Staple Inn, the only Inn of Chancery building to survive largely intact
The Inns of Chancery or Hospida Cancellarie were a group of buildings and legal institutions in London initially attached to the Inns of Court and used as offices for the clerks of chancery, from which they drew their name. Existing from at least 1344, the Inns gradually changed their purpose, and became both the offices and accommodation for solicitors (as the Inns of Court were to barristers) and a place of initial training for barristers.
The practice of training barristers at the Inns of Chancery had died out by 1642, and the Inns instead became dedicated associations and offices for solicitors. With the founding of the Society of Gentleman Practisers in 1739 and the Law Society of England and Wales in 1825, a single unified professional association for solicitors, the purpose of the Inns died out, and after a long period of decline the last one (Clement's Inn) was sold in 1903 and demolished in 1934.
History
The Inns of Chancery evolved in tandem with the Inns of Court. During the 12th and early 13th centuries the law was taught in the City of London, primarily by the clergy. But during the 13th century an event occurred which ended legal education by the Church. A papal bull in 1218 prohibited the clergy from practising in the secular, common law courts. As a result, law began to be practised and taught by laymen instead of by clerics. To protect their schools from competition, Henry II and Henry III issued proclamations prohibiting the teaching of the civil law within the City of London.[1] These schools were based in hostels or "inns", which later took their name from the landlord of the inn in question.[2]
Early-18th-century engraving of Furnival's Inn by Sutton Nicholls
The Inns of Chancery sprung up around the Inns of Court, and took their name and original purpose from the chancery clerks, who used the buildings as hostels and offices where they would draft their writs.[3] As with the Inns of Court the precise dates of founding of the Inns of Chancery are unknown, but the one commonly said to be the oldest is Clifford's Inn,[4] which existed from at least 1344.[5]Thavie's Inn, founded in 1349, is considered to be the next oldest, and several legal historians mistakenly considered it the oldest of them all.[6]
For several centuries, education at one of the Inns of Chancery was the first step towards becoming a barrister. A student would first join one of the Inns of Chancery, where he would be taught in the form of moots and rote learning.[7] He would also be taught by Readers sent from the Inn of Court that his Inn of Chancery was attached to, who would preside over the moots and discuss cases with the students.[8] At the end of each legal term, particularly promising students would be transferred to the parent Inn of Court and begin the next stage of their education.[8] By 1461 there were approximately 100 students studying at the Inns of Chancery at any one time.[9]
At the same time, the Inns of Chancery was used as accommodation and offices by solicitors, the other branch of the English legal profession.[5] During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the purpose of the Inns changed. After the outbreak of the First English Civil War in 1642, the practice of teaching barristers in the Inns ceased, and as a result the Inns of Chancery became a dedicated association for solicitors instead, offering offices and accommodation. The foundation of the Society of Gentlemen Practisers and Law Society of England and Wales in 1739 and 1825 respectively as professional bodies for the solicitors profession relegated the Inns of Chancery to little more than eccentric dining clubs, and they were gradually dissolved and sold. In 1897 a popular book reported that nobody could remember the purpose of the buildings and that an 1850 investigation had failed to uncover their origins.[10] The last Inn to be sold was Clement's Inn, which was sold in 1903,[5] and demolished in 1934.[9]
Inns
Staple Inn in 1886Garden House, Clements Inn, 1883 by Philip Norman
John Fortescue wrote of ten Inns of Chancery, each one attached to an Inn of Court "like Maids of Honour to a Princess".[7] Only nine are known of in detail;[11] the other was St George's Inn.[12]
(An eleventh Inn of Chancery, the Outer Temple, was said to exist by the legal historian John Baker in 2008.[13] This is denied by other writers.[14])
Many Inns were originally independent of the Inns of Court, and fell in and out of allegiance with them, with some claiming independence right up to the nineteenth century. Most Inns became directly attached to Inns of Court during the sixteenth century, however, when the Inns of Court began charging higher acceptance fees to students trained in independent Inns of Chancery than they did to students trained in "their" Inns of Chancery.[15]
Inner Temple attachments
Clement's Inn was the last to be dissolved, being shut down in 1903. Located near St Clement Danes, the Inn was also named after Saint Clement and took as its coat of arms his, with a large letter C in sable.[15] The buildings were completely rebuilt in the 19th century in the Queen Anne Style. Noted members included Sir Edmund Saunders, and William Shakespeare made Justice Shallow, a character in Henry IV, Part 2, a member of the Inn.[16] Members were noted as "a wild lot" known for their drinking and parties.[17] In its later years the Inn was a poor one, and had no library or chapel, with most of the funds being spent on repairs and maintenance for the building.[18]
Lyon's Inn was "a place of considerable antiquity", with records from 1413.[4] Originally a hostel, it was purchased by the inhabitants and turned into an Inn of Chancery. Initially a small but respected Inn that educated people as noted as Sir Edward Coke, Lyon's Inn became a disreputable institution that "perished of public contempt long before it came to the hammer and the pick".[19] By the time it was dissolved it was inhabited only by the lowest lawyers and those struck off the rolls, and when surveyed it was found that it was run by only two Ancients, neither of whom had any idea what their duties were, and the Inn had not dined for over a century.[19] The Inn was dissolved in 1863,[20] pulled down in 1868[21] and replaced with the third Globe Theatre.[20]
Clifford's Inn was the oldest of the Inns of Chancery, and was first mentioned in 1344.[5] Although generally considered a dependent of the Inner Temple, its members always maintained that they were independent.[22] As a note of that "independence" it became custom for the Inner Temple to send them a message once a year, which would be received but deliberately not replied to.[22] Their coat of arms was a modified form of the Clifford family arms, with "cheque or and azure, a fess gules, a bordure, bezantée, of the third."[22] Noted students include John Selden; Sir Edward Coke was also said to have studied there, but historical records find no evidence of this, and he was always associated with Lyon's Inn more than Clifford's.[23]
Middle Temple attachments
The first lawyers to occupy the premises which later became the Middle Temple came from St George's Inn,[24] arriving by 1346.[25] The inn was later deserted in favour of New Inn.[26]
Strand Inn, also called Chester Inn,[21] was the shortest lived of the Inns of Chancery. Founded in the fifteenth century it was pulled down in the 1540s by Lord Somerset in his role as Lord Protector so that he could build Somerset House.[4] The students instead went to New Inn, and Strand Inn was absorbed into that Inn. Thomas Occleve was said to have studied at Strand Inn.[4]
New Inn was founded in the late 15th century on the premises of Our Lady Inn, a hostel.[4] Noted students included Sir Thomas More, who attended New Inn before going to Lincoln's Inn.[27] The buildings of New Inn were pulled down in 1902 to make way for a road between Holborn and the Strand.[4] After the destruction of Strand Inn, New Inn was the only Inn of Chancery left attached to the Middle Temple.[28]
Lincoln's Inn attachments
Furnival's Inn was founded before or during the reign of Henry IV and named after the Lords Furnival.[29] During the 1820s the Inn was completely rebuilt. Noted tenants include Charles Dickens, who began to write The Pickwick Papers whilst living there.[30] The Inn was demolished in 1897.[31]
Thavie's Inn was the second oldest Inn of Chancery, and was founded around 1349. It was sold in 1769.[32] Lawyers from Thavie's Inn were the first to occupy the premises which became Inner Temple in the 1320s.[33]
Gray's Inn attachments
Staple Inn dated from at least 1415,[34] and was originally an inn where wool merchants stayed and haggled. In reference to this, the Inn coat of arms contained a bale of wool.[35] During the reign of Elizabeth I it was the largest of the Inns of Chancery, with 145 students and 69 as permanent residents. The buildings survived the great fire of London and were rebuilt in the seventeenth century,[36] and again in the nineteenth.[34] The Inn was shut down and the building sold to the Prudential Assurance Company in 1884, and part of it is now used as the headquarters of the Institute of Actuaries.[37]
Barnard's Inn, originally known as Mackworth's Inn after its owner, John Mackworth, was established in 1454 as an Inn of Chancery.[38] A large Inn, Barnard's had 112 students a year during the reign of Elizabeth I with 24 in permanent residence.[38] When it was an institute of legal education, it enforced the odd practice of fining a student when he got something wrong: a halfpenny for a defective word, a farthing for a defective syllable and a penny for an improper word.[38] Barnard's was under the supervision of Gray's Inn, who traditionally sent a Reader to the Inn every year, who was treated with great respect.[38] Noted pupils included Sir John Holt, later a distinguished jurist.[38] The Inn was badly damaged in the Gordon Riots after a rioter set fire to the distillery next door. In 1880 it was bought by the Worshipful Company of Mercers and used to house the Mercers' School.[39]
Ringrose, Hyacinthe (1909). The Inns of court an historical description of the Inns of court and chancery of England. Oxford: R.L. Williams. OCLC80561477.
Steel, H. Spenden (1907). "Origin and History of English Inns of Chancery". The Virginia Law Register. Virginia Law Review. 13 (8): 585–593. doi:10.2307/1103274. ISSN1547-1357. JSTOR1103274.
Watt, Francis; Dunbar Plunket Barton; Charles Benham (1928). The Story of the Inns of Court. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC77565485.
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn. It is located in the wider Temple area of London, near the Royal Courts of Justice, and within the City of London. As a liberty, it functions largely as an independent local government authority.
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, a person must belong to one of these Inns. It is located in the wider Temple area, near the Royal Courts of Justice, and within the City of London. As a liberty, it functions largely as an independent local government authority.
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these inns. Located at the intersection of High Holborn and Gray's Inn Road in Central London, the Inn is a professional body and provides office and some residential accommodation for barristers. It is ruled by a governing council called "Pension", made up of the Masters of the Bench and led by the Treasurer, who is elected to serve a one-year term. The Inn is known for its gardens which have existed since at least 1597.
The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court: Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple.
The Temple is an area of the City of London surrounding Temple Church. It is one of the main legal districts in London and a notable centre for English law, historically and in the present day. It consists of the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple, which are two of the four Inns of Court and act as local authorities in place of the City of London Corporation as to almost all structures and functions.
A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law, or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writs dating to 1300 which identify them as descended from figures in France before the Norman Conquest, thus the Serjeants are said to be the oldest formally created order in England. The order rose during the 16th century as a small, elite group of lawyers who took much of the work in the central common law courts.
Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyers in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecution.
Furnival's Inn was an Inn of Chancery which formerly stood on the site of the present Holborn Bars building in Holborn, London, England.
Clifford's Inn is a former Inn of Chancery in London. It was located between Fetter Lane, Clifford's Inn Passage, leading off Fleet Street and Chancery Lane in the City of London. The Inn was founded in 1344 and refounded 15 June 1668. It was dissolved in 1903, and most of its original structure was demolished in 1934. It was both the first Inn of Chancery to be founded and the last to be demolished.
Thavie's Inn was a former Inn of Chancery, associated with Lincoln's Inn, established at Holborn, near the site of the present side street and office block still known as Thavies Inn Buildings. Thavie's Inn is one of the earliest Inns of Chancery on record, both by date of establishment and dissolution. It remains a well-known City of London landmark, where Lloyd's Bank is situated, on the opposite side of Holborn Circus from Ely Place.
Lyon's Inn was one of the Inns of Chancery attached to London's Inner Temple. Founded some time during or before the reign of Henry V, the Inn educated lawyers including Edward Coke and John Selden, although it was never one of the larger Inns. It eventually developed into an institution of disrepute rather than of respect, and by the time it was dissolved in 1863 it was inhabited by only the worst lawyers.
The Outer Temple is a building next to the Temple in London, just outside the City of London. In the 14th century, the property seized from the Knights Templar was divided, and that part of the Temple property then just outside London was given the name Outer Temple. It has been suggested that the name Outer Temple once also referred to an Inn of Chancery; its historical existence was first posited by A. W. B. Simpson and confirmed by John Baker in 2008. Little is known of it, other than that it lacked a hall; Baker suggests that this is the reason that it did not survive long enough to appear in many records. Other writers have insisted that it was never an inn: Sir George Buck wrote in 1612 "the Utter Temple neither is nor was ever any college or society of students".
Stone Buildings, Lincoln's Inn were constructed from 1774 to 1780. The architect was Sir Robert Taylor. Stone Buildings is a Grade I listed building. Stone Buildings appear in Anthony Trollope's novel The Prime Minister.
The Legal profession in England and Wales is divided into two distinct branches under the legal system, those of solicitors and barristers. Other legal professions in England and Wales include acting as a judge, as the Attorney-General, as the Solicitor-General, or as the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Pump Court is a courtyard in Temple, London, now primarily housing barristers' chambers. It is the first on the left in Middle Temple Lane from 6 Fleet Street, leading to Inner Temple Lane and Lamb's Buildings. Its name referred to the pump in the middle.
King's Bench Walk is a street in Temple, in the City of London. It is mainly made up of barristers' chambers.
Gibson and Weldon was a law practice at 27 Chancery Lane in London and the name of its tutorial firm which from 1876 until 1962 prepared hundreds of thousands of future solicitors and barristers in England and Wales for their examinations. Gibson and Weldon also published the monthly journal Law Notes and a series of legal textbooks from adjacent offices at 25–26 Chancery Lane. The firm's principals were Albert Gibson (1852–1921) and Arthur William Weldon (1856–1943). After the death of Arthur Weldon the tutorial firm continued until 1962 when it was merged with the Law Society's own law school to form the College of Law.
The Royal Commission on the Inns of Court carried out an investigation into the Inns of Court and associated Inns of Chancery between 1854 and 1855. The inns were medieval guild-like institutions that provided accommodation for lawyers and had developed gradually into centres for legal education. All barristers in the country had to be a member of one of the inns. It included many of the leading lawyers and jurists of the time. The commission found many of the inns, particularly the Inns of Chancery, were ineffective at educating students and recommended the creation of a single university of law. Steps were taken to accomplish this and a parliamentary bill was prepared but it was never achieved. The commission did, however, have an influence on legal education for decades and was a factor in the establishment of modern law schools at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and London.
The New Inn was one of the Inns of Chancery or Hospida Cancellarie. It existed from the late 15th century until 1902 and was located near Aldwych in London.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
