NEWS

Lincoln’s Inn - a remarkable 600 year old story

28 June 2007

A Portrait of Lincoln's Inn traces the development of one of London’s famous legal Inns of Court, from its fourteenth-century origins to its position today as a distinctive and important part of the fabric of our legal system.

Informative and entertaining, this lavishly illustrated book explores six centuries of life and work at the Inn, and how it evolved from a medieval bishop’s palace to the architecturally rich cluster of buildings we see today. A sparkling collection of contributions from members of the Inn captures the surprisingly various and multifaceted nature of the institution, from its many buildings (including the Chapel), its fascinating treasures (some not often seen), to its connections with Prime Ministers, poets, playwrights and novelists, as well as its role in the long battle for women’s admission to the Bar.

Life in the Inn during the seventeenth century was certainly eventful. An entry in the Inn’s famous Black Books noted that pedestrians in Chancery Lane had been ‘annoyed with Chamber [note the word] Pots [or presumably the contents] thrown out of the windows …’ Punishment for future conduct of the same kind was, if the tenant of the chambers, to be debarred from dining, or if a ‘laundress’, that she be expelled.

Even during the 1950s it would appear the problems of plumbing and heating still existed. Sir Christopher Slade, who became a pupil in 1952, remembers the chambers of his father, ‘Pen’ Slade QC, which reopened after World War II: ‘The chambers were rough and ready … they had no central heating or running water. China basins, in which people could wash their hands, were to be found secreted in cupboards with buckets below.’

Cherie Booth, who was called to the Bar in 1976, the same year as her husband, Tony Blair, remembers only too well what it was like to be part of this famous institution in the mid-70s: ‘I sometimes wonder whether or not I would ever have chosen the Bar as a career if I had known how badly the odds were stacked against women at the time.’

Of the eighty-one members called to Lincoln’s Inn in July 1976, only twelve were women. Booth adds: ‘It is etched into my memory how an entire circuit robing room fell silent in shock and horror when it dawned on them that I intended to change there as well. I remember, too, being warned that unless I wore a long-sleeve white shirt, a black knee-length skirt and a black jacket so I looked like a nun, I would be thrown out of the tiny women’s robing room that is now the disabled toilet on the first floor of the Royal Courts of Justice.’

Today, however, attitudes to women are very different. Booth concludes: ‘Women now make up roughly a third of the practising Bar and almost 50 per cent of entrants to the profession. The excellent Bar Equality and Diversity Code, which treats discrimination of all kinds as professional misconduct, means all those old robing room attitudes have long gone … What remains the same, however, is the Inn itself, which still provides valuable scholarships on merit to ensure the profession remains open to all and continues to provide a community based on friendship. It is why my experiences at Lincoln’s Inn, both then and now, have been overwhelmingly positive.’

Lincoln’s Inn Under Treasurer, Colonel David Hills MBE, adds: "This beautifully illustrated, informative and entertaining account of six hundred years of this unique institution, truly captures the spirit and ethos of Lincoln’s Inn and will have immediate appeal for law students and benchers alike."

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Imprint: Third Millennium Publishing, London

Editor: Angela Holdsworth

Publication date: 28 June 2007 / RRP: £45 / ISBN: 978-1-903942-54-3

Specification: Hardback, 192 pages, 280 x 240 mm, over 200 colour and b/w ilustrations.

The Publisher: Third Millennium Publishing specialises in publishing and design for the art and heritage markets and is currently working on a number of book projects with leading schools, Oxbridge colleges, universities (including a celebratory volume on the 800th anniversary of Cambridge University), cathedrals, regiments, along with museums and galleries in the UK and US.

The Editor: Angela Holdsworth is an author, editor and TV producer, whose credits include many history programmes for the BBC and Channel 4. She is married to David Neuberger, who is a law lord and a bencher of the Inn.

For further information contact Michael D Jackson, Marketing Manager, Third Millennium Information Ltd, 2-5 Benjamin St, EC1M 5QL. Tel: +44 (0)207 336 0144. Email: mj@tmiltd.com. Website: www.tmiltd.com