Bewley, Sir Edmund Thomas (1837–1908), judge, genealogist, and professor of law, was born at the family home at Clara, King's Co. (Offaly), only son of Edward Bewley of Moate, Co. Westmeath, and Mary Bewley (née Mulock) of Kilnagarna, King's Co. He entered TCD in October 1854 and was made a scholar in 1857. During his time at the college he proved to be an exceptional student, winning a gold medal in experimental and natural science (1859). He graduated BA (1860) and MA (1863). In 1862 he was called to the Irish bar before returning to TCD to take up a teaching appointment. Made a QC in 1882, he was appointed regius professor of feudal and English law at TCD in 1884. He became a doctor of law in 1885 and a bencher of the King's Inns in 1886. He held the professorship until 1890, when he was made a judge of the supreme court of judicature of Ireland and judicial commissioner of the Irish Land Commission. He retired in 1898 and was knighted in the same year.
During his legal career he wrote a number of legal studies, including The law and practice of the taxation of costs (1867) and A treatise on the common law procedure acts (1871). Most of his writings were, however, in the area of genealogy. He had always displayed a passionate interest in genealogy, and on his retirement began to write extensively on the subject. Apart from numerous articles for The Genealogist and The Ancestor, he published The Bewleys of Cumberland (1902), The family of Mulock (1905) and The family of Poe (1906). On the basis of his genealogical studies he was made a fellow of the RSAI in 1903, and contributed articles to the society's journal in 1905 and 1908. He was elected fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (1908). He died 27 June 1908 at Gowran, Co. Kilkenny, after a short illness.
He married (1866) Anna Sophia Stewart Colles, daughter of Henry Hope Colles; they had two sons and a daughter. The family originally lived in Monkstown, Co. Dublin, but later moved to 40 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin.