Gerard Lowther (Irish justice)

Sir Gerald Lowther (1589–1660) 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 critics said that his success was due to his complete lack of moral principle.

He was born in Westmorland, and was undoubtedly a member of the leading landowning family of Lowther, although his exact status in the family is unclear. Sir Gerald Lowther senior 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. The other 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 (1532-1608) and his wife Frances Middleton. Sir Richard's long record of public service was damaged by his adherence for a time to the cause of Mary Queen of Scots, although he managed to avoid permanent disgrace.

He 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 went to the Irish Bar three years later. The Irish Lowthers were supporters of the "Great Earl" Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, the dominant Irish magnate of his time, and the bond was strengthened when Gerald married a daughter of Sir Lawrence Parsons, the Earl's legal adviser. Gerald succeeded to this role and followed his father-in-law to the bench as Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) in 1628. He was knighted in 1631. In 1633 Dominick Sarsfield, 1st Viscount Sarsfield, the Chief Justice of Common Pleas was removed from office for corruption, and the Earl of Cork is said to have paid a thousand pounds to secure the place for Lowther. As Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford assumed complete control of Irish politics Lowther, despite the increasing hostility between Strafford and the Earl of Cork, became one of Strafford's chief assistants.

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