APPENDIX II THE ADMISSION OF AN ATTORNEY IN his Memoirs William Hickey describes very vividly the way in which he was examined and admitted as an attorney before leaving London for Jamaica in 1775.1 Mr Justice Yates, one of the judges of the Court of King's Bench, and an old friend of his father's, had promised to sign the fiat. He invited Hickey to breakfast so that he could be examined as to his being 'equal to the practice of an attorney', and was told to send his articles in advance to Yates's clerk. Hickey goes on: At the time appointed I attended, and in a terrible fright I was at the ordeal I imagined I had to pass through, and the probable loss I might be at in answering some of the many questions I understood would be put to me upon points of practice. Being conducted into his parlour where the breakfast things were all arranged, in five minutes the Judge entered. We sat down, and he recommended his French rolls and muffins as of the best sort, but so predominant were my fears about the dreaded examination that I had no inclination to eat. Breakfast being over, he asked me how I liked the Law, how long I had been out of my clerkship, and two or three other questions equally unimportant, when a servant entered to announce the carriage being at the door, whereupon he desired his clerk to be called, upon whose appearance he enquired whether Mr Hickey's Certificate was ready. The clerk having it and other papers in his hand, the Judge took it from him, and after perusal subscribed his name, and then said, 'Now, Mr Hickey, if you will be so good as to accompany me to Westminster Hall, I will get you sworn, and the business concluded.' I accordingly stepped into his coach which conveyed us to Westminster, and immediately going into Court, where he had taken his seat upon the Bench, the proper officer was asked whether he had the roll, and answering in the affirmative my Certificate was delivered to him and read as was also an affidavit of my Master Mr Bayley's. This being done the Judge ordered the oaths to be administered to me, after which, and my subscribing my name to each, I was entered upon the Roll as an attorney, and making a respectful bow to the Bench and the Bar, I retired, most agreeably relieved from my apprehensions respecting the various interrogatories I had expected would be put to me on the subject of my qualifications. 1 Memoirs of William Hickey (London, 1913), 1, 331-2, also quoted Holdsworth, History of English Law, XII, 62. APPENDIX III CHRISTOPHER WALLIS: NOTES FROM THE JOURNAL 1. ESTIMATED PROFITS FROM BUSINESS 25 December 1793-25 December 1794 25 December 1794-25 December 1795 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 £ 560 £800 £823 £1800 £1930 £1970 £2130 £1610 To these sums were to be added his profits from rents and mines. In the six years ending in December 1805 he estimated that he had made a clear saving of £13,763. More detailed accounts of his professional affairs are given for certain years. Easter. Set off this morning in the Royal Caroline Diligence for Exeter and Bodmin. Breakfasted at Oakhampton, dined at Launceston, slept at Bodmin. At Bodmin and there attended Miss Fr. Harme and consulting about the claims made on her estate by the widow of the late Mr Jno. Harme and about the suit between her and Mr Mountsteven, etc. Slept at Bodmin. Bed at 11. Wind N.W. some snow and cold. APPENDIX IV A NOTE ON NUMBERS IT was a frequent source of complaint that there were too many attorneys, so that pettifogging practice was inevitable. It is obviously impossible to estimate how many attorneys would have been sufficient for any district, but it may be suggested that the figures put forward by the critics of the profession were generally too low, and failed to take into account the growing complexity of English society. The returns made to the House of Commons under the 1729 Act stated that there were 2236 attorneys of the Court of Common Pleas, 893 of the Court of King's Bench, and 1700 solicitors in Chancery. These figures, however, are probably not accurate, and they do not take account of the fact that many men were accredited in all three courts. Some information is available in the various town and county directories, but, again, this is hardly reliable as to numbers. The Law Lists do not begin until 1775, and these too, in the early stages, are obviously incomplete, omitting many attorneys, and containing the names of some who were not on the Roll. Browne's Law List was replaced by Hughes's in 1798. John Hughes was an official of the Stamp Office, and had access to the returns made to that office under the act of 1785 which introduced the annual practising certificate. The volume for 1798 is clearly incomplete, but by 1800 these lists, in so far as they tally with the Stamp Office returns, are the most accurate source available for names and numbers of attorneys. In the lists that follow, the numbers of attorneys in certain towns are given for the years 1790 and 1800. These figures are derived from the Law Lists, and I am grateful to the council of the Law Society for letting me examine these and other volumes in their library in Chancery Lane. The towns selected were not chosen with any special purpose in mind; they are merely the towns for which, for one reason and another, I happened to want this information. |