May, George Augustus Chichester (1816–92), lawyer and lord chief justice of Ireland, was born 16 August 1816 at Belfast, Co. Antrim, son of the Rev. Edward May, rector of Belfast, and Elizabeth May (née Sinclair). Educated at Shrewsbury School, he entered Magdalene College, Cambridge, graduating BA (1838) and MA (1841). Deciding on a career in the law, he entered the Inner Temple (1839) and the King's Inns (1842); he was called to the Irish bar in January 1844. Building a successful chancery practice he became a QC on 8 February 1865 and was chosen to edit the first Irish law reports two years later. In recognition of his talents he was made a bencher of the King's Inns in 1873.
A conservative in politics, May viewed the land agitation in Ireland with distaste, and barely concealed his hostility. In March 1874 he was appointed legal adviser at Dublin Castle, and having earned the confidence of Disraeli became attorney general for Ireland on 27 November 1875. His legal ability was unquestioned, and there was little surprise when he was made lord chief justice on 8 February 1877, and a privy counsellor. On 1 January 1878 he became president of the queen's bench division of the high court of justice, retaining the title of lord chief justice.
The most significant case of his career was one that he was prevented from hearing. Charles Stewart Parnell (qv) and the leaders of the Land League were due to stand trial in late December 1880, on charges of promoting intimidation and law-breaking. May was due to preside over the trial but on 4 December provoked uproar when he rejected an appeal for a postponement of the case in terms that made it clear he considered the defendants guilty. It was unwise and injudicious, and despite his attempts to retract his comments the damage was done. Michael Davitt (qv) sarcastically suggested a vote of thanks to May for turning public opinion in Britain and Ireland against the government. Having suffered much embarrassment May withdrew reluctantly from the case, which was the biggest state trial in over thirty years.
His health failing, and his hearing now defective, he resigned in January 1887 and retired to his home at Lisnavagh, Co. Carlow. He died there 15 August 1892. He married (1853) Olivia, daughter of Sir Matthew Barrington (qv); they had ten children. Three of their sons won distinction in different fields: Edward Sinclair May as a general, Francis Henry May as governor of Hong Kong and the Fiji Islands, and Gould May as a doctor; all were knighted. A fourth son, George May, was a KC and president of the Dublin Naturalists’ Field Club.