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The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" (meaning
judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...
) of the English
Exchequer of Pleas The Exchequer of Pleas, or Court of Exchequer, was a court that dealt with matters of equity (law), equity, a set of legal principles based on natural law and Common law#History, common law in England and Wales. Originally part of the , or King ...
. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or
First Lord of the Treasury The First Lord of the Treasury is the head of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury exercising the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer in the United Kingdom. Traditional convention holds that the office of First Lord is held by the Prime Mi ...
, and the
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...
, it was he who presided in the
equity court A court of equity, also known as an equity court or chancery court, is a court authorized to apply principles of equity rather than principles of law to cases brought before it. These courts originated from petitions to the Lord Chancellor of E ...
and answered the bar i.e. spoke for the court." Practically speaking, he held the most important office of the Exchequer of Pleas. The chief baron, along with the three
puisne Puisne (; from Old French ''puisné'', modern ''puîné'', "later born, younger" (and thence, "inferior") from late Latin ''post-'', "after", and ''natus'', "born") is a legal term of art used mainly in British English meaning "inferior in rank". ...
barons, sat as a court of
common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...
, heard suits in the
court of equity A court of equity, also known as an equity court or chancery court, is a court authorized to apply principles of Equity (law), equity rather than principles of law to cases brought before it. These courts originated from petitions to the Lord Cha ...
and settled revenue disputes. A puisne baron was styled "Mr Baron X" and the chief baron as "Lord Chief Baron X". From 1550 to 1579, there was a major distinction between the chief baron and the second, third and fourth puisne barons. The difference was in social status and
education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
. All of the chief barons had been trained as
lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
s in the
inns of court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court: Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have s ...
. With the exception of Henry Bradshaw and Sir
Clement Higham Sir Clement Higham Member of parliament, MP Justice of the peace, JP Privy Councillor, PC (also Heigham; before 1495 – 9 March 1571) of Barrow, Suffolk, was an English lawyer and politician, a List of speakers of the House of Commons of Engla ...
, both
barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...
s-at-law, all of the chief barons who served Queen
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
, had attained the highest and most prestigious rank of a lawyer, serjeant-at-law. In 1875, the Court of Exchequer became the Exchequer Division of the High Court. Following the death of the last chief baron in 1880, the division and that of Common Pleas were merged into the
King's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...
.


Chief Barons of the Exchequer

* 1303 William de Carleton * 1317 Sir Walter Norwich * 1327 Hervey de Stanton * 1328–1329 Sir Walter Norwich * 1329 Sir John Stonor * 1331 Sir
Henry le Scrope Sir Henry le Scrope (b. in or before 1268 - 7 September 1336) was an English lawyer, and Chief Justice of the King's Bench for two periods between 1317 and 1330. He was the eldest son of Sir William le Scrope (c. 1259 - c. 1312), who was baili ...
* 1337 Sir
Robert Sadington Sir Robert Sadington (fl. 1340) was Lord Chancellor of England. Life He is assumed to be a native of Saddington in Leicestershire, and perhaps a son of John de Sadington, a valet of Isabella of France. He appears as an advocate in the year-book ...
* 1344 Sir
William de Shareshull Sir William de Shareshull KB (1289/1290–1370) was an English lawyer and Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 26 October 1350 to 5 July 1361. He achieved prominence under the administration of Edward III of England. He was responsible f ...
* 1345 Sir
John Stowford Sir John Stowford (c.1290 – c.1372) of Stowford, West Down in Devon, was Chief Baron of the Exchequer in 1346. He is one of John Prince (biographer), John Prince's ''List of Worthies of Devon, Worthies of Devon''. Origins He was born at th ...
* 1345 Sir
Robert Sadington Sir Robert Sadington (fl. 1340) was Lord Chancellor of England. Life He is assumed to be a native of Saddington in Leicestershire, and perhaps a son of John de Sadington, a valet of Isabella of France. He appears as an advocate in the year-book ...
* 1350
Gervase de Wilford Gervais (,) Gervaise, Gervase or Gervas is a name. Notable people with the name include: Given name Middle Ages * Gervase Alard (1270–1340), Admiral of the Cinque Ports Fleet and Admiral of the Western Fleet of the English Navy * Gervase of Baz ...
* 1362
William de Skipwith William de Skipwith (died after 1392) was a fourteenth-century English judge, who also served as a judge in Ireland. He held the office of Chief Baron of the Exchequer 1362-5. He suffered temporary disgrace when he was removed from office for cor ...
* 1366
Thomas de Lodelow Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...
* 1375 Sir
William Tauk William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...
* 1376
Henry Asty Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainment ...
* 1381
Robert de Plessyngton The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...
* 1384
William de Carleol William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...
* 1386 Sir
John Cary John Cary (c. 1754 – 1835) was an English cartographer. Life Cary served his apprenticeship as an engraver in London, before setting up his own business in the Strand in 1783. He soon gained a reputation for his maps and globes, his atl ...
(d.1395) of
Cockington Cockington is a village near Torquay, in the Torbay district, in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. Cockington with Chelston had a population of 8,366 in 2021. It has old cottages within its boundaries, and is about two miles from the ce ...
, Devon. * 1387 Sir Robert de Plesyngton * 1388 Thomas Pinchbeck * 1389 John Cassey * 1401 Sir John Cokayne, known as the Elder. * 1414
William Lasingby William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...
* 1420 William Babington * 1423 Sir John Ivyn * 1438
John Fray Sir John Fray (died 1461) was an English lawyer who was Chief Baron of the Exchequer and a Member of Parliament. Biography He was elected Member of Parliament for Hertfordshire in 1419 and 1420. He served on a number of commissions before ...
* 1448
Peter Ardern Peter Arderne (died 1467) was an English lawyer who was Chief Baron of the Exchequer and occasionally sat as a Justice of the King's Bench (until 1467). He was born about 1420 in Sussex, England and is not known whether he had any siblings. In ...
* 1463
Richard Illingworth Richard Keith Illingworth (born 23 August 1963) is an English former cricketer, who is currently an umpire. The bulk of his domestic cricketing career was with Worcestershire, although he had a spell with Derbyshire, and overseas with Natal. H ...
* 1472 Sir Thomas Urswick * 1480 Sir William Nottingham * 1483
Humphrey Starkey Sir Humphrey Starkey (died 1486) was a British justice. He studied at Inner Temple and was made Recorder of London in 1471. In 1478 he was made a Serjeant-at-Law, allowing him to practice in the Court of Common Pleas. He served briefly as Lord ...
* 1486 Sir
William Hody Sir William Hody (born before 1441, died 1524) of Pilsdon in Dorset,Heraldic Visitation of Dorset 1565, p.21 was an English lawyer, judge and politician who served as Attorney General of England and Chief Baron of the Exchequer under King Henry ...
* 1513
John Scot John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...
* 1522
John FitzJames Sir John Fitzjames (c. 1465/70 – c. 1542) was Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1526 until 1539. Sir John was a nephew of Richard Fitzjames, Bishop of London during the Hunne case. Sir John had also been Recorder of Bristol, Attorne ...
* 1526 Sir Richard Broke * 1529 Sir
Richard Lyster Sir Richard Lyster (c. 1480 – 14 March 1554) was an English judge and Chief Justice of the King's Bench. Origins and early career Sir Frederick Madden in his "Remarks on the Monument of Sir Richard Lyster in St. Michael's Church Southampton ...
* 1545 Sir
Roger Cholmeley Sir Roger Cholmeley ( ; sometimes spelled Cholmley or Cholmondeley; – 21 June 1565) was Lord Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench from 1552 to 1553. From 1535 to 1545 he was Recorder of London and served in the House of Commons. He is po ...
* 1552 Henry Bradshaw * 1553 David Brooke * 1558 Sir
Clement Higham Sir Clement Higham Member of parliament, MP Justice of the peace, JP Privy Councillor, PC (also Heigham; before 1495 – 9 March 1571) of Barrow, Suffolk, was an English lawyer and politician, a List of speakers of the House of Commons of Engla ...
* 1559 Sir Edward Saunders * 1577 Sir Robert Bell * 1577 Sir John Jefferay, of
Chiddingly Chiddingly ( ) is an English village and civil parish in the Wealden District of the administrative county of East Sussex, within historic Sussex, some five miles (8 km) northwest of Hailsham. The parish is rural in character: it in ...
, Sussex * 1578 Sir Roger Manwood * 1593 Sir William Peryam * 1604 Sir Thomas Fleming * 1607 Sir
Lawrence Tanfield Sir Lawrence Tanfield (c. 1551 – 30 April 1625) was an English lawyer, politician and Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. He had a reputation for corruption, and the harshness which he and his wife showed to his tenants was remembered for ...
* 1625 Sir John Walter * 1631 Sir
Humphrey Davenport Humphrey is both a masculine given name and a surname. An earlier form, not attested since Medieval times, was Hunfrid. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Medieval period :''Ordered chronologically'' *Hunfrid of Pr ...
* 1645 Sir Richard Lane * 1648
John Wilde John Wilde (December 12, 1919 – March 9, 2006) was an American painter, draughtsman, and printmaker from Wisconsin. He spent the majority of his life in the state and taught at the University of Wisconsin–Madison for over 35 years. Wilde ...
* 1655 William Steele, appointed
Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, commonly known as the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was the highest ranking judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 until the end of 1800, it was also the hi ...
in 1656Ball, F. E., The Judges in Ireland, 1221-1921, Volume 1, P 342 * 1658 Sir
Thomas Widdrington Sir Thomas Widdrington Serjeant at law, SL (died 13 May 1664) was an English people, English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1664. He was the speaker of the Ho ...
* 1660
John Wilde John Wilde (December 12, 1919 – March 9, 2006) was an American painter, draughtsman, and printmaker from Wisconsin. He spent the majority of his life in the state and taught at the University of Wisconsin–Madison for over 35 years. Wilde ...
* 1660 Sir Orlando Bridgeman * 1660–1671 Sir Matthew Hale * 1671–1676 Sir Edward Turnor * 1676–1686 Sir William Montagu * 1686–1689 Sir Edward Atkyns * 1689–1694 Sir Robert Atkyns * 1695–1714 Sir Edward Ward * 1714–1715 Sir Samuel Dodd * 1716–1722 Sir Thomas Bury * 1722–1723 Sir James Montagu * 1723–1725 Sir
Robert Eyre Sir Robert Eyre (166628 December 1735) was an English lawyer and Whig politician who sat in the English House of Commons, English and House of Commons of Great Britain, British House of Commons from 1698 to 1710. He served as Solicitor General ...
* 1725–1726 Sir Jeffrey Gilbert * 1726–1730 Sir Thomas Pengelly * 1730–1738
Sir James Reynolds, junior Sir James Reynolds (1686–1739) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain, House of Commons from 1717 until 1725 when he was appointed a judge. He was Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer from 1730 to 173 ...
* 1738–1740 Sir
John Comyns Sir John Comyns (c. 1667 – 1 November 1740), of Writtle in Essex, was an English judge and Member of Parliament. Early life He was born the eldest surviving son of William Comyns, barrister, of Lincoln's Inn and his wife Elizabeth, the daug ...
* 1740–1742 Sir Edmund Probyn * 1742–1772 Sir Thomas Parker * 1772–1777 Sir
Sydney Smythe Sir Sidney Stafford Smythe, PC (1705 – 2 November 1778) was an English judge and politician. Early life Born in London, he was descended from Customer Smythe and Waller's " Sacharissa". His father, Henry Smythe of Old Bounds in the parish of ...
* 1777–1787 Sir
John Skynner Sir John Skynner, PC (1724 – 26 November 1805) was an English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1771 to 1777. He was born in London the son of John Skynner of Great Milton, Oxfordshire and educated at Westminster Schoo ...
* 1787–1793 Sir James Eyre * 1793–1813 Sir
Archibald Macdonald Sir Archibald Macdonald, 1st Baronet (13 July 1747 – 18 May 1826) was a British lawyer, judge and politician. Early life Macdonald was born at Armadale Castle on Skye on 13 July 1747, the posthumous son of Sir Alexander Macdonald, 7th Barone ...
* 1813 Sir Vicary Gibbs * 1814–1817 Sir
Alexander Thomson Alexander "Greek" Thomson (9 April 1817 – 22 March 1875) was an eminent Scottish architect and architectural theorist who was a pioneer in sustainable building. Although his work was published in the architectural press of his day, it was ...
* 1817–1824 Sir Richard Richards * 1824–1831 Sir
William Alexander William or Bill Alexander may refer to: Literature *William Alexander (poet) (1808–1875), American poet and author *William Alexander (journalist and author) (1826–1894), Scottish journalist and author * William Alexander (author) (born 1976), ...
* 1831–1834
John Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst John Singleton Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst, (21 May 1772 – 12 October 1863) was a British lawyer and politician. He was three times Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. Background and education Lyndhurst was born in Boston, Massachusetts, ...
* 1834–1844 Sir James Scarlett * 1844–1866 Sir Frederick Pollock * 1866–1880 Sir
Fitzroy Kelly Sir Fitzroy Edward Kelly (9 October 1796 – 18 September 1880) was an English commercial lawyer, Tory politician and judge. He was the last Chief Baron of the Exchequer. Background and education Kelly was born in London, the son of Robert Ha ...


Peerages created for the Chief Baron of the Exchequer


See also

* Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer in Scotland


References


Further reading

*Walker, David M., The Oxford Companion to Law, Appendix I, list of Chief Barons 1660-1880, pp. 1326–1327. *Sainty (comp.), Sir John, ''The Judges of England, 1272-1990: a list of the judges of the Superior courts'' (Selden Society: Supplementary Series 1993, 10). {{use dmy dates, date=January 2015 *Chief Exchequer offices