thumb|200px|Arms of the Earl of Northington: Quarterly: 1st and 4th: Azure, a lion rampant argent ducally crowned or a bordure of the second charged with eight torteaux (Henley); 2nd and 3rd: Argent, three battering rams proper armed and garnished azure (Bertie).

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

Early life

thumb|200px|The Grange, Northington

Henley was educated at Westminster School and attended St. John's College, Oxford. He gained a fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford in 1727, entered the Inner Temple to study law in 1729 and was called to the bar on 23 June 1732. He succeeded his elder brother in 1746, inheriting The Grange, Northington in Hampshire which had been built for his grandfather by Inigo Jones.

Career

He was elected a Member of Parliament for Bath in 1747 and became Recorder of the town in 1751. He was appointed Attorney General and knighted in 1756 and promoted the next year to Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, 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. When George III ascended to power, Henley was appointed Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain in 1761 and made Earl of Northington in 1764.

  • Bridget Henley (d. 13 March 1796), married Robert Lane
  • Jane Henley (d. February 1823);
  • Lady Elizabeth Henley (d. 20 August 1821);
  • Mary Henley (1753–1814),

Henley 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

Notes

References

  • A memoir of the life of Robert Henely, earl of Northington, lord high chancellor of Great Britain
  • The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant
  • Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage
  • re: Penancoet Family
  • Complete Baronetage
  • Burke's Peerage and Baronetage
  • A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe