Background
Peter Lyons was presumably born in County Cork, Ireland about 1734. He was the son of John and Catherine (Power) Lyons.
Peter Lyons was presumably born in County Cork, Ireland about 1734. He was the son of John and Catherine (Power) Lyons.
Lyons attended Trinity College, Dublin. According to family tradition he was persuaded by his maternal uncle, James Power, of King William County, Virginia, to emigrate to America where he studied law under Power and was licensed to practise in the county courts of Virginia on February 5, 1756.
Lyons succeeded to the profitable practice of his uncle James Power and rose rapidly in his profession. Later he moved to Hanover County, where he attained "an unrivalled reputation for legal learning". He was plaintiff's attorney in the celebrated "Parsons' Cause" when the Reverend James Maury brought suit for the recovery of the part of his salary lost through the "two penny act" of 1758. Lyons, arguing the nullity of an act which had never received the royal sanction, won the case on a demurrer. A jury was chosen to assess the damages, and Patrick Henry, having become counsel for the defense when the case was already lost, so far succeeded in stirring the latent prejudices of the jury that damages of one penny were awarded. Daniel Call states that "in the contest with Great Britain" Lyons "took part with the colonies, and was a friend to the revolution", but he seems to have seen no active service.
In 1779 he was appointed judge of the general court of Virginia, and in the same year, by virtue of this position, became a judge of the court of appeals. He was one of the first five judges in the reorganized court of December 1788 and on the death of Edmund Pendleton in 1803 became its second president. Though Lyons continued as president of the court until his death, ill health prevented his active connection with it after 1807.
The portrait of Lyons by Thomas Sully in the supreme court room at Richmond shows a man past middle age, of clear, rounded features and benevolent appearance. He was not a brilliant man but was a close student of the law and enjoyed a reputation for unvarying impartiality.
Lyons was twice married, first to his cousin, Mary (Catherine) Power, and secondly to Judith Bassett.
