Nicholas Fastolf

Nicholas Fastolf (died 1330) was an English-born judge who was a leading figure oo the early Irish judiciary; according to some sources he was the first judge to hold the office of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He was an ancestor of Sir John Fastolf, the original of Shakespeare's Falstaff.

Family

He was born in Norfolk, son of Thomas Fastolf of Reedham and Great Yarmouth.^[1] His brothers were Thomas Fastolf, Bishop of St David's and Lawrence Fastolf, auditor of the prerogative court of Canterbury.^[2]

Nicholas' wife was called Cicely and they had several children. Elrington Ball believed that he was the direct ancestor of Sir John Fastolf, which, since both his brothers who we know of were in holy orders, seems probable. In that case Hugh Fastolf, who was MP for Great Yarmouth from 1361 to 1377, is likely to have been his grandson.

Career

He sat as a burgess for Great Yarmouth in the Parliaments of 1309 and 1314 and became a Serjeant-at-law. In 1324 he was sent to Ireland as Lord Chief Justice: Elrington Ball regarded his appointment as a step of great importance in the development of the Irish judiciary, since, while some sources name Walter l'Enfant as the first Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Ball believed that it was Fastolf who was actually the first.^[3] He exchanged the position for that of Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas in 1327, but returned to his earlier position the following year.^[4]

He was granted lands in County Meath: in Dublin he lived in considerable state in a mansion on Rochel Street (now Back Lane) near Dublin Castle, and he made a special contract with the Mayor of Dublin for a private water supply.^[5] He returned to England in 1330, and is heard of there acting as an itinerant (circuit) justice, but died soon afterwards; his executors were his widow and his brother Lawrence.^[6]

Elrington Ball calls him "a man of wealth and distinction".^[7]

References