The History of the British Legal System and the

Solicitor's and Barrister's Profession

The Evolution of the Modern Day Solicitor
During the 16
th
Century the legal process was hierarchical. At the very top of the heap was the
Royal power base, i.e. the King's Bench and Star Chamber. These courts dealt generally with
elements of treason and the protection of royal interest. When moving down the line, the next is
the Assize, the Quarter Sessions and finally the Manorial and Archdeaconary courts.
While the King's Bench and Star Chamber dealt with direct crimes against the Royal House and
Parliament, the remaining courts dealt with the general population and their crimes. The Assize
courts were presented with serious offenders which ultimately could be sentenced the death
penalty. For example, during the Chelmsford Assize of 1585, Thomas Gawdy and Serjeant
Francis Gawdy tried Richard Norry.
'Norry Richard, of Hatfield Peveral, butcher, indicted for murder. On 22 September 1584 at
Hatfield Peverel he attacked Richard Duke with a pike-staff, inflicting injuries from which he
died on 29 September. Not Guilty.'
The next court in the ladder was the Quarter Session, where petty offenses, administration and
misdemeanours were tried. According to J.A Sharpe the Quarter Sessions emerged from the
14
th
Century Statute of Labourers, dictating that the Justices were to meet four times a year to
enforce legislation. From 1360 onwards the trial of capital offences could be tried at the Quarter
Sessions. After 1590 however, they were generally left to the Assize. Occasionally there were
exceptions: an individual was convicted and hanged by the Quarter Sessions in 1654. It is quite
amazing that the Quarter Sessions survived right up to 1971.
Further down the line was the Manorial court. This court tried minor offenses and administered
the transferral of land. For the social historian the most interesting of the lower courts was the
Church courts. Archdeaconary records are a font of village gossip, addressing the issues of
drunkenness, adultery and incest. The courts even tried individuals for playing instruments on
the Sabbath.
In 1668, the Archdeaconary Court tried in Braintree 'Mr John Lerkin et Anna Hurrell for 'being
a-bed together''. Mr Robert Poole was tried for 'lending his hog on the Sabath Day commonly
called Sunday'. In 1669, in Braintree, John Danby from Wethersfield was tried for 'That he
married his wifes sisters daughter which is incest and not knowing whether her husband be
dead or not'.
Punishment for petty offences was shame and humiliation. There were numerous recorded
incidents of ducking stools, stocks and of bespoke punishments thought up for a specific crime.
One such example was recorded in 1608 when John Taylor was indicted for 'wearinge weomen's
apparell'; his sentence was 'his clothes to be cut and breeches to be mode of them & to be
whipped thorowe the citie tomorrowe'.
An accused would be presented before a judge and jury; counsel during this early period of
English history was rare. Other than the elite and highly educated men, like Coke, there were
arguably only the country attorneys.
During the 18
th
Century barristers were becoming a more common feature of country life, and as
time progressed their wealth and status grew. By 1739 a new society was formed, namely 'The
Society of Gentlemen Practitioners in the Courts of Law and Equity'. This society endeavoured
to protect the high standards and the conduct which go hand in hand with the legal profession.
Arguably, by the 1750s, the barrister, lawyer and solicitor had established themselves as an
organised profession.
Before the establishment of the legal professions as we know it today, the accused had to argue
their own case in court with a direct confrontation between themselves and their accuser. Other
than in case of serious cases of treason, defence counsels were rarely seen in the court room. The
Treason Act of 1692 introduced the common feature of a defence counsel, and as time passed,
prosecution counsels were introduced for homicide. This can hardly be seen as a revolution; it
was more of an evolution. It was not until the 19
th
Century that there was a distinct change. With
a gaggle of Acts, for example the Prisoner's Counsel Act 1836 and the Poor Prisoner's Defence
Act 1903, counsel became a regular sight in the court room.
References.
Beattie, J.M (1986). Crime and the Courts in England 1660-1800. Oxford: Claradon Press.
Kent,J.R (1986).The English village constable. 1580-1642 a social and administrative
study. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sharpe,J.A (1985.) 'The People in Law'. In B.Reay (ed) Popular Culture in seventeenth-
centuryEngland. London: Routledge.

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