Inns of Chancery - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Inns of Chancery or Hospida Cancellarie were a group of buildings and legal institutions in London initially attached to the Inns of Court

Inns of Court

The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. All such barristers must belong to one such association. They have supervisory and disciplinary functions over their members. The Inns also provide libraries, dining facilities and professional...

and used as offices for the clerks of chancery

Court of equity

A chancery court, equity court or court of equity is a court that is authorized to apply principles of equity, as opposed to law, to cases brought before it.These courts began with petitions to the Lord Chancellor of England...

, 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

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 Gentlemen Practisers in 1739 and the Law Society of England and Wales

Law Society of England and Wales

The Law Society is the professional association that represents the solicitors' profession in England and Wales. It provides services and support to practising and training solicitors as well as serving as a sounding board for law reform. Members of the Society are often consulted when important...

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

It is believed that the Inns of Chancery evolved in tandem with the Inns of Court

Inns of Court

. During the 12th and 13th century the law was taught in the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

, primarily by the clergy. During the 13th century two events happened which destroyed this form of legal education - firstly a decree by Henry III of England

Henry III of England

Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...

that no institutes of legal education could exist in the City of London, and second a papal bull

Papal bull

A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....

that prohibited the clergy from teaching the law. As a result the system of legal education fell apart, and the lawyers instead settled immediately outside the City of London as close as possible to Westminster Hall, where the Magna Carta

Magna Carta

Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...

provided for a permanent court. This was the small village of Holborn

Holborn

Holborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...

, where they inhabited "hostels" or "inns", which later took their name from the landlord of the Inn in question.

The Inns of Chancery sprung up around the Inns of Court, and took their name and original purpose from the chancery

Court of equity

clerks, who used the buildings as hostels and offices where they would draft their writs. 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

Clifford's Inn

Clifford's Inn was an Inn of Chancery which is located between Fetter Lane and Clifford's Inn Passage, leading off Fleet Street, EC4.Founded in 1344 and dissolved in 1903, most of the original structure was demolished in 1934...

, which existed from at least 1344. 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.

For several centuries, education at one of the Inns of Chancery was the first step towards becoming a barrister

Barrister

A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...

. A student would first join one of the Inns of Chancery, where he would be taught in the form of moots

Moot court

A moot court is an extracurricular activity at many law schools in which participants take part in simulated court proceedings, usually to include drafting briefs and participating in oral argument. The term derives from Anglo Saxon times, when a moot was a gathering of prominent men in a...

and rote learning

Rote learning

Rote learning is a learning technique which focuses on memorization. The major practice involved in rote learning is learning by repetition by which students commit information to memory in a highly structured way. The idea is that one will be able to quickly recall the meaning of the material the...

. He would also be taught by Readers

Reader (Inns of Court)

A Reader in one of the Inns of Court in London was originally a senior barrister of the Inn who was elected to deliver a lecture or series of lectures on a particular legal topic...

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. 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. By 1461 there were approximately 100 students studying at the Inns of Chancery at any one time.

At the same time the Inns of Chancery was used as accommodation and offices by solicitor

Solicitor

Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...

s, the other branch of the English legal profession. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the purpose of the Inns changed. After the outbreak of the First English Civil War

First English Civil War

The First English Civil War began the series of three wars known as the English Civil War . "The English Civil War" was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651, and includes the Second English Civil War and...

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

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. The last Inn to be sold was Clement's Inn, which was sold in 1903, and demolished in 1934.

Inns

John Fortescue wrote of ten Inns of Chancery, each one attached to an Inn of Court

Inns of Court

"like Maids of Honour to a Princess". Only nine are known of in detail, others were "never acknowledged by anybody" and are not found in records. The nine Inns were Clement's Inn, Lyon's Inn

Lyon's Inn

Lyon's Inn was one of the Inns of Chancery attached to 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...

and Clifford's Inn

Clifford's Inn

attached to the Inner Temple

Inner Temple

The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...

, Strand Inn and New Inn attached to the Middle Temple

Middle Temple

The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known 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...

, Furnival's Inn

Furnival's Inn

Furnival's Inn was an Inn of Chancery which formerly stood on the site of the present Holborn Bars building in Holborn, London, England.-History:...

and Thavie's Inn attached to Lincoln's Inn

Lincoln's Inn

The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...

and Staple Inn

Staple Inn

Staple Inn is a building on the south side of High Holborn in London, England. Located near Chancery Lane tube station, it is used as the London office of the Institute of Actuaries and is the last surviving Inn of Chancery and is a listed building....

and Barnard's Inn

Barnard's Inn

Barnard's Inn is the current home of Gresham College in Holborn, London.-History:Barnard's Inn dates back at least to the mid 13th century — it was recorded as part of the estate of Sir Adam de Basyng, one time Mayor of London. It passed on to John Mackworth, the Dean of Lincoln who in turn passed...

attached to Gray's Inn

Gray's Inn

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 and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...

. 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.

Inner Temple attachments

Clement's Inn was the last to be dissolved, being shut down in 1903. Located near St Clement Danes

St Clement Danes

St Clement Danes is a church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. The current building was completed in 1682 by Sir Christopher Wren and it now functions as the central church of the Royal Air Force.The church is sometimes claimed to...

, the Inn was also named after Saint Clement

Pope Clement I

Starting in the 3rd and 4th century, tradition has identified him as the Clement that Paul mentioned in Philippians as a fellow laborer in Christ.While in the mid-19th century it was customary to identify him as a freedman of Titus Flavius Clemens, who was consul with his cousin, the Emperor...

and took as its coat of arms his, with a large letter C in sable

Sable

The sable is a species of marten which inhabits forest environments, primarily in Russia from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, in northern Mongolia and China and on Hokkaidō in Japan. Its range in the wild originally extended through European Russia to Poland and Scandinavia...

. The buildings were completely rebuilt in the 19th century in the Queen Anne Style

Queen Anne Style architecture

The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...

. Noted members included Sir Edmund Saunders, and William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

made Justice Shallow, a character in Henry IV, Part 2

Henry IV, Part 2

Henry IV, Part 2 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed written between 1596 and 1599. It is the third part of a tetralogy, preceded by Richard II and Henry IV, Part 1 and succeeded by Henry V.-Sources:...

, a member of the Inn. Members were noted as "a wild lot" known for their drinking and parties. 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.

Lyon's Inn was "a place of considerable antiquity", with records from 1413. 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

Edward Coke

Sir Edward Coke SL PC was an English barrister, judge and politician considered to be the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Born into a middle class family, Coke was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge before leaving to study at the Inner Temple, where he was called to the...

, Lyon's Inn became a disreputable institution that "perished of public
contempt long before it came to the hammer and the pick". 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. The Inn was dissolved in 1863 and replaced with the third Globe Theatre

Globe Theatre (Newcastle Street)

The Globe was a Victorian theatre built in 1868 and demolished in 1902. It was the third of five London theatres to bear the name. It was also known at various times as the Royal Globe Theatre or Globe Theatre Royal. Its repertoire consisted mainly of comedies and musical shows...

.

Clifford's Inn was the oldest of the Inns of Chancery, and was first mentioned in 1344. Although generally considered a dependent of the Inner Temple, its members always maintained that they were independent. 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. 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." Noted students include John Selden

John Selden

John Selden was an English jurist and a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law...

- Sir Edward Coke

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.

Middle Temple attachments

Strand Inn, also called Chester Inn, was the shortest lived of the Inns of Chancery. Founded in the fifteenth century it was pulled down in the 1540s by Lord Somerset

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, KG, Earl Marshal was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....

in his role as Lord Protector

Lord Protector

Lord Protector is a title used in British constitutional law for certain heads of state at different periods of history. It is also a particular title for the British Heads of State in respect to the established church...

so that he could build Somerset House

Somerset House

Somerset House is a large building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, England, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The central block of the Neoclassical building, the outstanding project of the architect Sir William Chambers, dates from 1776–96. It...

. The students instead went to New Inn, and Strand Inn was absorbed into that Inn. Thomas Occleve

Thomas Occleve

Thomas Hoccleve or Occleve was an English poet and clerk.-Biography:Hoccleve is thought to have been born in 1368/9 as he states when writing in 1421/2 Thomas Hoccleve or Occleve (c. 1368–1426) was an English poet and clerk.-Biography:Hoccleve is thought to have been born in 1368/9 as he...

was said to have studied at Strand Inn.

New Inn, originally St. George's Inn or Our Lady Inn, was founded in the 15th century from our Lady Inn, a hostel. Noted students included Sir Thomas More

Thomas More

Sir Thomas More , also known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and, for three years toward the end of his life, Lord Chancellor...

, who attended New Inn before going to Lincoln's Inn

Lincoln's Inn

. The buildings of New Inn were pulled down in 1902 to make way for a road between Holborn

Holborn

and the Strand

Strand, London

Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...

. After the destruction of Strand Inn, New Inn was the only Inn of Chancery left attached to the Middle Temple.

Lincoln's Inn attachments

Furnival's Inn was founded before or during the reign of Henry IV

Henry IV of England

Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...

and named after the Lords Furnival. During the 1820s the Inn was completely rebuilt by Inigo Jones

Inigo Jones

Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...

.Reference needs checking:Inigo Jones bornJuly 15, 1573 and died June 21, 1652. Noted tenants include Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

, who began to write The Pickwick Papers
The Pickwick Papers
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club is the first novel by Charles Dickens. After the publication, the widow of the illustrator Robert Seymour claimed that the idea for the novel was originally her husband's; however, in his preface to the 1867 edition, Dickens strenuously denied any...

when there. The Inn was demolished in 1897.

Thavie's Inn was the second oldest Inn of Chancery, and was founded around 1349. It was sold in 1769.

Gray's Inn attachments

Staple Inn dated from at least 1415, 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. 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, and again in the nineteenth. 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

Institute of Actuaries

The Institute of Actuaries was one of the two professional which represented actuaries in the United Kingdom . The Institute was based in England, while the other body, the Faculty of Actuaries, was based in Scotland...

.

Barnard's Inn, originally known as Mackworth's Inn after its owner, John Mackworth, was established in 1454 as an Inn of Chancery. A large Inn, Barnard's had 112 students a year during the reign of Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

with 24 in permanent residence. 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. 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. Noted pupils included Sir John Holt, a noted jurist. The Inn was badly damaged in the Gordon Riots

Gordon Riots

The Gordon Riots of 1780 were an anti-Catholic protest against the Papists Act 1778.The Popery Act 1698 had imposed a number of penalties and disabilities on Roman Catholics in England; the 1778 act eliminated some of these. An initial peaceful protest led on to widespread rioting and looting and...

after a rioter set fire to the distillery next door. In 1880 it was bought by the Worshipful Company of Mercers

Worshipful Company of Mercers

The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier Livery Company of the City of London and ranks first in order of precedence. It is the first of the so-called "Great Twelve City Livery Companies". It was incorporated under a Royal Charter in 1394...

and used to house the Mercers' School

Mercers' School

The Mercers' School was a private school in the City of London, England, with a history going back to at least 1542, which closed in 1959.After the disestablishment of the Hospital of St Thomas of Acon in 1538, the hospital's land was bought by the Mercers' Company , and the school was founded in...

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