QUEEN VICTORIA, GREAT SEAL OF THE REALM, AND ACCOMPANYING PARCHMENT ROYAL LETTER FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF WALTER BERWICK TO SECOND SERGEANT AT LAW IN IRELAND, 1858
Great Seal of the Realm
The Great Seal of the Realm is the chief seal of the Crown, used to show the monarch's approval of important State documents.
In today's constitutional monarchy, the Sovereign acts on the advice of the Government of the day, but the seal remains an important symbol of the Sovereign's role as Head of State.
The practice of using this seal began in the reign of Edward the Confessor in the eleventh century, when a double-sided metal matrix with an image of the Sovereign was used to make an impression in wax for attachment by ribbon or cord to Royal documents.
The seal meant that the monarch did not need to sign every official document in person; authorisation could be carried out instead by an appointed officer.
In centuries when few people could read or write, the seal provided a pictorial expression of Royal approval which all could understand.
The uniqueness of the official seal - only one matrix is in existence at any one time - also meant it was difficult to forge or tamper with official documents.
The Great Seal matrix has changed many times throughout the centuries. A new matrix is engraved at the beginning of each reign on the order of the Sovereign.
It is traditional that on the death of the Sovereign the old seal is used until the new Sovereign orders otherwise.
For many monarchs, a single seal has sufficed. In the case of some long-reigning monarchs, such as Queen Victoria, the original seal simply wore out and a series of replacements was required.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has had two Great Seals during her reign.
The first was designed by Gilbert Ledward and came into service in 1953. Through long usage and the heat involved in the sealing process, the matrix lost definition.
In 2001 a new Great Seal, designed by sculptor James Butler and produced by the Royal Mint, came into use.The obverse depicts The Queen seated facing front in coronation robes, crowned and holding the sceptre and orb. The reverse bears the full Royal Arms.
The Great Seal matrix is used to create seals for a range of documents requiring Royal approval, including letters patent, Royal proclamations, commissions, some writs (such as writs for the election of Members of Parliament), and the documents which give power to sign and ratify treaties. Each year more than 100 documents pass under the Great Seal.
Separate seals exist for Scotland - the Great Seal of Scotland - and for Northern Ireland - The Great Seal of Northern Ireland.
The process of sealing takes place nowadays at the House of Lords in the office of the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. A system of 'colour coding' is used for the seal impression, depending on the type of document to which it is being affixed.
Different coloured sealing material is used for different types of document.
Dark green seals are affixed to letters patent which elevate individuals to the peerage.
Blue seals are used for documents relating to the close members of the Royal Family.
Scarlet red is used for documents appointing a bishop and for most other patents.
THIS LISTING IS FOR A GREAT SEAL OF THE REALM, IRELAND, IN THE REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA, COMPLETE WITH ORIGINAL WAXED PARCHMENT PAPER ROYAL LETTER, OFFICIAL STAMPS, WITH BRAIDED GREEN AND WHITE RIBBON CORD, FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF WALTER BERWICK TO THE POSITION OF SECOND SERGEANT AT LAW IN IRELAND, IN 1858.
WALTER BERWICK TO WHOM THE DOCUMENT RELATES;
Walter Berwick (1800–1868) was an Irish judge, who perished in the Abergele rail disaster of 1868. He was a much loved public figure, especially in Cork, where he is commemorated by the Berwick Fountain on the Grand Parade in Cork city. He presided over the official inquiry into the Dolly's Brae conflict in 1849.
Early life
He was born in Leixlip, County Kildare, younger son of the Reverend Edward Berwick (1750-1820), vicar of Leixlip, by his first wife Anne Bermingham of Monkstown, County Dublin. His mother died shortly afterthe his birth. Two years later his father remarried Rebecca Shuldham, daughter of Pooley Shuldham, of Ballymulvey, County Longford and had at least two more children, Elizabeth Mary Berwick (died 1868) and Edward Berwick, President of Queen's College, Galway, from 1849 to 1877.
He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and was Treasurer of the Trinity College Historical Society from 1823 to 1831. He entered Gray's Inn in 1823, was called to the Irish Bar in 1826 and became Queen's Counsel in 1840. He became Third Serjeant in 1855 and Second Serjeant in 1858. He became a Bencher of the King's Inn in 1856.
Battle of Dolly's Brae
Dolly's Brae, the site of serious civil unrest in 1849, which prompted an official inquiry chaired by Walter Berwick
On 12 July 1849, the long-standing tensions between the Orange Order and the local Roman Catholic community in south County Down erupted into a skirmish , following an Orange Order march at Dolly's Brae, near Rathfriland, in which several people were killed (the official count was about thirty deaths, though this figure has been disputed). The incident is generally called the Dolly's Brae conflict, or the Battle of Dolly's Brae. The public outcry over the deaths led to the establishment of a Government inquiry which Berwick chaired. His report was highly critical of the local magistrates, especially Lord Roden, for failing to prevent the violence. As a result three magistrates, including Roden, were removed from the Bench. The inquiry also led to the enactment of the Party Processions Act 1850, which prohibited all political processions in Ireland. The measure proved to be equally unpopular with all political parties and was repealed in 1872.
Cork: the Berwick Fountain
For several years he was the Assistant Barrister for the East Riding of County Cork, which in effect meant that he was the Chairman of the Court of Quarter Sessions for Cork. He acquired a reputation for integrity and impartiality, and became a much-loved figure in Cork. He was one of the first judges to expound the notion of the suspended sentence. When he was made judge of the Irish Court of Bankruptcy in 1859, the people of Cork paid a heartfelt tribute to his good service to the city. Berwick, greatly touched by the tribute, responded by commissioning the Berwick Fountain "in remembrance of the great kindness shown to me by all classes in Cork". It was completed in 1860 and still stands on the Grand Parade, although it was moved from its original site in 2007. Berwick served as the Bankruptcy judge until his death. In his last years he lived at St. Edmundsbury, Lucan, County Dublin He was a founder member of the Stephen's Green Club, and an active campaigner for the establishment of the National Gallery of Ireland.
Death: the Abergele rail disaster
In August 1868 Berwick and his sister Elizabeth Mary were returning from a holiday in Switzerland. At Euston Station they took charge of a young girl called Louisa Symes, who was apparently a distant relative. They boarded the Irish Mail to Holyhead. At Abergele in North Wales, two runaway carriages from a goods train ahead crashed into the Irish Mail, causing what was then the worst train disaster in British history. In the resulting inferno 33 people died, including Berwick, his sister and Louisa Symes. All the victims were buried in a common grave, and a memorial was erected to commemorate the disaster.
THE WAXED PARCHMENT LETTER IS WITNESSED BY GEORGE WILLIAM FREDERICK EARL OF CARLISLE AND GENERAL GOVERNOR OF IRELAND AT DUBLIN, AND DATED 5TH FEBRUARY 1858.
ANOTHER, VERY INTERESTING, SIGNATURE AND WITNESS TO THIS DOCUMENT AND THE APPLICATION OF THE GREAT SEAL IS THAT OF JOHN O`CONNELL ("THE YOUNG LIBERATOR"), WHO DIED ONLY FOUR MONTHS LATER.
John O'Connell JP DL (24 December 1810 – 24 June 1858) was one of seven children (the third of four sons) of the Irish Nationalist leader Daniel O'Connell and his wife Mary. He followed his father as a Member of Parliament and leader of the Repeal Association.
Educated at Clongowes Wood College, Trinity College Dublin, and the King's Inns, O'Connell was then called to the bar, but did not practice.
He served in the United Kingdom Parliament as Member of Parliament for Youghal from 1832 to 1837, for Athlone from 1837–1841, for Kilkenny from 1841–1847, for Limerick from 1847–1851 and for Clonmel from 1853–1857.
In 1843, O'Connell was tried with his father in the State Trials, and was imprisoned in Richmond prison before being released the next year by an order of the House of Lords. During his father's declining years, he was the dominant force in the Repeal Association and denounced Young Ireland as irreligious and lawless. In 1847, he closed down Conciliation Hall, and in 1848 reacted to the Rising by establishing closer links with the government. Of Daniel's four sons, he was considered to be the only one who inherited something of his father's political skill: he was nicknamed "The Young Liberator", although critics claimed he did little to justify the title.
In 1851, he took part in the downfall of Lord John Russell and the Whigs from government. After being censured by his constituency, he resigned his seat by taking the Chiltern Hundreds. He opposed the Tenant Right League and was subsequently elected as member for Clonmel in 1853, after which he accepted a sinecure position as Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper at Dublin Castle.
O'Connell was not an impressive public speaker, but wrote political works for the Repeal Association.
THE DOCUMENT IS SEALED WITH GREEN AND WHITE BRAIDED CORD AND THE GREEN WAX GREAT SEAL OF THE REALM OF QUEEN VICTORIA.
MEASUREMENTS:
DOCUMENT:
28" x 29,1/2" (71.1cm x 75cm)
WAX SEAL:
DIAMETER: 6" (15.2cm)
DEPTH: 1" (2.5cm)
TOTAL WEIGHT:
528g
ALL MEASUREMENTS AND WEIGHTS ARE APPROXIMATE.
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CUSTOMS TAX OR IMPORT DUTY ON THIS PURCHASE, THIS ITEM IS DESPATCHED
FROM NORTHERN IRELAND WHICH IS PART OF EU CUSTOMS UNION****
CONDITION:
THE DOCUMENT IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION, NO RIPS OR TEARS, FRONT IS BRIGHT AND CLEAR, AND EASY TO READ, JUST SOME MINOR DUSTY PATCHES TO REAR WHERE FOLDED SURFACES HAVE BEEN EXPOSED. BRAIDED CORD IS FIRMLY CONNECTED TO BOTH LETTER AND SEAL, INTACT, COMPLETE AND TIGHT, NO BREAKS OR FRAYING. THE WAX SEAL IS AS IT CAME OUT OF THE MOULD, A BIT SLOPPY AROUND THE EDGE BUT THE PICTORIAL RELIEFS TO FRONT AND BACK ARE GREAT, JUST SOME SURFACE MARKS AND SCRATCHES.
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