Henry Fortescue

Sir Henry Fortescue (fl. 1426), was Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. Early life Born about 1395, he was the eldest son of John Fortescue and his first wife Clarice. His younger brother was Sir John Fortescue. The earliest surviving record of the Fortescue family relates to their manor of Whympston in the parish of Modbury, Devon. Studies It is probable that he was a student of Lincoln's Inn, and almost certain that he was elected member of parliament for Devon on 11 November 1421. Chief Justice His appointment as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland is dated 25 June 1426, and for a short period his name occurs several times in the Calendar of the Irish Chancery Rolls. From these entries, which contain all that is known of his career, it appears that a salary was assigned to him of forty pounds per annum, which was soon afterwards altered to forty pence per diem, in addition to the custody of certain manors. Fortescue held his appointment only for seventeen months, and was 'relieved' from it by the king's writ on 8 November 1427.