Joseph Jackson

Joseph Devonsher Jackson PC (23 June 1783 – 19 December 1857) was an Irish Conservative MP in the United Kingdom Parliament and subsequently a High Court Judge. Early career He was the eldest son of Strettell Jackson of Peterborough, County Cork, a carrier by trade, and Mary Cossens. He went to a private school run by a local clergyman. He attended Trinity College Dublin, where he received the top honours every year, and attended the Middle Temple, before being called to the Irish Bar in 1806. He built up a lucrative legal practice, and was able to pay off his father's debts when the family business failed. He was briefly involved in the linen manufacturing business run by his wife's brother Mr. Clarke, but he had little talent for the trade. As a young man, he was a passionate and evangelical Protestant, active in attempting to convert Roman Catholics to his own faith; but as a judge, he was notably free of religious bias, despite the Queen's fears that he would prove to be a bigoted Orangeman. Politician and judge