Richard Jebb

Richard Jebb (1766–1834) was an Irish judge of the nineteenth century. He was a member of a family of English origin, which produced a celebrated doctor, three distinguished clerics, and a noted classical scholar.

He was born in Drogheda, eldest son of John Jebb and his wifeAlicia Forster. His father was an alderman of Drogheda, and alsohad an estate at Leixlip in County Kildare; his grandfather, the elderRichard Jebb, had emigratedto Ireland from MansfieldinNottinghamshire.

Richard's younger brother was John Jebb, Bishop of Limerick.The two brothers were veryclose throughoyr their lives, and John, who never married, lived with Richard as a young man. Their father suffered financial losses for a time, but Richard at the age of twenty-oneinherited a substantial fortune fromhis father's cousin Sir Richard Jebb, 1st Baronet,a distinguished doctorwho becamephysiciantoKingGeorge III. John Jebb,the political and religious reformer, was another cousin who belonged to the Irish branch of the family.

Richard was educated at a localschool in Drogheda, then atthe University of Dublin, from which he graduated in 1786.He entered Lincoln's Innand was called to the Irish Barin 1789,becoming King's Counsel in1806.Hewas a moderate opponent ofthe Act of Union 1800, although inhis pamphlet "Arguments for and against the Act of Union"he did endeavour to be fair to bothsides ofthe debate.Like many former opponents of Union he was prepared toaccept office under the new regime, although he refused to sit in the English House of Commons. He becameThird Serjeant in 1816, Second Serjeant in 1818 and a justice of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland) in 1818.He died suddenly at his home in Rostrevor, County Downin 1834, a victim of the first great cholera epidemic of the nineteenth century.

He married in 1802 Jane Louisa Finlay, eldest daughter of John Finlay of Corkagh, MP for Dublin County. Louisa was described as a woman of exceptional strength of character;she died in 1823, after a long and painful illness. They had six children, five sons and a daughter, of whom the best known is John Jebb (1805-1886), Canon of Hereford Cathedral. Their second son Robertfollowed his father to the Bar, had a successful career, and wasthe father ofthe politician and classical scholar Richard Claverhouse Jebb.

As a judge hehas been described asfirm,but humane and impartial. Elrington Ball calls him a gifted manwho like his brother Bishop Jebb was often underestimated by those who knew him,due to his modest and unassuming manner. Both had a keen sense of humour, although the Bishop usually reserved his jokes for the family circle.