Louis Perrin

Louis PerrinPC(15 February 1782 – 7 December 1864) was anIrishbarrister,politician and judge.

Early life

Perrin was born inWaterford,the son ofJean Baptiste Perrin.Jean Baptiste, aFrenchman,had come to Ireland to seek a living: he set himself up as a teacher ofFrench,and earned his living mainly as a privatetutorto wealthy Irish families.

Louis Perrin was educated at the diocesan school atArmagh.Removing toTrinity College Dublin,he waselected a Scholarthere in 1799, and graduated B.A. in 1801. At the trial of his fellow student,Robert Emmet,in 1803, when the sentence of death was pronounced, Perrin rushed forward in the court and warmly embraced the prisoner.

He devoted himself with great energy to the study ofmercantile law;in Hilary term 1806 wascalled to the bar,and was soon much employed in cases where penalties for breaches of the revenue laws were sought to be enforced.

When Watty Cox, the proprietor and publisher ofCox's Magazinewas prosecuted by the government for alibelin 1811, O'Connell, Burke, Bethel, and Perrin were employed for the defence; but the case was practically conducted by the junior, who showed marked ability in the matter.

He was also junior counsel, in 1811, in the prosecution of Sheridan, Kirwan, and the Roman Catholic delegates for violating the Convention Act.

In 1832, he became a bencher ofKing's Inns, Dublin.

Politics

He was aWhigin politics, supportedCatholic emancipation,and acquired the sobriquet of "Honest Louis Perrin". On 6 May 1831, in conjunction withSir Robert Harty,he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) forDublin City.

Being unseated in August, he was returned to theHouse of CommonsforMonaghanat thegeneral election on 24 December 1832,displacingHenry Robert Westenra,the previousTorymember.

At thenext general election, in 1835,he came in for the city ofCashel,on 14 January 1835, but resigned the following August, to take his seat on the bench. In theHouse of Commonshe strove to preventgrand juryjobbery, and made an able speech on introducing the Irish municipal reform bill; and he was untiring in his efforts to checkintemperanceby advocating regulations closingpublic housesat eleven o'clock at night.

From 7 February 1832 to February 1835, he wasThird Serjeant,from February to April 1835First Serjeant,and on 29 April 1835, on the recommendation of theMarquis of Normanby,he succeededFrancis BlackburneasAttorney-General.While a serjeant he presided over the inquiry into the old Irish corporations, and on his report theMunicipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840was passed.

After the death ofThomas Burton Vandeleur,he was appointed a puisne justice of theCourt of King's Bench,on 31 August 1835. In the same year, he was gazetted aprivy councillor.He was most painstaking in the discharge of his important functions; and, despite some peculiarities of manner, may be regarded as one of the ablest and upright judges who have sat on the Irish bench. He resigned on a pension in February 1860, and resided at Knockdromin nearRush, County Dublin,where he frequently attended thepetty sessions.

He died at his residence Knockdromin House, near Rush, on 7 December 1864, and was buried at Lusk, on 10 December. Knockdromin was destroyed in an arson attack in 2011.

Family

He married, in April 1815, Hester Connor Stewart, daughter of the Rev. Abraham Augustus Stewart, chaplain to theRoyal Hibernian School,Dublin and his wife Frances Connor ofCounty Donegal,by whom he had seven sons, including James, a major in the army, who fell atLucknowin 1857; Louis, rector of Garrycloyne,Blarney, County Cork;William, chief registrar of the Irish Court of Bankruptcy (d 1892); Charles, major of the 66th foot from 1865; Mark, registrar of judgments in Ireland; and John, of Fortfield House,Terenure,father of the well-known painter Mary Perrin.

References

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:"Perrin, Louis".Dictionary of National Biography.London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Hansard1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by Louis Perrin