John Penros

John Penros, or Penrose (died 1411) was a Cornish-born lawyer and judge who held office as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, and subsequently served as a High Court judge in England and Wales.^[1] Despite his high office, he was guilty of "an extraordinary career of crime" which stretched over nearly forty years : when the charges against him were eventually proven, he was removed from the Bench.^[2]

He belonged to a landowning family from Escalls in Cornwall.^[3] He was a qualified advocate, but also became known as a notorious law-breaker, who along with his associates John Trevarthian senior (died 1395), and his son John Trevarthian junior (died 1405) was regarded as one of the principal disturbers of the peace in Cornwall.

What was later described as his "remarkable career of crime" began about 1370.^[4] In 1483 he was indicted in Surrey for his alleged role in the murder of Richard Eyre, a fellow Cornishman whose family had a long-standing feud with the Trevarthians.^[5] The following year a warrant for his arrest was issued, but was later withdrawn, apparently on the ground that he was not a principal actor in the murder.^[6] The list of serious crimes of which the Trevarthians were accused, and to most of which Penrose was said to be at least an accessory, grew to a remarkable length: it included their private war with the Eyre family, which had resulted in the murder of Richard Eyre in 1483, as well as piracy, burglary and treason. In time however the Trevarthian family became both wealthy and respectable: at the time of his death in 1405 John Trevarthian junior was Sheriff of Cornwall. ^[7]

Despite his appalling criminal record, Penros was sent to Ireland as Lord Chief Justice in 1385. He returned without permission to England the following year and as a result was accused of misconduct.^[8] Again he seems to have escaped serious censure, despite his reputation as "a notorious criminal". In 1391 he was appointed a justice of the King's Bench ^[9] and became justice of South Wales in 1393. He was a trier of petitions in the House of Commons of 1394,^[10] but was eventually removed from the Bench on the ground of his record as a notorious criminal (even though the career of his accomplice John Trevarthian junior was still flourishing).^[11]

Penros married firstly Joan, daughter of Richard Carnver, who died about 1391, and secondly, about 1395, Constance, of whom little is known. By Joan he had at least two sons,^[12] William and John; John is said to have been an "imbecile from birth". Penros died in 1411.^[13]

References

1. Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 London John Murray 1926 Vol. 1 p.166
2. The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1411 J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe editors 1993
3. Foss, Edward The Judges of England London Longmans 1851 Vol.4 p.66
4. History of Parliament
5. Ball p.166
6. History of Parliament
7. History of Parliament
8. Ball p.166
9. Some sources say the Common Pleas, but Foss believed that the King's Bench was more likely- Judges of England p.66
10. Foss p.66
11. History of Parliament
12. History of Parliament
13. History of Parliament: Elrington Ball, the great authority on Irish judges at this period, gives a much earlier date of death, but may be confusing his political downfall with his death.