Master of the Rolls
The
Master of the Rolls is the third most senior judge of England, the
Lord Chancellor being first and the
Lord Chief Justice being second. The Master of the Rolls is the presiding officer of the Civil Division of the
Court of Appeal.
The title of the office derives from the fact that originally, the office-holder was a clerk responsible for keeping the "Rolls," or records, of the Chancery court. The post eventually evolved into a judicial one, but the Master still retained his clerical functions by serving as the nominal head of the Public Record Office up until 1958. However the Public Records Act of that year transferred responsibility for the PRO from the Master of the Rolls to the Lord Chancellor.
The present Master of the Rolls is the Lord Philips of Worth Maltravers.
Masters of the Rolls, 1286-present
- John de Langton 1286-1295
- Adam de Osgodeby 1295-1316
- William de Ayremynne 1316-1324
- Richard de Ayremynne 1324-1325
- Henry de Clyff 1325-1334
- Michael de Wath 1334-1337
- John de St Paul 1337-1341
- Thomas de Evesham 1341-1346
- David de Wollore 1346-1371
- William Burstall 1371-1381
- John de Waltham 1381-1386
- John de Burton 1386-1394
- John de Scarle 1394-1397
- Thomas Stanley 1397-1402
- Nicholas de Bubbewyth 1402-1405
- john de Wakering 1405-1415
- Simon de Gauntsede 1415-1423
- John Fraunke 1423-1438
- John Stopynden 1438-1447
- Thomas de Kirkeby 1447-1461
- Robert Kirkeham 1461-1471
- William Morland 1471
- John Alcock 1471-1472
- John Morton 1472-1479
- Robert Morton 1479-1483
- Thomas Barrow 1483-1485
- Robert Morton 1485-1487
- David William 1487-1492
- John Blyth 1492-1494
- William Warham 1494-1502
- William Barnes 1502-1504
- Christopher Bainbrigge 1504-1508
- John Yonge 1508-1516
- Cuthbert Tunstall 1516-1522
- John Clarke 1522-1523
- Thomas Hannibal 1523-1527
- John Taylor 1527-1534
- Thomas Cromwell 1534-1536
- Christopher Hales 1536-1541
- Sir Robert Southwell 1541-1550
- John de Beaumont 1550-1552
- Sir Robert Bowes 1552-1553
- Sir Nicholas Hare 1553-1557
- Sir William Cordell 1557-1581
- Sir Gilbert Gerrard 1581-1594
- Sir Thomas Egerton, 1st Baron Ellesmere 1594-1603
- Edward Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin 1603-1611
- Sir Edward Phelips 1611-1614
- Sir Julius Caesar 1614-1636
- Sir Dudley Digges 1636-1639
- Sir Charles Caesar 1639-1643
- Sir John Colepeper, 1st Baron Colepeper (royalist) 1643-1660
- William Lenthall (parliamentary) 1643-1659
- Sir Harbottle Grimston 1660-1685
- Sir John Churchill 1685
- Sir John Trevor 1685-1689
- Sir Henry Powle 1689-1693
- Sir John Trevor 1693-1717
- Sir Joseph Jekyll 1717-1738
- John Verney 1738-1741
- William Fortescue 1741-1750
- Sir John Strange 1750-1754
- Sir Thomas Clarke 1754-1764
- Sir Thomas Sewell 1764-1784
- Sir Lloyd Kenyon 1784-1788
- Sir Richard Pepper Arden 1788-1801
- Sir William Grant 1801-1818
- Sir Thomas Plumer 1818-1824
- Robert Gifford, 1st Baron Gifford 1824-1826
- Sir John Singleton Copley 1826-1827
- Sir John Leach 1827-1834
- Sir Charles Christopher Pepys 1834-1836
- Henry Bickersteth, 1st Baron Langdale 1836-1851
- John Romilly, 1st Baron Romilly 1851-1873
- Sir George Jessel 1873-1883
- William Baliol Brett, 1st Baron Esher 1883-1897
- Sir Nathaniel Lindley 1897-1900
- Richard Everard Webster, 1st Baron Alverstone 1900
-
Alfred Thompson Denning,Lord Denning 1962-1982
- Geoffrey Francis Donaldson,Lord Donaldson of Lymington 1982-1992
- Thomas Henry Bingham,Lord Bingham of Cornhill 1992-1996
- Harry Woolf,Lord Woolf 1996-2000
- Nicholas Addison Phillips,Lord Phillips of Worth Maltravers 2000-