2-888-408 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Mr. Hatchell, M.P. for Windsor, 1850. Portrait of John Hatchell, Her Majesty's Solicitor-General For Ireland, who '...was called to the Irish Bar in 1809, and...almost at once obtained celebrity and a large practice as a criminal lawyer, and within a short period had gained the character of being one of the ablest cross-examiners and best Crown lawyers at the Irish Bar. O'Connell used to say to him, "When I'm gone, you'll be first." In 1846 he was one of the counsel to the Castle; and in December, 1847, received the appointment of Solicitor-General for Ireland. At the time there could scarcely be a more arduous office. The duties of 1848 were incessant. There were two special commissions in the south, the conduct of the criminal business of which fell to the Solicitor-General, and the trials in Dublin for sedition and high treason'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.