Ambrose Hardinge Giffard

Sir Ambrose Hardinge Giffard (1771–1827) was chief justice of British Ceylon.

Sir Ambrose Hardinge Giffard
4th Chief Justice of Ceylon
In office 8 April 1819 – 2 March 1827
Preceded by	Alexander Johnston
Succeeded by	Richard Ottley
5th Advocate Fiscal of Ceylon
In office 26 February 1811 – 1821
Preceded by	William Coke
Succeeded by	Henry Mathews
Personal details
Born	1771 Dublin, Ireland
Died	20 April 1827
Alma mater	Trinity College Dublin

Life

Giffard was born in Dublin in 1771, the eldest son of John Giffard (1745–1819), high sheriff of Dublin in 1794, accountant-general of customs in Dublin, and a prominent loyalist. His mother was Sarah, daughter of William Norton, esq., of Ballynaclash, County Wexford. Giffard's grandfather was John Giffard of Torrington, Devon, who gave crucial evidence in the famous Annesley trial of 1743, evidence that turned the scales dramatically in favour of the claimant, James Annesley. Ambrose Hardinge was an attorney engaged in the case by James Annesley's patron Daniel Mackercher. These two names, Mackercher and Hardinge, recurred in the career of John's son, John, and their kindness to the son sprang from the great esteem in which they held his father - esteem that was reciprocated by John junior when he christened his eldest son Ambrose Hardinge Giffard.

After studying for the law he was called to the bar of the Inner Temple, and was appointed chief justice of Ceylon in April 1819. Giffard's health failed, and he was granted leave of absence, but he died on 30 April 1827, while on the homeward voyage, in Lady Kennaway, East Indiaman. Before his death a knighthood was conferred upon Giffard, but the title was never gazetted.

Works

Giffard's leisure was devoted to literature, and a selection of poems was published at Ceylon about 1822. Some are reproduced in the Traditions and Recollections of Richard Polwhele.

Family

He married in 1808 Harriet, daughter of Lovell Pennell, esq., of Lyme Regis, and left five sons and five daughters. Admiral Sir George Giffard (1815–1888) was his third son.

Further reading

• Gentleman's Magazine 1827
• Burke's Peerage, s. v. 'Halsbury.'

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Giffard, Ambrose Hardinge". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.