Inns of Chancery - History

History

It is believed that the Inns of Chancery evolved in tandem with the Inns of Court. During the 12th and 13th century the law was taught in the City of London, 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 that no institutes of legal education could exist in the City of London, and second a papal bull 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 provided for a permanent court. This was the small village of Holborn, 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 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, 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. A student would first join one of the Inns of Chancery, where he would be taught in the form of moots and rote learning. 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. 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 solicitors, 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 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 and an 1850 investigation had failed to uncover their origins. The last Inn to be sold was Clement's Inn, which was sold in 1903, and demolished in 1934.