http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_North,_1st_Baron_GuildfordMontagu, and was created Baron Guilford in 1683, after becoming Lord Keeper of the Great Seal in succession to Lord Nottingham.al (1673), and Chief Justice of the Common Pleas (1675), and in 1679 was made a member of the Council of Thirty and, on its dissolution, of the Cabinet. He was a man of wide culture and a staunch royalist, although he opposed the absolutist tendencies of Sunderland.e absurd lies of Titus Oates and other informers. On the other hand it is argued that the senior Chief Justice, Sir William Scroggs, so dominated proceedings that the other judges had little influence. If North succumbed to the prevailing hysteria, so did many others: his brother Roger wrote that "it was a time when wise men behaved like stark fools". the future Lord Chief Justice, Sir Robert Wright, as utterly unfit for any judicial office (he was well qualified to assess Wright's ability since Wright as a young barrister had relied on North to write his legal opinions for him). He has been criticised for remaining in office after Wright was appointed Chief Justice over his vehement objections, especially as it must have been clear that he no longer had influence over judicial appointments. On the other hand he may have felt that keeping Jeffreys out of the Chancellorship was a sufficient justification for clinging to office.rally respected for integrity, but sometimes accused of self-importance and a lack of any sense of humour; for example his excessive agitation at the ridiculous rumour spread by Sunderland and Jeffreys that he had been seen riding on a rhinoceros. Sunderland hated North with a passion, describing him as the most unfit man who ever held his office: " partial, unreasonable, corrupt, arbitrary and ignorant".1729). He died at Wroxton, rather unexpectedly, on 5 September 1685, aged only 47; apart perhaps from stress and overwork, the reasons for his early death are unclear. His last words were "it will not do".
Dudley Francis North 1st Baron of Guilford |
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