Master of the Rolls
Master of the Rolls is the second highest judicial office in the English legal system after the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales . The Master of the Rolls presides over the civil division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales . He is also responsible for admitting attorneys to the UK Supreme Court .
History and etymology
The first mention of a Master of Rolls dates from 1286, although it is believed that the office existed before. Until the appointment of Thomas Cromwell in 1534, the office was always exercised by clerics . The 97th and current incumbent is Terence Etherton .
As the chief official of the Lord Chancellery , the Master of the Rolls was responsible for keeping the King's most important correspondence as well as the files and documents of the Court of Chancery . The unusual title derives from the parchment scrolls on which the originals of all British laws are recorded to this day.
appointment
The appointment of the Master of the Rolls was previously the responsibility of the King of England . Before taking office, the respective candidate, if the King was in London, had to take an oath of office in Westminster Hall . Although the appointment by the king is still valid today, this is purely formal. The proposal comes today from a commission made up of the President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom as Chairman, the Lord Chief Justice and the Chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission . This submits a proposal to the Lord Chancellor, which he can either accept or reject. A Master of the Rolls can only be appointed who fulfills the requirements for the appointment as Lord Justice of Appeal or Judge at the Court of Appeal , i.e. can show the admission as barrister or solicitor and has at least seven years of professional experience.
tasks
In his position as head of the Lord Chancellery, the Master of the Rolls was responsible for keeping the Great Seal of England in addition to the safekeeping of documents and files in the absence of the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal . With the Rolls Estate Act of 1837, the Master of the Rolls became head of the Public Record Office . Over time, in close cooperation with the Lord Chancellor, he also took on judicial tasks. So took John Frank during a trip by the Lord Chancellor after France exercises the judicial function. In 1496, the position of the Master of the Rolls as judge was for the first time enshrined in law, stating that he should be responsible for complaints of perjury . However, as long as the Master of the Rolls was acting as the Lord Chancellor's deputy, he could not speak any final verdicts; all judgments that were made in the absence of the Lord Chancellor had to be confirmed by the latter. With the Judicature Acts of 1875 and 1881 and the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 , the Master of the Rolls became President of the Court of Appeal. Although with the increasing influence of the Master of the Rolls in the area of jurisdiction, the tasks related to the storage of documents gradually passed to his deputies, in 1837 he was made head of the National Archives. Until 2003 he chaired the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts established in 1869 and the Advisory Council on Public Records .
Seat
Originally, the Master of the Rolls traveled with the King's Court as part of the Court of Chancery . But even under Edward I , the tasks to be performed by the Master of the Rolls took on an extent that demanded a local office. Initially, the Master of the Rolls office was located in the Domus Conversorum , a dormitory for Jews who had converted to Christianity on Chancery Lane . Around 1520 the office was located in the so-called Harflu Inn, south of Carey Street. The Court of Chancery's records have been kept in a variety of locations in and outside London over the centuries. At the end of the 12th century they were in Temple Church , 1337 - in the tenure of John de St. Paul , they were kept in the Tower of London and in the Abbey of St Mary in York . In 1838 the Public Record Office was founded, located in what is now the Maughan Library , the main library of King's College . In 2003 the Public Record Office was dissolved and merged with the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts to form the British National Archives . As President of the Civil Chamber of the Court of Appeal, the current Master of the Rolls has his office in the Royal Courts of Justice in London.
List of past officials
| No. | Surname | Life dates | Term of office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Langton | (before 1286–1337) | (1286-1295) |
| 2 | Adam Osgodby | (before 1286-1316) | (1295-1316) |
| 3 | William Airmyn | (?? - 1336) | (1316-1324) |
| 4th | Richard Airmyn | (around 1290 – around 1340) | (1324-1325) |
| 5 | Henry Cliffe | (around 1280–1334) | (1325-1333) |
| 6th | Michael Wrath | (?? - ??) | (1334-1337) |
| 7th | John de St Paul | (approx. 1295–1362) | (1337-1341) |
| 8th | Thomas Evesham | (?? - ??) | (1341) |
| 9 | John of Thoresby | (?? - 1373) | (1341-1346) |
| 10 | David Wollore | (?? - ??) | (1346-1371) |
| 11 | William Burstall | (?? - ??) | (1371-1381) |
| 12 | John Waltham | (?? - 1395) | (1381-1386) |
| 13 | John Burton | (?? - ??) | (1386-1394) |
| 14th | John Scarle | (?? - ??) | (1394-1397) |
| 15th | Thomas Stanley | (?? - ??) | (1397-1402) |
| 16 | Nicholas Bubwith | (approx. 1355–1424) | (1402-1405) |
| 17th | John Wakering | (?? - 1425) | (1405-1415) |
| 18th | Simon Gauntsede | (?? - ??) | (1415-1423) |
| 19th | John Frank | (?? - ??) | (1423-1438) |
| 20th | John Stopyndon | (?? - ??) | (1438-1447) |
| 21st | John Kirkeby | (?? - ??) | (1447–1461) |
| 22nd | Robert Kirkeham | (?? - ??) | (1461-1471) |
| 23 | William Morland | (?? - ??) | (1471) |
| 24 | John Alcock | (around 1430–1500) | (1471-1472) |
| 25th | John Morton | (1420–1500) | (1472–1479) |
| 26th | Robert Morton | (1435-1497) | (1479–1483) |
| 27 | Thomas Barowe | (?? - around 1497) | (1483–1485) |
| 28 | Robert Morton | (1435-1497) | (1485–1487) |
| 29 | David William | (?? - ??) | (1487–1492) |
| 30th | John Blythe | (around 1450–1499) | (1492-1494) |
| 31 | William Warham | (1450-1532) | (1494–1502) |
| 32 | William Barnes | (?? - 1505) | (1502–1504) |
| 33 | Christopher Bainbridge | (around 1462–1514) | (1504–1508) |
| 34 | John Yonge | (around 1465–1516) | (1508-1516) |
| 35 | Cuthbert Tunstall | (1474–1559) | (1516–1522) |
| 36 | John Clerk | (?? - 1541) | (1522–1523) |
| 37 | Thomas Hannibal | (?? - ??) | (1523–1527) |
| 38 | John Taylor | (around 1480–1534) | (1527-1534) |
| 39 | Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex | (around 1485–1540) | (1534–1536) |
| 40 | Sir Christopher Hales | (?? - 1541) | (1536–1541) |
| 41 | Sir Robert Southwell | (around 1506– ??) | (1541–1550) |
| 42 | John Beaumont | (?? - ??) | (1550–1552) |
| 43 | Sir Robert Bowes | (around 1495–1554) | (1552–1553) |
| 44 | Sir Nicholas Hare | (around 1484–1557) | (1553–1557) |
| 45 | Sir William Cordell | (1522–1581) | (1557–1581) |
| 46 | Sir Gilbert Gerard | (before 1523–1593) | (1581–1594) |
| 47 | Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley | (1540-1617) | (1594-1603) |
| 48 | Edward Bruce, 1st Lord Kinloss | (1548-1611) | (1603-1611) |
| 49 | Sir Edward Phelips | (approx. 1555–1614) | (1611-1614) |
| 50 | Sir Julius Caesar | (1557-1636) | (1614–1636) |
| 51 | Sir Dudley Digges | (approx. 1583–1639) | (1636–1639) |
| 52 | Sir Charles Caesar | (1590–1642) | (1639-1642) |
| 53 |
John Colepeper, 1st Baron Colepeper Royalist |
(approx. 1600–1660) | (1643-1660) |
| 54 |
William Lenthall parliamentarians |
(1591–1662) | (1643–1659) |
| 55 | Sir Harbottle Grimston, 2nd Baronet | (1603–1685) | (1660–1685) |
| 56 | Sir John Churchill | (? -?) | (1685) |
| 57 | Sir John Trevor | (approx. 1637–1717) | (1685–1689) |
| 58 | Sir Henry Powle | (1630–1692) | (1689-1693) |
| 59 | Sir John Trevor | (approx. 1637–1717) | (1693-1717) |
| 60 | Sir Joseph Jekyll | (1663-1738) | (1717–1738) |
| 61 | Sir John Verney | (1699–1741) | (1738–1741) |
| 62 | Sir William Fortescue | (1687–1749) | (1741–1749) |
| 63 | Sir John Strange | (1696–1754) | (1750–1754) |
| 64 | Sir Thomas Clarke | (1703–1764) | (1754–1764) |
| 65 | Sir Thomas Sewell | (approx. 1710–1784) | (1764–1784) |
| 66 | Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon | (1732–1802) | (1784–1788) |
| 67 | Richard Arden, 1st Baron Alvanley | (1744–1804) | (1788–1801) |
| 68 | Sir William Grant | (1752-1832) | (1801-1818) |
| 69 | Sir Thomas Plumer | (1753-1824) | (1818-1824) |
| 70 | Robert Gifford, 1st Baron Gifford | (1779-1826) | (1824-1826) |
| 71 | John Singleton Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst | (1772–1863) | (1826-1827) |
| 72 | Sir John Leach | (1760-1834) | (1827-1834) |
| 73 | Charles Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham | (1781-1851) | (1834-1836) |
| 74 | Henry Bickersteth, 1st Baron Langdale | (1783-1851) | (1836-1851) |
| 75 | John Romilly, 1st Baron Romilly | (1802–1874) | (1851–1873) |
| 76 | Sir George Jessel | (1824-1883) | (1873-1883) |
| 77 | William Brett, 1st Viscount Esher | (1817-1899) | (1883-1897) |
| 78 | Nathaniel Lindley, Baron Lindley | (1828–1921) | (1897–1900) |
| 79 | Richard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone | (1842-1915) | (1900) |
| 80 | Archibald Levin Smith | (1836–1901) | (1900-1901) |
| 81 | Richard Collins, Baron Collins | (1842-1911) | (1901–1907) |
| 82 | Herbert Cozens-Hardy, 1st Baron Cozens-Hardy | (1838-1920) | (1907-1918) |
| 83 | Charles Swinfen Eady, 1st Baron Swinfen | (1851-1919) | (1918-1919) |
| 84 | William Pickford, 1st Baron Sterndale | (1848–1923) | (1919–1923) |
| 85 | Ernest Pollock, 1st Viscount Hanworth | (1861-1936) | (1923-1935) |
| 86 | Robert Wright, Baron Wright | (1869–1964) | (1935–1937) |
| 87 | Wilfred Greene, 1st Baron Greene | (1883–1952) | (1937-1949) |
| 88 | Raymond Evershed, 1st Baron Evershed | (1899–1966) | (1949–1962) |
| 89 | Alfred Denning, Baron Denning | (1899–1999) | (1962–1982) |
| 90 | John Francis Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Lymington | (1920-2005) | (1982-1992) |
| 91 | Thomas Bingham, Baron Bingham of Cornhill | (1933-2010) | (1992-1996) |
| 92 | Harry Woolf, Baron Woolf | (* 1933) | (1996-2000) |
| 93 | Nicholas Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers | (* 1938) | (2000-2005) |
| 94 | Anthony Clarke, Baron Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony | (* 1943) | (2005-2009) |
| 95 | David Neuberger, Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury | (* 1948) | (2009–2012) |
| 96 | John Dyson, Lord Dyson | (* 1943) | (2012-2016) |
| 97 | Sir Terence Etherton | (* 1951) | (2016–) |
Individual evidence
- ↑ John C. Sainty: The judges of England 1272-1990 . A list of judges of the superior courts. Selden Society, London 1993, pp. 144 .
- ↑ Lord Hanworth: Some Notes on the Office of Master of the Rolls . In: Cambridge Law Journal . 5, No. 3, 1935, p. 313. ISSN 1469-2139 . doi : 10.1017 / S0008197300124675 .
- ↑ Background information on the position of Master of the Rolls at judiciary.gov.uk ( English ). Accessed December 6, 2012.
- ↑ Lord Hanworth: Some Notes on the Office of Master of the Rolls . In: Cambridge Law Journal . 5, No. 3, 1935, p. 315. ISSN 1469-2139 . doi : 10.1017 / S0008197300124675 .
- ↑ Lord Hanworth: Some Notes on the Office of Master of the Rolls . In: Cambridge Law Journal . 5, No. 3, 1935, p. 326. ISSN 1469-2139 . doi : 10.1017 / S0008197300124675 .
- ↑ Alexander Luders: The Statutes of the Realm . From original Records and authentic Manuscripts. Vol. II. Eyre & Strahan, London 1816, pp. 589 ff .
- ^ Calendar of Miscellaneous Inquisitions. Volume I, p. 455.
- ↑ Entry on Six Clerks' Office on history.ac.uk
- ^ Henry Churchill Maxwell Lyte: Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III . volume 4: 1337-1339. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London 1900, p. 130 .