Inns of Chancery
The
Inns of Chancery were buildings which housed associations of lawyers in
London from the late
Middle Ages to the 19th century. The origins of the Inns of Chancery are obscure, but initially they may have been used by clerks in the
chancery, as the
Lord Chancellor's office was known. Later they were used by
attorneys and
solicitors. They were smaller and less prestigious than the
Inns of Court, whose membership has always consisted primarily of
barristers, and entirely so since the late 18th century.
The Inns are believed to have evolved in the 15th century, and by 1470, when they the first surviving mention of them was made by Sir
John Fortescue, there were ten of them, but the number later fell to eight. Initially they provided early training for young lawyers before they entered an Inn of Court, but they later lost that role, ultimately becoming merely social associations. The Inns of Court appointed readers to supervise legal education at the Inns of Chancery, and in some cases acquired the
freeholds of their buildings.
The Inns of Chancery fell into disuse in the 19th century as the solicitors' profession modernised, and was reorganised around the
Law Society, which was founded in 1825. As the premises of the Inns of Chancery were often owned by the Inns of Court, and they were supervised by them to some degree, by abandoning them for new arrangements created by themselves, the solicitors asserted their independence from the barristers, and the dignity of their profession. The premises of most of the Inns of Chancery were completely demolished, and only
Staple Inn survives largely intact.
Attached to the
Inner Temple:
*
Clifford's Inn*
Lyon's InnAttached to the
Middle Temple:
*
Strand Inn *
New Inn Attached to
Lincoln's Inn:
*
Furnival's Inn *
Thavies' InnAttached to
Gray's Inn:
*
Staple Inn*
Barnard's InnA Dictionary of London (1918).
*
A page on Lincoln's Inn's website
