Philip Cecil Crampton

Philip Cecil Crampton PC (May 1783 in Dublin – 29 December 1862) was a judge, politician and Solicitor-General for Ireland. He was also a noted supporter of the cause of total abstinence from alcohol.

He was born in Dublin, the fourth son of the Reverend Cecil Crampton, vicar of Headfort, County Galway, and Nicola Marsh. His namesake, the celebrated doctor Sir Philip Crampton, was a cousin, a fact which benefitted his career. He was educated at the University of Dublin, where he was an outstanding student, and gold medallist; later becoming a Fellow of the University (1807–16) and Regius Professor of Law in 1816. He entered Lincoln's Inn in 1808. He was called to the Irish Bar in 1810.

He was appointed Solicitor-General in 1830. He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Saltash in February 1831, and MP for Milborne Port in July 1831. He was judge of the Court of Queen's Bench (Ireland) 1834-1859.

In politics he was a Whig and a strong supporter of progressive Whig causes such as Parliamentary reform and abolition of the slave trade. Though a fine academic lawyer and a "pleasant and tactful" advocate, he was not considered much of a politician. His various proposals to reform the Irish legal system met with little support, and he clashed repeatedly with Daniel O'Connell (he was to be one of the judges at O'Connell's trial in 1844).

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