Robert Cowley, or Colley (c.1470-1546 ) was an English born judge in sixteenth-century Ireland who held the office of Master of the Rolls in Ireland

Master of the Rolls in Ireland

The office of Master of the Rolls in Ireland originated in the office of the keeper of the Rolls in the Irish Chancery and became an office granted by letters patent in 1333. It was abolished in 1924....

. He is chiefly remembered as the ancestor of the Duke of Wellington

Duke of Wellington

The Dukedom of Wellington, derived from Wellington in Somerset, is a hereditary title in the senior rank of the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first holder of the title was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington , the noted Irish-born career British Army officer and statesman, and...

.

Early life

Despite the family's later eminence, his background and early life are poorly recorded. He is generally thought to have been the son of Walter Cowley of Glaston

Glaston

Glaston is a village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England.Glaston is about four miles south of Rutland Water and is on the A47 two miles east of Uppingham. There are approximately 80 houses in total with one public house 'The Old Pheasant' on Main Road , and a flooring...

 in Rutland

Rutland

Rutland is a landlocked county in central England, bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire and southeast by Peterborough and Northamptonshire....

, where the family is recorded from about 1400. Robert is said to have seen military service with the Earl of Kildare, but the first definite trace of him is when he entered Lincoln's Inn

Lincoln's Inn

The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...

 in 1502. He then seems to have decided on a business career, and moved to Dublin where he became a successful merchant, and was made Bailiff of Dublin in 1515.

Political and judicial career

From about 1520 Cowley played an increasing role in politics. He was in the retinue of the Earl of Surrey

Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk

Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was a prominent Tudor politician. He was uncle to Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, two of the wives of King Henry VIII, and played a major role in the machinations behind these marriages...

 when he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was the British King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...

. In 1522 when Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond replaced Surrey Cowley became his legal adviser and Clerk to the Council in 1525; thereafter the Cowley family were regarded as strong Ormond partisans. Robert also sought influence by becoming a regular correspondent of Cardinal Wolsey and later of Thomas Cromwell.

In the 1530s Robert and his son Walter engaged in a power struggle with Patrick Barnewall

Patrick Barnewall (Solicitor General)

Patrick Barnewall was a leading figure in the Irish Government in the 1530s and 1540s, due largely to his close links with Thomas Cromwell. He held the offices of Solicitor General for Ireland and Master of the Rolls in Ireland. Today he is remembered mainly for his role in founding the King's Inns...

, who also had great influence with Cromwell. The Cowleys, who had the reputation for being entirely unscrupulous, kept up a flow of letters to Cromwell attempting to undermine Barnewall, alleging in particular that he challenged the Royal authority in religious matters, a very serious charge in the political climate of the time.For a time it seemed the Cowleys would oust Barnewall: Cowley obtained the offices of Clerk of the Crown and Receiver of Customs of the port of Dublin, and Cromwell praised him as a man of long established fidelity and truth.Barnewall at one point offered to surrender the office of Solicitor General for Ireland to Walter Cowley. In the event Cromwell seems to have made peace: Barnewall remained Solicitor General and a new post of Principal Solicitor was created for Walter. Robert in 1539 became Master of the Rolls. He served on the commission for suppression of the religious houses and received the priory of Holmpatrick, near Dublin.

Last years

Cowley's influence declined after the downfall of Cromwell: Henry VIII distrusted him, and like many leading figures of the Pale

The Pale

The Pale or the English Pale , was the part of Ireland that was directly under the control of the English government in the late Middle Ages. It had reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast stretching from Dalkey, south of Dublin, to the garrison town of Dundalk...

 he quarreled with Sir Anthony St. Leger, the Lord Deputy. In 1541 Cowley unwisely went to London without leave and was promptly denounced for sedition, imprisoned in the Fleet Prison

Fleet Prison

Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the Fleet River in London. The prison was built in 1197 and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846.- History :...

 and deprived of office. He was released from the Fleet in 1543 and died in England three years later.

Character

Cowley was a gifted man who rose from obscurity to found one of the great Anglo-Irish families; but as a man he was not highly regarded by his contemporaries, or by later historians. His letters to Cromwell, particularly his efforts to destroy Patrick Barnewall, show him in an unattractive light, and historians have described both Robert and Walter as " ambitious mischief-makers".

Descendants

Although Walter Cowley, the Principal Solicitor is sometimes called Robert's brother, the weight of evidence is that he was his son. Walter's son was the distinguished soldier Sir Henry Colley of Castle Carbery. Henry was ancestor of Richard Colley, who adopted the surname Wesley, was created Baron Mornington and was grandfather of the 1st Duke of Wellington.