James Hewitt, 1st Viscount Lifford (28 April 1712 – 28 April 1789) was an Anglo-Irish politician, lawyer and judge. He served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1767 to 1789.
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Early life
Hewitt was the son of a Coventry draper, William Hewitt (1683–1747), who was born in Rockcliffe, Cumberland, the son of James Hewitt and Mary Urwin. The judge's mother was Hannah Lewis. In a class-conscious age, his background was something of a handicap, and his "small-town" manners were the subject of unkind comments throughout his life. Hewitt used his influence with the first Rockingham ministry to secure office for his brother, William Hewitt (1719–1781), as a commissioner for the sale of ceded lands in the British West Indies.
Career
Hewitt first worked as an attorney's clerk. By 1742, he had become a barrister. Rising quickly through the legal profession, his career climaxed when he was made Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1767, a post he held until his death in 1789. He was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Lifford, of Lifford in the County of Donegal, in 1768, and was further honoured when he was made Viscount Lifford in 1781, also in the Irish peerage.