Robert de Scardeburgh

Robert de Scardeburgh (died after 1351) was an English judge who also held high judicial office in Ireland.

He was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, from which he took his surname; he is thought to have been a nephew of Robert of Scarborough, who was Dean of York 1279-90.^[1]

In 1331 he was commissioner of assize for Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark, and in the same year became he Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.^[2] In 1332 he received an unspecified reward for his good services in Ireland and a grant of lands at Malahide, near Dublin city. In 1334 he returned to England to become a judge of the Court of King's Bench; he was transferred to the Court of Common Pleas and then back to King's Bench; he also served on a commission of array in Yorkshire.^[3]

In the late 1330s, the poor quality of the Irish judges was giving great concern to the English Crown: the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Thomas Charlton, Bishop of Hereford, was instructed to remove those Irish judges who were considered to be unfit for office and replace them with judges of English birth. Scardeburgh was selected for his old position of Chief Justice of Common Pleas in Ireland to replace Simon Fitz-Richard, but Fitz-Richard fought a successful campaign to retain his place and Scardeburgh did not then come over to Ireland.^[4]

In 1344, he finally returned to Ireland as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland with custody of the seals of both Benches and the fees attaching to them.^[5] He was still alive seven years later.

References

1. Hunt, William "Robert de Scardeburgh " Dictionary of National Biography 1885-1900 Vol. 50 p.396
2. Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 John Murray London 1926 Vol.1 p.72
3. Hunt p.396
4. Frame, Robin Ireland and Britain 1170-1450 Hambledon Press 1998 p.115
5. Otway-Ruthven, A.J. History of Medieval Ireland Reprinted Barnes and Noble 1993 p.157