177:, he was appointed puisne (junior) justice of the Common Pleas (which was then known simply as "the Bench"). He was removed from office in 1312, as part of an economy and efficiency drive. An order was issued by the Crown to the Irish Justiciar to dismiss all but the most efficient judges: Bardfield, despite his earlier high reputation as a lawyer, and his good services as Serjeant, was apparently considered expendable as a judge. In 1315 he was appointed to the Justiciar's Court, but evidently never sat there. He was reappointed to the Common Pleas shortly afterwards, to replace
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106:. He continued to take private clients, as most Serjeants then did. His retainer for his services to Nicholas, son of John de Interberge, survives, in which it was agreed that his services to Nicholas were subject to his duty to the King, and his prior commitments to longer established clients. (Nicholas was probably the Nicholas, son of John Hynterberge who sold The Rath, later called
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pleases". No doubt it was recalled that
William had been removed from the Bench in 1312 as one of its least efficient members, and removed again in 1319 for the same reason. Given the extent of his lands, the Crown could be forgiven for being sceptical about his pleas of poverty. William was still alive in 1327, and probably died in early 1333.
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and his
Council. He referred to his long record of service to the Crown as Serjeant and judge, and pleaded for his reinstatement to the office, and also for compensation "so that he may have something to live on". He claimed redress under a number of heads, including the hardship he had suffered as
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in 1315-18. He also asked to be excused repayment of a Crown debt, on the grounds of his poverty. As far as we can judge he was entirely unsuccessful (he was probably suspected of exaggerating his poverty): the King's endorsement on the petition merely states that "he (the King) will do as he
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He was dismissed from office in 1312; he was later reinstated, but was removed from office again in 1319 on the grounds of limited efficiency. The second dismissal was final, despite his vigorous pleas for reinstatement or compensation for loss of
239:. From his petition to the Crown for redress in 1321, it seems that his Irish lands suffered serious damage during the Bruce Campaign, although it is likely that he exaggerated the extent of his losses.
22:(1258 – before 1334) was an English-born lawyer of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century who enjoyed a successful legal career in England before moving to Ireland, where he was successively
110:, to the Bagod family in about 1280). For over a decade, William regularly appeared as an advocate on the Crown's behalf in the royal courts in Dublin, and also on the
157:), and sued several times to preserve the King's rights. It seems that his salary as King's Serjeant (fixed at 5 marks per annum in 1299) was in arrears until 1308.
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who had been attached to the Royal Courts at
Westminster: the sisters were not Bayfield's daughters (he had no legitimate children), but were presumably his
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82:(although, as it turned out, he was not highly regarded as a judge). He practised first as an attorney for private clients, and accumulated large
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42:. He was a substantial landowner in both England and Ireland, though he complained that his Irish lands had been despoiled during the
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a result of the loss of his salary on his dismissal, and the damage he had suffered to his property during the
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By 1297 he was one of the two King's
Serjeants in Ireland (or King's Pleader, in the terminology of the time),
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He married c.1289 Katherine, co-heiress with her sister of John of
Bayfield (died 1284), a wealthy
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He appears to have been a conscientious Crown official. In 1302 he pleaded that one of the Royal
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being the other. Their office involved pleading cases in the Royal Courts on behalf of the
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which were Crown property. He was also guardian of the King's right to present
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Great
Bardfield, Essex, William's birthplace, present day: the High Street
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William of
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has been sold "to the King's prejudice". In 1306 he sued over the
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National
Archives: Petition of William de Berdefeld 1321
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280:A History of the King's Serjeant at law in Ireland
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265:Round Hall Sweet and Maxwell 1996
270:English Law in Ireland 1290-1324
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16:English lawyer, judge in Ireland
250:The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921
189:In 1321 he addressed a lengthy
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282:Dublin Four Courts Press 2000
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447:Serjeants-at-law (Ireland)
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185:Petition for reinstatement
153:to churches (the right of
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24:Serjeant-at-law (Ireland)
398:Patent Rolls 9 Edward II
227:. He also held lands in
129:had been sold without a
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387:Close Roll 1 Edward II
362:Close Roll 27 Edward I
252:London John Murray 1926
46:Invasion of 1315-1318.
263:The Irish Law Officers
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80:Irish legal profession
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32:Justiciar of Ireland
248:Ball, F. Elrington
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50:Early life
377:Casey p.8
352:Hart p.14
343:Hart p.11
331:Ball p.61
311:Hand p.93
233:Oxmantown
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