John Thomas Ball

His critics regarded him as an opportunist without any strong political convictions: on a celebrated occasion in the House of Commons, when he asked for the precise date of an event, Richard Dowse, the government spokesman, replied that it was at roughly the time when Ball joined the Conservative party to advance his political career.

as one of the finest ever made in the Commons), but assisted in framing the future constitution of the disestablished Church of Ireland, of which he was a devout member all his life.

Although his talents undoubtedly entitled him to a seat on the Bench, Disraeli was reluctant to lose a Law Officer, to whom he had the highest opinion.

When a suitable replacement as Attorney General was found, Ball served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1875 to 1880.

They had three sons, Charles, and Thomas, and the best-known of their children, F. Elrington Ball, who was an author and legal historian, and is still remembered for his definitive work The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 and for 6-volume History of the Parishes of Dublin.