Robert Torrens (judge)

Robert Torrens (1775 – 1856) was an Irish judge. He enjoyed, on the whole, a high reputation for impartiality and decency. While critics called him "the notorious hanging Judge Torrens", his admirers praised his legal ability and integrity. Despite occasional complaints about his physical infirmity, he remained on the Bench into extreme old age. Through his daughter Henrietta he was the ancestor of the Barons O'Neill.

He was born in Derry, the third child of the Reverend Thomas Torrens and his wife Elizabeth Curry. The Torrens family were of Swedish origin, and were probably descended from a Swedish officer who came to Ireland in 1689 in the army of William III of England. They were a numerous family with a tendency to intermarry, so that the Torrens family tree can be difficult to untangle. The judge should not be confused with Robert Torrens, the economist, who was his first cousin. Sir Henry Torrens, the noted military adviser, was the judge's brother; their eldest brother, John, became Archdeacon of Dublin.

Both of Robert's parents died when their children were very young, and they were entrusted to the care of relatives. Little is known of Robert Torrens's schooldays. He graduated from the University of Dublin in 1795, entered Middle Temple the following year and was called to the Bar in 1798. He became King's Counsel in 1817 and Third Serjeant in 1822.

In 1822 he was appointed under the Insurrection Act of 1807 to be the Commissioner for County Limerick, with the aim of dealing with the serious problem of agrarian violence in that county. He is said to have discharged his duties with great diligence, moderation and humanity, and to have earned the gratitude of the Crown as a result; this, as much as his brother Henry's friendship with the Duke of Wellington, explains his appointment to the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) in 1823.

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