Richard Best (judge) explained

Honorific Prefix:The Right Honourable
Richard Best
Office:Lord Justice of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Northern Ireland
Term Start:1925
Term End:23 February 1939
Office2:Attorney General for Northern Ireland
Term Start2:1921
Term End2:1925
Constituency Mp3:Armagh
Parliament3:Northern Ireland
Term Start3:1921
Term End3:1925
Birth Date:11 December 1869
Birth Place:Richhill, County Armagh, Ireland

Richard Best PC(Ire) KC (11 December 1869 – 23 February 1939) was an Irish barrister, politician and Lord Justice of Appeal.

Best was born in Richhill, County Armagh, son of farmers Robert and Anne Best. He was educated at the Educational Institution, Dundalk (now Dundalk Grammar School) and Trinity College, Dublin where he was Senior Moderator (BA) in mathematics in 1892, and was called to the bar by the King's Inns, Dublin in 1895. He took silk in 1912 and was elected a bencher in 1918. In 1921 he was elected to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland as Unionist member for Armagh and later the same year he was appointed Attorney General for Northern Ireland. He was appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland in the 1922 New Year Honours, entitling him to the style "The Right Honourable".

In 1925 he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Northern Ireland, a position he held until his death.

In 1904, he married Sarah Constance Bevington in St John's Church, Sevenoaks, Kent. They had a son, also called Richard.

Arms

Escutcheon:Ermine a cinquefoil Gules on a chief of the second a cockatrice between two lions' heads erased Argent langued Azure.
Torse:Of the colours.
Crest:A dexter cubit arm erect vested Gules cuffed Argent charged with an ermine spor Or holding in the hand a sword Proper.
Mantling:Gules doubled Argent.
Notes:Confirmed by Sir Nevile Rodwell Wilkinson, Ulster King of Arms, on 7 September 1935.[1]
Motto:Optimus Est Qui Optime Facit [2]

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Grants and Confirmations of Arms, Vol. N . 307 . 1880 . National Library of Ireland.
  2. Web site: Lincoln's Inn Great Hall, Ed43 Best, R . 13 July 2009 . Baz Manning . 19 December 2020.