Inn and Out - The Inns of Court and Equivalent Quiz

Answer: The City of London

The Temple is an area of the City of London primarily surrounding Temple Church. Initially given to the Knights Templar, after their suppression in the 14th century, the area became the major legal centre in London, and was divided into the Inner Temple, which occupies the eastern part, and the Middle Temple, which forms the western half, in 1337. In 1608, letters patent were issued that set up both the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple as "liberties" of the City of London.

A "liberty" is a local authority area that is independent of the systems of hundreds and boroughs that originally formed the local governance of England. Today, although both the Inner Temple and Middle Temple form part of the City of London itself, their status as liberties means they are not strictly governed by the City of London Corporation, which acts as the local authority for the City; instead, both of the Inns of Court are legally regarded as local authorities in their own right. Despite this, many of the legal functions undertaken by the Corporation in the rest of its jurisdiction are extended to the area governed by the two Inns of Court.

Answer: Gray's Inn

Although lawyers first began moving into the area now known as the Temple in 1320, the earliest official records of all four Inns of Court have long been lost, to the extent that none of them has a precise date for its founding. Gray's Inn's records only go back as far 1569, although it is known that the Inn takes its name from Reginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Wilton, a 13th century nobleman and soldier under Edward I. A number of parts of Baron Grey's townhouse (or "inn"), located in the Manor of Portpoole in what is now Holborn, were leased to lawyers during the 14th century, from which they were able to both practice and reside. This dates the history of Gray's Inn therefore to at least 1370. Records from outside bodies indicate that a society was in residence at the building by at last 1437.

By the date that the Inn's official records begin in 1569, Gray's Inn had become preeminent thanks to the patronage of Queen Elizabeth I, with a number of her closest advisers, including William Cecil and Nicholas Bacon, being members. A total of 120 barristers were members of Gray's Inn in 1574, making it the largest of the four Inns of Court. Gray's Inn was unique at this time, as it recognised four different types of member - those that had not yet qualified, and three types who had been called to the Bar. These were "Utter Barristers" (called but still studying), "Ancients" (called and allowed to practice) and "Readers" (called, allowed to practice, and involved in educating new students). Although the other Inns had a title similar (but not identical) to Reader called "Bencher", none of them recognised the level of Ancient.

Answer: Queen's Counsel

The Serjeants-at-Law were barristers appointed to that position as an elite group undertaking much of the work of the central common law courts in England. Serjeants-at-Law have a history going back almost as far as the Norman Conquest, descending from a class of Norman official known as a "conteur", with firm record of their being appointed in England during the reign of Henry III. Serjeants were a powerful elite within the legal profession, holding a monopoly on work in the Court of Common Pleas (a court covering cases that did not concern the monarch), as well as undertaking much of the work in the Court of King's Bench (the court that generally required the monarch's presence). The Serjeants initially grouped into two societies - one in Chancery Lane dating from 1416, and the other in Fleet Street from 1443. In 1730, the two societies merged into the single Serjeant's Inn, located on the Chancery Lane site.

Although still retaining their theoretical seniority, by the 19th century, Serjeants-at-Law began to be superseded by a class of barrister called Queen's Counsel (King's Counsel under a male monarch). This rank was established under Elizabeth I, who awarded Francis Bacon the title of Queen's Counsel Extraordinary in 1597. This gave the right of precedence over other lawyers before a court of law, as they were serving as a counsel for the monarch. By the 1830s, the title came to be awarded to barristers who were regarded as senior members of the profession, leading to a parallel decline in Serjeants-at-Law. In 1846, Serjeants lost their monopoly in the Court of Common Pleas, while in 1873 a law was passed stating that common law judges need no longer be exclusively appointed from the ranks of Serjeants-at-Law, thus leading to no new Serjeants being appointed after 1875. Serjeant's Inn's buildings were sold in 1877, with its members being accepted back to their former Inns of Court. The society became extinct with the death of its last surviving member, Lord Lindley, in 1921.

Answer: Inner Temple

The Inns of Chancery were established in at least the 14th century to serve as the offices of clerks of chancery. Chancery courts were courts intended to apply principles of equity, which is the body of law intended to provide legal remedy for a case. However, over time, the purpose of the Inns of Chancery changed, becoming instead equivalent bodies for solicitors to the Inns of Court, as well as providing the initial training for barristers, who would subsequently take their place within one of the Inns of Court. A total of ten Inns of Chancery are known to have existed, each of which was attached to one of the Inns of Court. Detailed records exist for nine of them; little is known of the tenth, St George's Inn, which was attached to the Middle Temple.

By 1642, the education of barristers was removed from the Inns of Chancery, and they became solely bodies for the accommodation and practice of solicitors. However, in 1739, the Society of Gentlemen Practisers, a new professional body for solicitors was founded; this was followed in 1825 by the Law Society of England and Wales, which relegated the status of the Inns of Chancery as professional bodies. As a result, over the latter half of the 19th century they began to be dissolved and their buildings sold off. Clement's Inn, attached to the Inner Temple and located close to the church of St Clement Danes on the Strand, was, in 1903, the last of the Inns of Chancery to be dissolved and sold, with the building demolished in 1934. Today, the only remaining building belonging to an Inn of Chancery is the former Staple Inn, which is a Grade 1 listed building on High Holborn near Chancery Lane.

Answer: The Comedy of Errors

The instances of the revels are known to have taken place at the Inns of Court since at least 1431. The period of revelry primarily centered around the feast of Christmas, and began on All Saints Eve, lasting until Candlemas. Among the entertainments that were staged during the period were plays and masques; the plays were generally known as "Inns of Court tragedies", with the first of these, a play called "Gorboduc", being put on in January 1562. As the Inns of Court played a key role in providing both funding and venues (in the days before dedicated theatres) for professional acting companies, it is thought that many playwrights of the time produced plays specifically aimed at being put on during the revels, with William Shakespeare including reference to them in a number of his own works.

On 28 December 1594, one of the first performances of "The Comedy of Errors" was staged during the revels being held at Gray's Inn. A theme of friendship was undertaken during the 1594 season, with the Inns exchanging members in ambassadorial style exchanges for the entertainments. The performance of "The Comedy of Errors" saw a distinguished audience including Francis Bacon, the Earl of Southampton, and the lawyer and playwright Thomas Hughes among others. But, the night did not go well, as, due to overcrowding, the hall in which the performance was being staged saw fighting break out over the best seats; the ambassador from the Inner Temple left in a (possibly staged) fit of pique; and the programme had to be significantly amended, which led to delays in the play's performance. The following night, the mock trial of a "sorcerer" accused of causing the event's failure, which came to be called the "night of errors", was staged.

Answer: Strand

The Outer Temple is located at 222-225 Strand, opposite the Royal Courts of Justice and just outside the boundary of the Middle Temple. After the confiscation of the site from the Knights Templar in 1312, the Temple was divided into the Inner and Outer Temple by Edward II, referring to the parts of the area inside and outside the then boundaries of London. However, although the Inner Temple was subsequently divided into two Inns of Court, there was no concurrent body in the Outer Temple. However, in 1973, the historian AWB Simpsons theorised that there was an Inn of Chancery called Outer Temple, having discovered evidence of a barrister in the yearbooks of the Serjeants-at-Law apparently from there.

The theory of the Outer Temple being an Inn of Chancery seemed to gain additional traction when historian John Baker found evidence of another member. However, there is evidence of a total of ten Inns of Chancery, including St George's Inn, which was ultimately abandoned in the 15th century; there is no evidence of an eleventh, which has led to the theory of the Outer Temple as an actual Inn being largely debunked. Instead, the theory is that the Outer Temple building served simply as the location of a set of barristers chambers. The current Outer Temple building on the Strand is similarly the location of barristers chambers, as well as the branch of a retail bank. However, in the "Rumpole" books by John Mortimer, the lead character, a barrister named Horace Rumpole, is stated as being a member of a fictional Inn of Court called the Outer Temple.

Answer: Faculty of Advocates

Under the terms of the Act of Union that brought it together with England as a single country, Scotland was permitted to retain, amongst other measures, its own legal system. This saw the retention of the system of advocates in Scottish courts, who undertake similar roles to barristers in England and Wales. As a result, advocates in Scotland have their own professional body, the Faculty of Advocates, which is akin to the Inns of Court. Although the Faculty of Advocates has officially existed since 1532, when Scotland was an independent nation, as with the Inns of Court its origins are believed to be much older. However, although it served as a professional organisation, it was not until 1856 that its members were required to have undergone any curriculum of study or professional training, although the Faculty did have the power to reject candidates for admission.

The Faculty of Advocates forms part of the College of Justice, an overarching body consisting of three professional organisations (the Faculty of Advocates, the Society of Writers to His Majesty's Signet, and the Society of Solicitors in the Supreme Courts of Scotland), the two highest courts in Scotland (the High Court of Justiciary, responsible for criminal cases, and the Court of Session, which is a civil court), and two public bodies responsible for overseeing the administration of the courts. Although the Faculty of Advocates is independent and self-governing, it falls under the supervision of the Lord President of the Court of Session, who has ultimate responsibility for the preparation of new advocates, which is then delegated to the Faculty itself.

Answer: Mary McAleese

The Inn of Court of Northern Ireland is one of the constituent parts of the Bar of Northern Ireland, the professional body for barristers in Northern Ireland. Prior to the partition of Ireland, barristers were members of King's Inns, a body located in Dublin, and were members of the Bar of Ireland. Following the establishment of Northern Ireland in 1922, King's Inns sought to retain its position as an all-Ireland body for barristers, and set up a council of Northern Ireland based benchers to undertake this purpose. But, the council looked for greater independence and, in January 1926, founded the Inn of Court of Northern Ireland and the Bar Council of Northern Ireland as separate bodies. However, from its foundation, it lacked the physical space for both professional and social interactions that the Inns of Court in London, as well as King's Inns in Dublin, enjoyed, making it something of a theoretical institution.

In the early 21st century, a project was undertaken to redevelop the Bar Library in Belfast in order to provide not just improved library facilities for members, but also to provide other space for working, training, dining and receptions, akin to the facilities available to other similar bodies in the UK and Ireland. The new Bar Library was officially opened in April 2005 by Mary McAleese, the President of Ireland. President McAleese was born in Belfast and was originally called to the Bar of Northern Ireland as a barrister, before subsequently also being called to the Bar of Ireland, allowing her to practice as a barrister in both jurisdictions.

Answer: Henry VIII

King's Inns serves as the equivalent body for Irish barristers as the four Inns of Court in London. Founded under a royal charter issued by Henry VIII in 1541, it serves not just as the professional organisation for barristers in Ireland, but also awards the degree of barrister-at-law which is necessary for an individual to be able to practice. As an educational institution, it is half a century older than Trinity College Dublin, and is thus one of the oldest professional and educational institutions in the English-speaking world. However, from its establishment, it tended to function more as a social body for its members, with trainee barristers often going to the Inns of Court in London to continue their education. It was from the mid-18th century onwards that Irish barristers began to generally undertake their training through King's Inns rather than in England.

Today, King's Inns occupies premises on Henrietta Street in Dublin, in buildings that were built at the start of the 19th century. All barristers licensed to practice in Ireland are members of King's Inns. This can include barristers that have initially qualified in other jurisdictions, including Northern Ireland. It is through this process that barristers from Northern Ireland who object to using the title King's Counsel (or Queen's Counsel) are able to instead utilise the title Senior Counsel instead - this is the equivalent title awarded to senior barristers in Ireland; so, barristers from Northern Ireland who are subsequently called to the Bar of Ireland (becoming a member of King's Inns) can utilise the title of Senior Counsel even if they also continue to practice in Northern Ireland.

Answer: Paternoster Row

The Doctor's Commons was a society established for lawyers that were responsible for practicing civil law rather than common law. Civil law is the system employed that relies on interpretation of the legal code, rather than legal precedent established through judicial decision, which is the basis of common law. Although common law was well established in England, there were courts that still undertook cases based on civil law, which required specialised lawyers - these included ecclesiastical courts, which were descended from church courts that were based on canon law, and admiralty courts, that had responsibility for matters relating to maritime contracts and offenses. The lawyers responsible for practicing in these courts had received specific training in civil law, with those serving as the equivalents of barristers in the common law courts known as doctors.

The Society of Doctor's Commons is believed to have been formed in 1511, although there is evidence that it might have been established before that. Its first premises were acquired in 1567 in Paternoster Row, a street in the City of London near St Paul's Cathedral, where it remained until moving to newer premises in Knightrider Street. However, it was not until 1768 that the society was actually incorporated officially as the "College of Doctors of Law exercent in the Ecclesiastical and Admiralty Courts". By the mid-19th century, reforms in the legal system in England led to the society ultimately being abolished - barristers, who had previously been limited to common law courts, were granted permission to practice in civil law courts as well. In 1858, a motion was put to members to dissolve the society - although this failed, there was agreement between members to have the buildings sold, and no new appointments to the society be made. The society became extinct with the death of its last member, Thomas Hutchinson Tristram, in 1912.