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Sir John Morice (died 1362) was an English-born statesman in fourteenth-century Ireland. He is remembered chiefly for his enthusiastic if not very successful efforts to reform the Irish administration.

Early career

He was born in Bedfordshire; his family, of whom little is known, are said to have lacked influential connections. He began his career in the service of Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. He was a knight of the shire for Bedfordshire in the Parliament of 1322. He is first heard of in Ireland in 1324 in the entourage of the Justiciar of Ireland, John Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Knayth. Morice himself held the office of Justiciar or Deputy Justiciar on several occasions and was briefly Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1345. He was also Escheator of Ireland from 1329 to 1336, and sat on a number of special commissions in England.

Reformer

As Justiciar he was charged with implementing an ambitious programme of reform, which was prompted by numerous complaints about maladministration by Crown officials in Ireland.^[1] It involved a thorough inquiry into all aspects of the Crown administration, investigating allegations of official corruption, abolition of unnecessary Crown offices, the wholesale replacement of Irish civil servants by men who had estates in England, immediate collection of all Crown debts and resumption of all grants of Crown lands since 1307 (although this was accompanied by a promise of just compensation for those deprived of their lands). The programme has been described as "wholly unrealistic and largely impractical "^[2] and it does not seem that Morice made any real effort to implement it. His appointment has been described as a mistake which would not have been made in normal times: despite his long record of service, he was very much a man of the second rank, who lacked influential family connections.^[3]

Military campaigns

His lack of military ability, a necessary skill for any Justiciar ay that time, was the cause of much unkind comment from the Anglo-Irish nobility.^[4] Nonetheless, he undertook a number of military campaigns against Irish clans which threatened the peace of the Pale in County Meath, and against the MacMurrough-Kavanagh dynasty, Kings of Leinster.^[5] There was also trouble with the Anglo-Irish nobility: Sir Risteárd de Tuit (a descendant of one of the original Norman settlers who came to Ireland with Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath) was arrested on suspicion of treason. A far more powerful enemy, Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond, was also imprisoned and his lands forfeited: Morice was appointed seneschal of these lands. Desmond was eventually pardoned and recovered his lands.^[6] In 1346 Morice as Deputy Justiciar arranged the release of Maurice FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Kildare, who had been imprisoned on suspicion of conspiracy with Desmond.

Recall

Despite the good intentions with which he came to Ireland, his brief tenure as Chancellor was clearly not a success: one historian has called him a second rate civil servant who should never have been given high office.^[7] A plaintive letter written by him survives, complaining of disturbances of the peace, the high price of corn and the public's hostility to him, and asking if he was entitled to act as Chancellor at all, since his warrant of appointment had not arrived.^[8]

References

1. ^Otway-Ruthven, A.J. History of Mediaeval Ireland Barnes and Noble 1993 p.258
2. ^Otway-Ruthven p.258
3. ^Frame, Robin Ireland and Britain 1170-1450 Hambledon Press London 1998 p.118
4. ^Frame p.119
5. ^Otway-Ruthven p.258
6. ^Otway-Ruthven p.265
7. ^Frame p.118
8. ^Otway-Ruthven p.264
9. ^Ball F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 John Murray London 1926 Vol.1 p.79

5 : English judges|People from Bedfordshire|1362 deaths|Year of birth unknown|Lords Lieutenant of Ireland