Lawyers, the Model Profession

Lawyers in 19th Century London were members of one of the four prestigious Inns of Court: Gray’s Inn, Lincoln’s Inn, Middle and Inner Temple Inns.  The Inns were places of education, training and development, and residence, for lawyers, which could trace their history back to mediaeval times.  They flourished as places of learning, enjoyed much royal patronage, and provided many scholarly lawyers to serve in the great Offices of State, especially under the Tudor Kings and Queens.

Lincoln’s Inn Court, London

The College of Physicians, formed under King Henry VIII, not surprisingly, modelled itself on these colleges of lawyers, and adopted their training methods: “see & do” under the supervision of a qualified lawyer with whom you worked and dined in “family” groups known as chambers.  For the medics, these training and dining groups were known as “firms”.

By the late 19th Century, the Inns and their members, called barristers, were well-established, and the lawyers were recognised as professional men.

Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand, London

The Inns were located to the west of the City of London clustered around the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, and in close walking distance to Newgate Prison and the Old Bailey Courthouse where our trial took place. Continue reading →