William MacMahon was an Irish judge and member of a Limerick family which became prominent largely through personal influence over the Prince Regent.

Background

He was born in Limerick

Limerick

Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...

, son of John MacMahon, comptroller of the port of Limerick, and his second wife, Mary Stackpoole. He was educated at the University of Dublin, called to the Bar in 1799, King's Counsel in 1807.

Family and political connections

William married firstly Frances Burston, who died in 1813; and secondly Charlotte Shaw. Of his numerous children the most notable was Charles MacMahon

Charles MacMahon

Charles MacMahon was an Australian politician and for a short time Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police. MacMahon was born County Tyrone, Ireland, to a wealthy Irish family and served in the British army. He obtained a veterinary diploma in 1852, and soon left for Australia to join the gold rush...

 (1824–1891) who had a distinguished career in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 as politician and who was the second Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police from 1854-58. Charles MacMahon was also Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly

Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly

The Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly is the presiding officer of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria....

 between 1871-77.

William's most valued relative was undoubtedly his much older half-brother, Sir John McMahon, 1st Baronet (1754–1817) who in 1811 was appointed private secretary to the Prince Regent

Prince Regent

A prince regent is a prince who rules a monarchy as regent instead of a monarch, e.g., due to the Sovereign's incapacity or absence ....

, later King George IV, and who in the remaining six years of his life was considered to have great influence over the Prince. Certainly he was able to obtain favours for his family: when John Philpot Curran

John Philpot Curran

John Philpot Curran was an Irish orator, politician and wit, born in Newmarket, County Cork. He was the son of James and Sarah Curran.-Career:...

 retired as 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....

 John was able to obtain the office for William, then only 37; this is said to be one of the few occasions when the British Royal family has directly intervened in a judicial appointment. William, like his brother, became a baronet

Baronet

A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...

.

Judicial career and reputation

In previous centuries the office of Master of the Rolls in Ireland had been a sinecure for politicians. However the appointment of Sir Michael Smith in 1801 had marked an effort to turn the office into a full-time judicial position which would attract first class lawyers. Given William's youth, and the nepotism which gave rise to it, his appointment might have been expected to arouse protest. In fact, according to Elrington Ball, there was no protest and the appointment worked out far better than had been feared: William had a reputation for integrity, was popular and a fairly good lawyer. An obituary notice published soon after his death in January 1837 seems to bear this out: MacMahon is praised for integrity and lack of political prejudice and as an exceptionally conscientious judge; while the writer admitted he was very slow in giving judgment this was attributed to his desire to ensure that justice was done.