Sir John Leach,
KC (28 August 1760 – 14 September 1834) was an English judge, and
Master of the Rolls
The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and Head of Civil Justice. As a judge, the Master of ...
.
Life
The son of Richard Leach, a coppersmith of
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
, he was born in that town on 28 August 1760. After leaving
Bedford School
:''Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Girls' School, Bedford High School, Bedford Modern School, Old Bedford School in Bedford, Texas or Bedford Academy in Bedford, Nova Scotia.''
Bedford School is a public school (English i ...
he became a pupil of
Sir Robert Taylor
Sir Robert Taylor (1714–1788) was an English architect and sculptor who worked in London and the south of England.
Early life
Born at Woodford, Essex, Taylor followed in his father's footsteps and started working as a stonemason and sculptor ...
the architect. In his office he is said to have made the working drawings for the erection of Stone Buildings, which are still preserved at
Lincoln's Inn, and to have designed Howletts, in the parish of
Bekesbourne
Bekesbourne is a village near Canterbury in Kent, South East England.
The village is centred ESE of the city's cathedral and its centre stretches less than 1 km from its railway station to the A2 road to the south.
Amenities
The parish c ...
, Kent. On the recommendation of his old fellow-pupil,
Samuel Pepys Cockerell
Samuel Pepys Cockerell (1753–1827) was an English architect.
He was a son of John Cockerell, of Bishop's Hull, Somerset, and the elder brother of Sir Charles Cockerell, 1st Baronet, for whom he designed the house he is best known for, Sezinc ...
, and other friends, Leach abandoned architecture for the law, and was admitted a student of the
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...
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