Edward Kenealy
Edward Vaughan Hyde Kenealy(2 July 1819 – 16 April 1880) was anIrishbarristerand writer. He is best remembered as counsel for theTichborne claimant[1]and the eccentric and disturbed conduct of thetrialthat led to his ruin.
Early life[edit]
He was born on Nile Street (now Sheares Street),Cork,the son of a local merchant. He was educated atTrinity College Dublin,and wascalled to the Irish Barin 1840 and to theEnglish Barin 1847. He obtained a fair practice incriminalcases. In 1868 he became aQCand abencherofGray's Inn.[1]
He practised on theOxford circuitand in theCentral Criminal Courtand his most famous cases included:[2]
- Defence of Francis Looney and William Dowling against charges oftreason-felony,(1848);
- Junior counsel in the unsuccessful defence ofpoisonerWilliam Palmer,(1856);
- Defence ofRicard O'Sullivan Burkeand his accomplice Casey during theFenian Rising,(1867). Kenealy withdrew from the case following the failed attempt to effect their escape in theClerkenwell explosion.
- Prosecution of the directors ofOverend, Gurney and Companyfor fraud following the company's collapse, (1869);
- Counsel forArthur Orton,alias Roger Tichborne, taking over the brief fromWilliam Campbell Sleighin April 1873.
Private life[edit]
Kenealy suffered fromdiabetesand an erratic temperament has sometimes been attributed to poor control of the symptoms.[2]In 1850 he was sentenced to one monthimprisonmentfor punishing his six-year-old illegitimate son with undue severity. He married Elizabeth Nicklin ofTipton,Staffordshire in 1851 and they had eleven children,[2]including novelistArabella Kenealy(1864–1938). The Kenealy family lived inPortslade,East Sussex, from 1852 until 1874. Edward Kenealy commuted to London and Oxford for his law practice but returned at weekends and other times to be with his family.[3][4]
In 1850, he published an eccentric poem inspired byJohann Wolfgang von Goethe,Goethe, a New Pantomime.[5]He also published a large amount of poetry in journals such asFraser's Magazine.He published translations fromLatin,Greek,German, Italian,Portuguese,Russian,Irish,Persian,Arabic,HindustaniandBengali.It is unlikely that he was fluent in all these languages.
In 1866, Kenealy wroteThe Book of God: the Apocalypse of Adam-Oannes,an unorthodoxtheologicalwork in which he claimed that he was the "twelfth messenger of God", descended fromJesus ChristandGenghis Khan.[2]
He also published a more conventional biography ofEdward Wortley Montaguin 1869.[2]
The Tichborne case[edit]
During the trial, Kenealy abused witnesses, made scurrilous allegations against variousRoman Catholicinstitutions, treated the judges with disrespect, and protracted the trial until it became the longest in English legal history. His violent conduct of the case became a public scandal[1]and, after rejecting his client's claim, the jury censured his behaviour.[2]
The aftermath[edit]
He started a newspaper,The Englishman,to plead his cause, and to attack the judges. His behaviour was so extreme that in 1874 he was disbenched anddisbarredby hisInn.[1]His appointment as a QC was also revoked. He formed the Magna Charta Association and went on a nationwide tour to protest his cause.
At a by-election in 1875, he was elected to Parliament forStoke-upon-Trentwith a majority of 2000 votes. However, no other Member of Parliament would introduce him when he took his seat.[1]Benjamin Disraeliforced amotionto dispense with this convention.[2][6]
In Parliament, Kenealy called for aRoyal Commissioninto his conduct in the Tichborne case, but lost a vote on this by 433–3. One vote was Kenealy's, another that of histeller,George Hammond Whalley.The third "aye" was byPurcell O'GormanofWaterford City.[7]During this period, he also wrote a nine-volume account of the case.
Dr Kenealy, as he was always called, gradually ceased to attract attention,[1]lost his seat at the1880 general election,dying in London before the close of polling aged 60.[2]He is buried in the churchyard ofSt Helen's Church, Hangleton,East Sussex.[8]
References[edit]
- ^abcdefOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Kenealy, Edward Vaughan Hyde".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 728.
- ^abcdefghHamilton (2004)
- ^Melville's Directory of Sussex, 1858
- ^Kenealy. A. (ed.) (2006) [1908]. "Memoirs of Edward Vaughn Kenealy. London: Kessinger.ISBN1-4254-8405-0."
- ^Waterhouse (1952)
- ^PARLIAMENT—RULES AND ORDERS AS TO INTRODUCTION OF NEW MEMBERS—MR. E. V. KENEALY.HC Deb 18 February 1875 vol 222 cc486-90
- ^THE QUEEN v. CASTRO—THE TRIAL AT BAR—ADDRESS FOR A ROYAL COMMISSION.HC Deb 23 April 1875 vol 223 cc1513-613
- ^Dale, Antony (1989).Brighton Churches.London. p. 227.ISBN0-415-00863-8.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Bibliography[edit]
- Works by or about Edward KenealyatInternet Archive
- Hamilton, J. A., rev. R. McWilliam (2004) "Kenealy, Edward Vaughan Hyde (1819–1880)",Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,Oxford University Press, accessed 26 August 2007(subscription orUK public library membershiprequired)
- Kenealy. A., ed. (2006) [1908].Memoirs of Edward Vaughn Kenealy.London: Kessinger.ISBN1-4254-8405-0.
- Roe, M. (1974).Kenealy and the Tichborne Cause: A Study in mid-Victorian Populism.Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.ISBN0-522-84057-4.
- Waterhouse, G. (1952) "Goethe's Irish Enemy – Edward Kenealy", in Boyd, J. (ed.)German Studies presented to Leonard Ashley Willoughby – by pupils, colleagues and friends on his retirement,Oxford: Blackwell
External links[edit]
- 1819 births
- 1880 deaths
- Irish male poets
- Writers from Cork (city)
- Pseudohistorians
- UK MPs 1874–1880
- Disbarred lawyers
- Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
- Irish Senior Counsel
- 19th-century King's Counsel
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- Independent members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
- Members of Gray's Inn
- 19th-century Irish poets
- Lawyers from County Cork
- 19th-century Irish lawyers