cheke, tutor to King Edward VI. Cheke received a grant of Rushford, which was originally a royal manor, from the King, and quickly leased it to Alington, from whom it passed to the Metholds.

He was educated at Lyon's Inn and Lincoln's Inn. He was called to the Bar in 1589, became a serjeant-at-law c. 1612, and was made a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 1608. He was knighted and sent to Ireland as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer in 1612, an office he held until his death. He was appointed joint Keeper of the Great Seal of Ireland in 1619. He joined the King's Inn in the same year. He is buried in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. The marriage created a useful family link with Sir Thomas Richardson, the future Lord Chief Justice, who married Margaret's sister Ursula.

They had one daughter, Elizabeth, who married in 1608 Thomas Potts, Master of the Harriers (Hare-hounds) to James I. William Methold's widow Margaret remarried Sir Thomas Rotherham, Mayor of Galway, member of the Privy Council of Ireland and MP for Tuam in the Irish Parliament of 1634-5. Sir Arthur Chichester, the Lord Deputy of Ireland, concerned at rumours that the Crown was planning to remove Methold, praised him as "an honest man".

Woolrych notes that despite his impressive achievements he remains a rather shadowy figure, and that we lack any of those colourful anecdotes, of the kind in which the legal profession delights, which would bring his character to life.