Background
He was born in Dublin, the fourth son of the Reverend Cecil Crampton, vicar of Headfort, County Galway, and Nicola Marsh.
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Philip Crampton
Edit ProfileMember of Parliament in the United Kingdom
Education
He was educated at the University of Dublin, where he was an outstanding student, and gold medallist. Later becoming a Fellow of the University (1807-1816) and Regius Professor of Law in 1816.
Career
His namesake, the celebrated doctor Sir Philip Crampton, was a cousin, a fact which benefitted his career. He entered Lincoln"s Inn in 1808. He was called to the Irish Bar in 1810.
He was appointed Solicitor-General in 1830.
He was judge of the Court of Queen"s Bench (Ireland) 1834-1859. In politics he was a Whig and a strong supporter of progressive Whig causes such as Parliamentary reform and abolition of the slave trade.
Though a fine academic lawyer and a "pleasant and tactful" advocate, he was not considered much of a politician. His various proposals to reform the Irish legal system met with little support, and he clashed repeatedly with Daniel O"Connell (he was to be one of the judges at O"Connell"s trial in 1844).
O"Connell opposed Crampton"s appointment to the Bench, calling him "utterly incompetent", lacking in integrity, and chosen only due to his friendships with senior judges.
O"Connell however disliked and despised nearly all the Irish judges of his time, and his low opinion of Crampton was not generally shared: when he retired, it was said that no judge"s reputation stood higher. Most contemporaries praised him as "a true gentleman, a true Christian, and a noted philanthropist". He lived in considerable state at his home Saint Valery, near Bray, County Wicklow, but was not noted for hospitality.
A strict advocate of temperance, he refused to serve alcohol to his guests, and according to a much repeated story, poured the entire contents of the Saint Valery wine cellar into the nearby River Dargle.
He retired from the Bench in 1859 and died at Saint Valery in 1862. The estate passed to another branch of the Crampton family.
Membership
9th United Kingdom Parliament. 10th United Kingdom Parliament]
He was elected Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) for Saltash in February 1831, and Member of Parliament for Milborne Portuguese in July 1831.
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Born
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Died
December 29, 1862 (aged 79) -
Nationality
United Kingdom