Gerard Lowther

Sir Gerard Lowther (1589–1660), sometimes referred to as Gerald Lowther, was a member of the well-known Lowther family of Westmoreland. He had a distinguished judicial career in Ireland, becoming Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, although his enemies claimed his success was due to a complete lack of moral principles. Origins He was born in Westmorland, and was undoubtedly a member of the leading landowning family of Lowther, although his exact relationship to the family is unclear. Sir Gerard Lowther senior (died 1624) and his brother Sir Lancelot Lowther, who were both High Court judges in Ireland, acknowledged him as their nephew. It is generally thought that he was the illegitimate son of their eldest brother Sir Christopher Lowther (1557–1617) in which case he should not be confused with Christopher's legitimate son Gerald, by his second wife Eleanor Musgrave. This Gerald was a professional soldier who joined the Polish army and died fighting against the Ottoman Empire. Sir Christopher and his brothers were the sons of Sir Richard Lowther (1532-1607) and his wife Frances Middleton. Sir Richard's reputation for long and loyal service to the English Crown was damaged by his adherence for a time to the cause of Mary Queen of Scots, although he managed to avoid permanent disgrace. Early career Gerard matriculated from Queen's College, Oxford in 1605, entered Gray's Inn in 1608 and was called to the Bar in 1616. No doubt because he had relatives on the Irish Bench, he was called to the Irish Bar three years later. The Lowthers were supporters of the "Great Earl", Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, the dominant Irish magnate of his time, and ties were strengthened when in 1621 Gerald married Anne Parsons, daughter of Sir Lawrence Parsons, the Earl's legal adviser. Gerald succeeded to the role of legal adviser to the Earl, and followed his father-in-law as Attorney-General for Munster in 1621 and to the bench as Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) in 1628. He was knighted in 1631. He became a substantial landowner, with his main estates in County Wexford and County Fermanagh. In 1624 he inherited considerable property from his uncle and namesake Sir Gerard, who amassed a fortune but died childless. He lived mainly at Oxmantown near Dublin. He accumulated money as well as land, and was able to lend James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, £1000, a very substantial amount in the seventeenth century.