Background
He was born on May 28, 1736 in Cork County, Ireland.
He was the eldest son of Francis Yelverton of Kanturk, County Cork, and Elizabeth Barry of Kilbrin (now Ballyclogh, County Cork)
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He was born on May 28, 1736 in Cork County, Ireland.
He was the eldest son of Francis Yelverton of Kanturk, County Cork, and Elizabeth Barry of Kilbrin (now Ballyclogh, County Cork)
He went to school in Charleville and attended Trinity College Dublin, where he took a degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1757 and of Bachelor of Laws in 1761.
His family lacked wealth and social position and he was for some years an assistant master under Andrew Buck in the Hibernian Academy.
He was called to the Bar in 1764: despite his lack of family connections his success in his profession was rapid, due to his legal ability, charm and remarkable eloquence, and he took silk eight years afterwards.
He was returned to the Irish House of Commons as member for Donegal Borough from 1774 to 1776. In that year, Yelverton was elected for Belfast and Carrickfergus. He chose to sit for the latter and represented the constituency until 1784. Although few examples of his oratory survive, all contemporaries agree on his eloquence, which gave him a dominant position in the Commons.
He became Attorney-General for Ireland in 1782, and was elevated to the bench as Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer in 1783.
He was created Baron Yelverton in 1795, and in 1800 Viscount Avonmore in the Peerage of Ireland. As Chief Baron he led the opposition to the proposal to increase the number of judges in each of the courts of common law from three to four, on the practical ground that four-judge courts often divide evenly and thus cannot reach an effective decision. Despite this common-sense view, the new judges were eventually appointed.
In 1797 he attained a degree of infamy for presiding over what was widely regarded as a "show trial" which led to the execution of the United Irishman, William Orr (although Yelverton is said to have shed tears when passing the death sentence). Orr was charged with administering the United Irish oath to a soldier called Wheatly; this had recently become a capital offence. In fact it was generally believed that another man, William McKeever, administered the oath. Wheatly was the only witness for the prosecution, and many people believed that he had perjured himself, but despite a superb defence by John Philpott Curran, Orr was found guilty and hanged. Yelverton may have formed an early impression of Orr's guilt and acted on it- even his admirers admitted that as a judge he lacked impartiality.
Peter Finnerty, a journalist, was later convicted of seditious libel for publishing an attack on Yelverton over his conduct of Orr's trial, which did nothing to enhance the judge's reputation.
He died in 1805 at his mansion, Fortfield House, Terenure, County Dublin, which he had built at great expense around 1785.
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He gave his support to Henry Grattan and the Whigs during the greater part of his parliamentary career. He was a strong supporter of the demand for an independent Irish Parliament, but later changed his stance.
He became a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 1787.
Among his colleagues at the Irish bar, Yelverton was a popular and charming companion: even John Philpot Curran, despite their frequent courtroom clashes, seems to have liked Yelverton personally. Curran and Yelverton were co-founders of the popular drinking club called The Monks of the Screw. Being a man of insignificant physical appearance, he owed his early successes to his remarkable eloquence, which made a great impression on his contemporaries; as a judge, he was inclined to take the view of the advocate rather than that of the impartial lawyer. Ball considered him one of the most learned judges of his time. While Edward Cooke called him "a brute", this simply reflects Cooke's low opinion of all Irish judges. Sir Jonah Barrington wrote that for all Yelverton's faults, and his lack of any real moral code, it was impossible not to like and respect him.
In 1761, he married Mary Nugent (died 1802) of Clonlost, County Westmeath, a lady of some fortune, and was thus enabled to read for the Irish Bar, entering the Middle Temple.
He had three sons and one daughter, and the title descended in the family.