- Daniel Hartnett, a leading member of the Eastern Shore of Virginia Bar Association and one of the most respected appellate litigators in the state, died Friday in Onancock, VA, at the medical center of the Hermitage retirement and health complex. He was 82 and had been battling brain cancer for several months.
A founding partner of the Accomac law firm of Ayres & Hartnett, Mr. Hartnett was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1961 and spent the next 51 years as a general practitioner, with the courtroom, not the law office, his preferred workspace and the place where he mostly built his considerable legal reputation.
Born and raised in England – he came to the United States while in his late 20's – he never lost his polished British accent or his keen taste for bespoke English suits, and he took evident pride in his verbal and written mastery of the English language when on his feet before a judge or jury, or when composing a legal brief.
Like all general practitioners, he tried all manner of cases, ranging from capital punishment to multi-million-dollar insurance claims, wrenching child custody fights and angry disputes over property lines and land use. But the appellate field – he accepted both state and Federal cases -- was where he was at his legal best and where he enjoyed the most success. He was so successful, in fact, that in his later years he spent much of his time giving pro bono seminars around the state on the finer points of appellate practice.
Though he practiced law in Accomac for half a century, he made his home 60 miles north in Salisbury, MD, for much of that time, commuting daily. In Salisbury, he was a member of the Salisbury Hunt Club, and until well into his 70s he rode almost daily, and on weekends was a headlong, rails-be-damned participant in foxhunts, taking his full share of spills and broken bones.
Born April 16, 1930, in Romford, Essex, England, one of seven children of Daniel Patrick and Ethel Hartnett, Mr. Hartnett was educated in lower schools in both Ireland and England and then in his late teens enrolled in Sandhurst, Britain's Royal Military Academy. Upon graduation, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the 4th Hussars, Churchill's regiment.
He saw action and was wounded while serving in Malaya during the rebel uprising there in the early 1950s. Several years later, in order to fulfill a long-nagging desire to be a pilot, he resigned his army commission and enlisted in the Royal Navy, which sent him to Pensacola, FL, for flight training as part of a NATO military preparedness agreement. After receiving his wings, he was assigned to flight duty on the Royal Naval aircraft carrier Ark Royal, based in Portsmouth, England.
During his return trip to England after completing flight training in Florida, he met his future wife, Ann Ayres of Accomac. They married in 1957 and settled near Portsmouth. But just one year as a carrier pilot was enough to sate Mr. Hartnett's flying urge, and so in late 1958, he once again resigned a British service commission, this time to return to the United States to attend law school at the University of Virginia. Upon graduation, he joined the Accomac law practice of his father-in-law, B. Drummond Ayres.
Within a few years, the Ayres & Hartnett caseload had become so heavy that another Eastern Shore lawyer, Henry P. Custis Jr., was invited to join the firm, which then became Ayres, Hartnett & Custis. After Mr. Ayres's death, in 1984, Mr. Custis left the firm to start his own practice.
Mr. Hartnett's first marriage ended in divorce. He is survived by his wife, the former Charlotte Franklin, as well as four daughters from his first marriage -- Hilary Hartnett-Wilson of Accomac, VA; Amory Bunce of Franktown, VA; Deirdre Shaw of Wilmington, NC and Alexandra Pool of Charlotte, NC. He also is survived by 13 grandchildren, one great-grandchild, a brother, John, of Beccles, England, and a sister, Ursula Rose, of Coolaroo, Victoria, Australia.
A private funeral service will be held, during which Mr. Hartnett's ashes will be scattered over the graves of the many horses he owned. A memorial service will be held later at a date and place to be announced.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to the Hospice of the Eastern Shore, 165 Market St., Suite 3, Onancock, VA 23417.
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1930 - 2021 (91 years)
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