Between the leaves of ‘An Incorruptible Irishman, Being an Account of Chief Justice Charles Kendal Bushe, and of his wife, Nancy Crompton, and their Times 1767-1843,’ written by his great-granddaughters Edith Somerville and Martin Ross, better known as authors of ‘The Irish RM’, may be found the following fascinating anecdote, surely unprecedented in the history of criminal defence work, of Bushe’s dramatic triumph as counsel in a murder trial in Wexford:
“The case was perfect for the prosecution, and when Charles gloomily declined to cross-examine weak evidence, it was felt that he knew his case was hopeless. The Jury complacently informed the Court that their verdict was ready. The Judge made sure that the black cap was handy, and was about to begin his charge, when Charles, still in profound gloom, got up and said to the Jury:
‘One moment, gentlemen – Did any of you know the murdered man?’
‘Sure, we all did,’ responded the Jury, as one man.
Charles turned to the door.
‘Walter Megler,’ he called briskly, ‘Come into court.’
The murdered man walked in and mounted the witness table.
‘There, gentlemen,’ says Charles, enveloping the gaping Jury in his most benignant smile, ‘is my defence.’”
Lest the reader might, in consequence of the above, view Bushe as something more than superhuman, the book kindly includes another anecdote of a more personal nature, albeit with a professional element:
“They were setting forth on one of their exhausting journeys… to Dublin. The legitimate trunks were on the rumble, but what seemed to be a never-ending succession of bags, baskets and bandboxes, fruitage of the eleventh hour, was being, by Nancy’s directions, piled into the carriage in which he and Nancy were seated. At length Charles, in pardonable exasperation, snatched from the servant’s hand the next bandbox to arrive, and throwing it out of the window, told the coachman to drive on at once. Nancy said nothing; her forbearance surprised and touched him. Next morning when he had to go to court, his wig was nowhere to be found. ‘You insisted on leaving it on the steps, my dear,’ said Nancy.”
Sadly, the book, beautifully illustrated with drawings by Bushe and Nancy’s daughter Henrietta, is out of print and not available online – time for a new edition in digital form, perhaps?
The couple were also the grandparents of unforgettably named Irish barrister Seymour Bushe. More about him here.
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