The Common Serjeant of London (full title The Serjeant-at-Law in the Common Hall) is an ancient British legal office, first recorded in 1291, and is the second most senior permanent judge of the Central Criminal Court after the

Recorder of London The Recorder of London is an ancient legal office in the City of London. The Recorder of London is the senior circuit judge at the Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey), hearing trials of criminal offences. The Recorder is appointed by the Cr ...

, acting as deputy to that office, and sitting as a judge in the trial of criminal offences. He is also one of the High Officers of the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

, and must undertake certain civic obligations alongside his judicial duties: each Midsummer he presides at the election of Sheriffs in the Guildhall, and each Michaelmas he plays a key role in the ceremonial election of the Lord Mayor. He presents the Sheriffs to the

King's Remembrancer The King's Remembrancer (or Queen's Remembrancer) is an ancient judicial post in the legal system of England and Wales. Since the Lord Chancellor no longer sits as a judge, the Remembrancer is the oldest judicial position in continual existence ...

at the annual Quit Rents ceremony, and is in attendance on most other major ceremonial occasions. The Common Serjeant is appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

. Formerly, the Common Serjeant of London was a legal officer of the City Corporation of London. The Common Serjeant of London attended on the

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

and the

Court of Aldermen The Court of Aldermen forms part of the senior governance of the City of London Corporation. It comprises twenty-five aldermen of the City of London, presided over by the Lord Mayor (becoming senior alderman during his year of office). The Co ...

on court days, and acted with them in council. He also attended the Court of Aldermen and Common Council, and had charge of the Orphans' Estates Judge Richard Marks, KC, was appointed the 81st Common Serjeant on 3 March 2015.

Incomplete list of Common Serjeants

* Thomas Juvenal (1291–1309) * Thomas de Kent (1309–c.1318) * Gregory de Norton (c.1318–1329) * William de Ford (1333–1353) * John Wentbrigg (c.1353–1362) * Ralph Strode (c.1375–1385) * John Tremayne (1388–1389) *

John Fray Sir John Fray (died 1461) was an English lawyer who was Chief Baron of the Exchequer and a Member of Parliament. He was elected Member of Parliament for Hertfordshire in 1419 and 1420. He served on a number of commissions before being appointe ...

(1421–1422) * Alexander Anne (1424–?1435) * John Wilton (1437–?1441) * Robert Danvers (1441–1442) * Richard Moyle (1441–?1443) * Thomas Billing (1443–1449) * John Nedeham (1448–?1452) * Thomas Urswick (1452–1455) * Robert Ingleton (1454–1456) * Guy Fairfax (1456–?1457) * Thomas Rigby (1457–?1460) * Thomas Bryan (1460–1463) * John Baldwyn (1463–1469) * Robert Molyneux (1469–) * John Haugh * Richard Higham *

Thomas Frowyk Sir Thomas Frowyk KS (c. 1460 – 7 October 1506) was an English justice. Family Born at Gunnersbury, Middlesex, Thomas Frowyk was the son of a London mercer, Sir Thomas Frowyk, by his second wife, Jane Sturgeon, daughter of Richard Sturgeon. ...

(1486–1496) * Thomas Marowe (1496–) * John Greene (1495–) * Henry White * William Walsingham of Gray's Inn (1526–) * John Onley (1530–1533) *

Edward Hall Edward Hall ( – ) was an English lawyer and historian, best known for his ''The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and Yorke''—commonly known as ''Hall's Chronicle''—first published in 1548. He was also sever ...

(1533–1535) * Robert Southwell (1535–1536) * Thomas Atkyns *

Sir Robert Broke Sir Robert Broke SL (died 5 or 6 September 1558) was an English judge, politician and legal writer. Although a landowner in rural Shropshire, he made his fortune through more than 20 years' service to the City of London. MP for the City in fi ...

(1536–1546) * John Marshe (1547–1563) * Bernard Randolph (1563–1583) * Thomas Kirton (1583–1601) * Richard Wilbraham (died 1601) *

Richard Wheler Richard Wheler (died 1614) was the member of the Parliament of England for Great Bedwyn Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parish in east Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Dun about southwest of Hungerford, southeast of S ...

of Lincoln's Inn (1601–?1608) * Daniel Hills of Lincoln's Inn * Thomas Jones of Gray's Inn (died 1625 - Sergeant for 12 years) * Ralph Latham (died 1641) * Henry Proby (1643–) (died 1660) *

Sir Richard Browne, 2nd Baronet Sir Richard Browne, 2nd Baronet (before 1634 – September 1684) was a barrister and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660. Browne was the son of Sir Richard Browne, 1st Baronet, and his wife Bridget Bryan. He was admitted as a ba ...

(1661–1671) * George Jeffreys (1671–1678) * Henry Crispe (1678–1700) * Duncan Dee (1700–1720) * John Lingard (1720–1729) * Thomas Garrard (1729–1758) * Thomas Nugent (1758–1790) * John Silvester (1790–1803) *

Newman Knowlys Newman Knowlys (1758– 5 January 1836) was an English barrister and judge and the Common Serjeant of London and Recorder of London. Knowlys was born in London, the fourth son of William Knowlys, a merchant of London. He was educated at Botesd ...

(1803–1811) * Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman (1822–1830) * Hon. Charles Ewan Law (1830–1833) * John Mirehouse of Angle, Pembrokeshire (1833–1850) * Edward Bullock (1850–1855) * Thomas Chambers (1857–1878) * Sir William Thomas Charley (1878–1892) * Sir

Forrest Fulton Sir (James) Forrest Fulton (12 July 1846 – 25 June 1926) was a British judge and Conservative politician. Early life Born in Ostend, Belgium, he was the youngest son of Lieutenant-Colonel James Forrest Fulton and his wife, Fanny née Jessopp. ...

(1892–1900) * Sir Frederick Albert Bosanquet, MA, KC, JP (1900–1917) * Sir Henry Fielding Dickens KC (1917–1932) * Henry Holman Gregory KC (1932–1934) *

Cecil Whiteley Judge George Cecil Whiteley King's Counsel, KC Master of Arts, MA Doctor of Law#United Kingdom, DL Justice of the Peace, JP (1875–1942), was Common Serjeant of London from 1933 to 1942 and a Judge at the Mayor's and City of London Court. Cecil ...

(1934–1942) * Sir Hugh Loveday Beazley (1942–1953) * Sir Edward Anthony Hawke (1954–1959) * Sir Carl Douglas Aarvold (1959–1964) * Mervyn Griffith-Jones

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

MC QC (1964–1979) * Sir John Leonard (1979–1981)Obituary
in '' The Telegraph'' * Sir David Tudor-Price (1981–84) *

Thomas Herbert Pigot Thomas Herbert Pigot, QC (19 May 1921 – 10 September 1998) was an English barrister and judge. He was Common Serjeant of London from 1984 to 1990. Born in Wigan in 1921, the son of a company secretary and of a teacher, Pigot was educated at Ma ...

QC (1984–90) * Robert Davison Lymbery QC (1990–1993) * Neil Denison QC (1993–2001) * Peter Beaumont QC (2001–2004) * Brian Barker QC (2005–2013) *

Nicholas Hilliard Nicholas Hilliard () was an English goldsmith and limner best known for his portrait miniatures of members of the courts of Elizabeth I and James I of England. He mostly painted small oval miniatures, but also some larger cabinet miniatures, ...

QC (2013–2015) (80th Serjeant) * Richard Leon Marks KC (2015–Present)

Gallery

Image:Sir Robert Broke.jpg,

, Common Serjeant of London in 1536 Image:George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys of Wem by William Wolfgang Claret.jpg, Judge George Jeffreys, Common Serjeant of London in 1671 Image:Sir John Silvester.jpg,

Sir John Silvester ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English language, English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist i ...

, Common Serjeant 1790-1803 Image:1stLordDenman.jpg, Lord Denman, Common Serjeant of London 1822 - 1830 Image:W T Charley.jpg,

William Thomas Charley Sir William Thomas Charley (5 March 1833 – 8 July 1904) was a British judge and Conservative Party politician. Life Charley was born in Woodbourne, County Antrim, Ulster in 1833, the youngest son of Matthew Charley and Anne Roberts. He was ed ...

, Common Serjeant of London in 1878 File:Forrest Fulton Vanity Fair 9 July 1903.jpg, Sir

by 'Spy' in '' Vanity Fair'' (1903) Image:Frederick-Albert-Bosanquet-1901.jpg, Sir Frederick Bosanquet as Common Serjeant of London. Caricature by 'Spy' from '' Vanity Fair'' (1901) Image:judge-brian-barker.jpg, Judge Brian Barker QC, Common Serjeant of London 2005 to 2013

References

External links

Appointment of Common Serjeant of LondonCommon Serjeant of London on the Probert Encyclopaedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Common Serjeant of London Law in London English law Common Serjeants of London Legal professions Historical legal occupations Old Bailey