Recorder of Carrickfergus

The recorder of Carrickfergus was a judicial office-holder in pre-independence Ireland. The office dates from 1593, shortly after the incorporation of Carrickfergus.[1] It was abolished by the new Government of Northern Ireland after the Partition of Ireland in 1921.

The office-holder had the usual duties of a recorder: to keep the peace in the town, to act as its Chief Magistrate, and to preside at criminal trials and at Quarter Sessions, where he had the duty of explaining the law to the jury and pronouncing the Court's judgement.[1] In addition in the early centuries he had the duty of inspecting all leases of houses or lands within the town, for a small fee, but this duty had lapsed by 1800, as had his duty to admit new freemen of the town, again on payment of a small fee.[1] Unlike some recorders, notably the recorder of Dublin, he invariably had a Deputy. The recorder was always a qualified lawyer, but the Deputy was not.[1]

Like most recorderships it was not a Crown appointment: the recorder was elected by a free vote of the town corporation.[1] Many recorders were therefore from local Carrickfergus families, including three generations of the Lyndon family who held the office continuously between 1641 and 1727.[2] Outsiders to the town who were elected recorder, like Sir Thomas Hibbotts (MP for Carrickfergus in the Irish Parliament of 1613–15, and later Chancellor of the Exchequer) usually had a strong local connection, such as representing Carrickfergus in the Irish House of Commons.

The office was badly paid: originally fixed at £20 a year in 1593, the salary was later reduced to £10,[1] and despite frequent requests, the corporation did not agree to increase it until 1820. Even then no precise sum was fixed: the corporation merely agreed to pay the expenses of Mr. Dobbs, the recorder, for attending the Quarter Sessions, until such time as they were able to agree a fixed sum.[1] As noted there were originally some small perquisites, but these had lapsed long before 1820. For this reason several recorders, including Sir John Lyndon, Sir William Sambach[3] and Barry Yelverton, 1st Viscount Avonmore lobbied hard for appointment to additional office as a Law Officer or judge.[4]

After the partition of Ireland in 1921, the new Government of Northern Ireland decided that all recorderships except the recorder of Belfast and the recorder of Derry could be dispensed with.