Vicary Gibbs (judge)

Gibbs's unpleasant voice, disagreeable temper, and jejune pedigree presented formidable handicaps at the start of his career.

He was made Solicitor General in February 1805 and knighted; however, he left office in favour of Sir Arthur Piggott after Pitt's death in January 1806.

Hostile to Grenville, he lost his seat at Totnes, but the formation of the second Portland government in 1807 saw him made Attorney General and returned to Parliament for Great Bedwyn.

In any case, Gibbs accepted a great reduction in income to do so, although his appointment as Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer in November 1813 somewhat eased this.

Probably the most celebrated case he heard was the libel action brought by Lady Frances Webster and her husband over the allegation (almost certainly untrue) that she had an affair with the Duke of Wellington.

[3] A further decline in health led to his resignation in November 1818, and he died on 8 February 1820 at his house in London, later being interred in the Churchyard of St. Mary the Virgin in Hayes, Bromley.