Bolton, Sir Edward (1592–1659), lawyer and judge, was the eldest of the seven sons and two daughters of Sir Richard Bolton (qv), lawyer and judge, and his first wife, Frances, daughter of Richard Walter of Stafford. He was a member of Clement's Inn, London, in 1608 and was admitted to Lincoln's Inn 30 October 1609; he was called to the bar in 1613. He was appointed to succeed his father as solicitor general for Ireland 5 December 1622 (patent 20 January 1623), and on 7 October 1639 he was appointed chief baron of the exchequer (patent 5 May 1640), again succeeding to an office vacated by his father. Bolton was knighted 2 February 1636. He may have been absent from Ireland in 1642–4, but by July 1645 he was in Dublin, providing legal advice for the administration of James Butler, marquess of Ormond (qv).
Under the commonwealth Bolton was named a commissioner for the administration of justice in Leinster in 1651 and was a core member of the Dublin commission of the peace of 1653. On 17 November 1652 he was one of those named to enquire into the murders and other crimes committed against ‘the English’ in Ireland since 1641. Bolton owned property in counties Dublin and Meath, and is often described as being of Brazeel, Co. Dublin. He married Isabella, daughter of serjeant-at-law William Ayloffe; they had two sons and one daughter. He died in 1659 and was buried in St Bride's, Dublin.