From the Daily Express, 23 May 1913:
“PEER’S FATAL SEIZURE IN HYDE PARK
LORD ASHBOURNE DIES IN ST GEORGE’S HOSPITAL
Lord Ashbourne, the famous ex-Lord Chancellor of Ireland, who for a generation has been one of the most notable figures in Irish life, died under dramatic circumstances in St George’s Hospital yesterday afternoon. He was in his usual excellent health, and went for a walk in the park in the afternoon with Lady Ashbourne. Opposite the Achilles statue, he was seized with a fainting fit, and fell heavily. The back of his head struck the ground with great force. He was taken to St George’s Hospital in a grave condition, and died soon after his admission.
Lord Ashbourne, who was seventy-six years old, was Lord Chancellor of Ireland under three Unionist Administrations – in 1883-6, 1886-92 and 1895-1906. He was the son of Mr William Gibson, of Merrion-square, Dublin, and after a brilliant career at Trinity College, Dublin, was called to the Irish Bar in 1860. He became a QC in 1872, and was made Attorney-General for Ireland five years later. In 1883 he was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland, with a seat in the Cabinet. Lord Ashbourne was a powerful and effective speaker in the House of Lords on Irish questions, and there was probably no man of his time who knew Ireland better.
Lord Ashbourne was always believed to have the loudest voice in the House of Lords. The story is told of him that when he made his debut as Irish Attorney-General in the House of Commons, a colleague hurrying into the House met another coming out. ‘Where are you going?’ said the former. ‘Don’t you know that Gibson is just up?’ ‘Yes, I know,’ was the reply. ‘I’m going to the Lords. I fancy I shall hear him with more comfort there.’
Lord Ashbourne is succeeded by his eldest son, the Hon. William Gibson, who, in spite of the fact that his father was an ardent Orangeman, joined the Roman Catholic Church some years ago. Mr Gibson is usually found wearing an Irish kilt.”
The Gibson family was one of the most powerful legal dynasties of the 19th century Irish establishment, rising from relative obscurity to produce in a mere three generations a Lord Chancellor of Ireland, an Irish High Court judge and a Vice-Admiral in the British Navy. But there were also Gibson tragedies – a daughter sent to an insane asylum after unsuccessfully attempting to assassinate Mussolini, a son who died mysteriously in the smoking room of a quiet English hotel. As can be seen from the article above, the death of their father, the former Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was equally dramatic.
Lord Ashbourne and his family lived for many years in a house in Merrion Square widely alleged to be haunted. Oddly, a medical journal of a decade or so previously recorded the death in this house of a beautiful young servant girl who had accidentally overdosed on chloroform taken by her to ease a toothache. Could the Gibsons have unwittingly acquired some of her dramatically bad luck?
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