139:
182:, and was made a judge of the Common Pleas in 1801, shortly after the Union took effect. He was not highly regarded as a lawyer ("deficient in knowledge" was the general view), and his promotion, which was very badly received by the legal profession, was universally seen as his reward for supporting the Act of Union. He received compensation for the loss of his previous offices of Revenue counsel, and the somewhat embarrassing role of Barracks Master.
277:
probably spoke for many when he described him as "dishonest". His appointment to the Bench had been greeted with general condemnation by the legal profession, and his notorious servility to the rich and powerful drew on him the contempt of his colleagues. His plight accordingly aroused very little
314:
Johnson did everything possible to evade prosecution, petitioning each of his judicial colleagues in vain to cancel the arrest warrant. Finally, Chief
Justice Downes, losing patience, had him arrested and sent to London for trial. Downes, who was a very stern man, told Johnson that his attempt to
150:
of
Hillsborough. He was also Barracks Master for Dublin, an office requiring no professional qualifications, which made him something of an object of ridicule, as it was widely considered demeaning for a barrister to hold it. Due to Downshire's patronage he was also elected MP for
315:
evade justice was as serious a matter as the libel itself. After some further delay he was convicted of seditious libel in the autumn of 1805, but was spared a prison sentence. He was forced to resign from the Bench the following year, although rather surprisingly he was given a
327:
The rest of his long life was spent in retirement at the
Derries, his daughter's country house in County Laois. He became increasingly eccentric, and made spirited attacks on whichever Government was in power. In his last years it was said that he talked endlessly about
99:
Robert married Susan Evans, daughter of John Evans of Dublin in 1778 (William married her sister). They had one daughter
Margaret, who married her cousin William Johnson Alloway of Ballyshaneduff, County Laois, and had at least six children.
306:. Though its enactment was certainly convenient for the prosecution, there is no evidence that, as the Government's critics alleged, it was passed to deal specifically with the Johnson case.
250:. They were extremely well-informed about the Irish judiciary, suggesting that the author was himself a judge. Suspicion fell at first on Johnson's colleague on the Court of Common Pleas,
96:(1760-1845), also an MP and a High Court judge, was Robert's youngest brother. He was regarded as by far the abler lawyer of the two, but his career was hampered by Robert's disgrace.
265:
Further inquiries proved
Johnson to be the author: he may have fallen under suspicion because many years earlier he had published a similar attack on a long-serving High Court judge,
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179:
167:, and thereby lost the patronage of Lord Downshire, who was one of the strongest opponents of the Union, and damaged his career in the process. Downshire committed
135:, whereas everyone else attributed it to the goodness of the Marquess of Downshire. Others thought his rise to be due to his notorious servility to those in power.
45:. The letters caused a major scandal, and after some delay, Johnson was identified as the author. He was prosecuted after a further delay and convicted of
539:
335:
On his death his estates passed to his grandson Robert
Morellet Alloway (1810–1877); his daughter Margaret Johnson Alloway had died the previous year.
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He pleaded for leniency (presumably he finally confessed to having written the letters), but the authorities took a severe view of the matter, and a
41:
In 1803 he published a number of attacks on various members of the Irish
Government in the form of a series of letters written under the pseudonym
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273:, "Causidicus". Johnson was highly intelligent and well-read, and could be an agreeable enough companion, but he had few friends or admirers:
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but forced to resign from the Bench, and retired into private life, where he continued his feud with the Dublin administration.
302:. c. 92) which provided that a warrant issued in England could be transmitted to Ireland and there endorsed for execution by a
35:
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letters are unclear, although he had made a similar anonymous attack on a senior Irish judge, Christopher
Robinson, in 1779.
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was issued for his arrest to stand trial in
England for seditious libel. This was made possible by the recent passage of an
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88:". Thomas was rather self-conscious about his humble origins, which may be why, when he was almost 60, he qualified as a
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131:, who knew the Johnson family well, noted cynically that Johnson's father attributed Bob's success to the goodness of
73:
238:(or "Iverna") is a variant of "Hibernia", and was used by certain Irish nationalists as a poetic symbol for
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291:
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31:
254:, who was noted for his bad temper and violent outbursts in Court. However in a personal interview with
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letters attacked the Irish executive with great venom, and were sympathetic to the recently executed
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in south County Dublin; he also had a country residence at the
Derries, or Ballyshaneduff, near
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84:, and who was described as a "decent, orderly apothecary and a good, orthodox, hard-praying
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in 1801: according to his family, this was a result of his loss of political influence.
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he criticised the authorities for excessive leniency to the rebels. He supported the
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205:(or Order of Saint Patrick), which had been founded about 1780 by
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Memoirs of the life and times of the Right Hon. Henry Grattan
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Johnson served briefly in the last session of the pre-Union
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A History of the King's Serjeants-at-law at law in Ireland
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in 1791, and was appointed counsel to the Revenue Board.
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He had a townhouse in Dublin city centre and a house at
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of £1,200 a year (equivalent to £123,000 in 2023).
380:
The Removal of Judges under the Act of Settlement 1701
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published a series of letters in his weekly newspaper
262:, Fox was able to convince Downes of his innocence.
16:Irish barrister, politician, and judge (1745–1833)
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467:
201:. He was a member of the popular drinking club,
353:"Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland"
8:
332:matters, of which in fact he knew nothing.
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108:He entered Middle Temple in 1774 and was
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382:Glion Institute of Higher Education 2007
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387:Cambridge Dictionary of Irish Biography
230:, written by an author calling himself
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142:Arthur Hill, 2nd Marquess of Downshire
125:Arthur Hill, 2nd Marquess of Downshire
7:
540:Justices of the Irish Common Pleas
296:Apprehension of Offenders Act 1804
282:Apprehension of Offenders Act 1804
14:
428:"The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921"
256:William Downes, 1st Baron Downes
351:Burke, John and Burke, Bernard
346:The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921
36:Court of Common Pleas (Ireland)
385:Woods, C.J. "Johnson, Robert"
159:, and in the aftermath of the
1:
430:London John Murray 1926 p.333
369:Dublin Four Courts Press 2000
260:Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
530:Members of the Middle Temple
217:In 1803 the radical English
56:His motives for writing the
360:The Life of William Cobbett
556:
535:Lawyers from Dublin (city)
355:London Henry Colburn 1849
22:(1745–1833) was an Irish
127:. The leading statesman
348:London John Murray 1926
161:Irish Rebellion of 1798
34:and was a judge of the
362:Routledge reprint 2011
227:The Political Register
203:The Monks of the Screw
143:
32:Irish House of Commons
157:Catholic Emancipation
141:
304:justice of the peace
267:Christopher Robinson
155:. He was opposed to
20:Robert (Bob) Johnson
426:Ball, F. Elrington
344:Ball, F. Elrington
207:John Philpot Curran
213:The Juverna affair
146:He held office as
144:
49:. He was spared a
378:Nash, Michael L.
292:act of Parliament
165:Act of Union 1800
123:in the 1790s was
110:called to the Bar
80:who practised on
26:, politician and
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310:Arrest and trial
275:Daniel O'Connell
269:, under another
176:Irish Parliament
82:Fishamble Street
72:, eldest son of
30:. He sat in the
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222:William Cobbett
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68:He was born in
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51:prison sentence
47:seditious libel
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119:His political
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153:Hillsborough
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112:in 1776. He
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525:1833 deaths
520:1745 births
489:Vol.5 p.159
461:Ball p. 257
375:Vol. 5 1846
365:Hart, A.R.
234:. The name
180:Philipstown
514:Categories
503:Ball p.239
323:Last years
278:sympathy.
219:journalist
133:Providence
86:Protestant
78:apothecary
487:"Memoirs"
300:44 Geo. 3
271:pseudonym
244:"Juverna"
232:"Juverna"
114:took silk
90:physician
64:Biography
43:"Juverna"
24:barrister
485:Grattan
330:military
252:Luke Fox
187:Milltown
148:Recorder
339:Sources
317:pension
288:warrant
240:Ireland
236:Juverna
169:suicide
58:Juverna
294:, the
258:, the
242:. The
121:patron
104:Career
70:Dublin
393:Notes
199:Paris
76:, an
28:judge
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494:^
478:^
466:^
435:^
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209:.
193:,
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38:.
298:(
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