Robert Henley, 1st Earl of Northington

Robert Henley, 1st Earl of Northington PC (c. 1708 – 14 January 1772), was the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain. He was a member of the Whig Party in the parliament and was known for his wit and writing.

Family

Henley's grandfather, Sir Robert Henley, was Master of the Court of the King's Bench. He was essentially a defence counsel. Henley inherited an estate in the Grange in Hampshire which was built for Sir Robert Henley by Inigo Jones. Henley's father Anthony Henley was educated at Oxford and was interested in literature. When arriving in London, he was the friend of the Earls of Dorset and Sunderland, and friends to Swift, Pope, and Burnet. After becoming a married man, Anthony Henley became a chosen member in Andover of the parliament in 1698. He died in August, 1711 and was succeeded by his eldest, Anthony; the second, Robert; and his youngest son, Bertie who died in 1760.

Early life

Born the second son of Anthony Henley, Robert Henley was from a wealthy family in Hampshire. He was educated at Westminster School and attended the St. John's College in Oxford.

Career

Robert Henley gained a fellowship at the All Souls College and was called to the bar on 23 June 1732. He was elected a parliament member of Bath, Somerset in 1747 and became recorder in 1751. He was appointed Attorney General in 1756 and was promoted the next year to Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. He was the last person to receive this title. Although as Lord Keeper he presided over the House of Lords, he was not made a peer until 1760 when he became Baron Henley of Grange in the County of Southampton in Hampshire. When George III ascended to power, Henley came Lord Chancellor and then Viscount Henley and Earl of Northington in 1764.

The delay in raising him to the peerage was due to the hostility of George II, who resented Henley's former support of the Prince of Wales's faction, known as the Leicester House party; and it was in order that he might preside as Lord High Steward at the trial of the Earl Ferrers for murder in 1760 that he then received his patent. He resigned from his position in 1767. At his residence in Hampshire, he died on 14 January 1772.

Personal life

In 1743, Henley married Jane Huband who was the daughter of Sir John Huband of Ipsley of Warwickshire. He had three sons and five daughters. The names of his daughters were as followed: Lady Catherine Henley (d. 9 Jan 1779), Lady Bridget Henley (d. 13 March 1796), Jane Henley (d. February 1823), Lady Elizabeth Henley (d. 20 August 1821), Mary Henley (1753–1814).

He was succeeded by his son Robert Henley, 2nd Earl of Northington.

Cases

• Vernon v Bethell (1762) 28 ER 838, "necessitous men are not, truly speaking, free men, but, to answer a present exigency, will submit to any terms that the crafty may impose upon them."
• Shanley v Harvey (1763) 2 Eden 126, 127, as “soon as a man sets foot on English ground he is free.”
• Brown v Peck (1758) 1 Eden 140, provisions discouraging cohabitation were void against public policy, as where a will promised £5 a month to a beneficiary to split up from her husband, or £2 otherwise. She was entitled to the £5.
• Hussey v. Dillon 2 Amb 603, 604, testament and meaning of "grandchildren"
• 1 Eden 5, “The Court has always in cases of this nature considered the question of consent with great latitude, adhering to the spirit and not the letter. The maxim Qui tacet satis loquitur has therefore been respected, and constructive consents have been looked upon as entitled to as much regard as if conveyed in express terms.”
• Earl of Buckinghamshire v Drury
• Pike v Hoare, 2 Eden, 182; Amb. 428, on conflict of laws, a will affecting lands in the Colonies “is not triable” in this country.
• Burgess v Wheate 1 Eden, 251