The Chancellor of the High Court is the head of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. This judge and the other two heads of divisions (Family and Queens Bench) sit by virtue of their offices often, as and when their expertise is deemed relevant, in panel in the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much ...

. As such this judge ranks equally to the President of the Family Division and the President of the Queen's Bench Division. From 1813 to 1841, the solitary and from 1841 to 1875, the three ordinary judges of the

Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equ ...

— rarely a

court of first instance A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accorda ...

until 1855 – were called vice-chancellors. The more senior judges of the same court were 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 ...

and the

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 ...

(who were moved fully to the

above in 1881). Each would occasionally hear cases alone or make declarations on paper applications alone. Partly due to the old system of many pre-pleadings, pleadings and hearings before most cases would reach Chancery the expense and duration of proceedings was pilloried in art and literature before the reforms of the late 19th century.

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

set ''

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode serial between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and ...

'' around raised hopes in ('' Jarndyce and Jarndyce'') a near-incomprehensible, decades-long case in Chancery, involving a decision on an increasingly old

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and wi ...

which was rendered useless as all of the deceased's wealth was – unknowingly to the prospective beneficiaries – absorbed in legal costs. Reform swiftly followed. Certain 1870s to 1899 Acts (the Judicature Acts) merged the courts of law and those of equity and enacted a halt to the position of vice-chancellor – which lasted from 1875 until 1971. From 1971 until October 2005, the revived high judicial office was called the Vice-Chancellorship (and the judge bore the title Vice-Chancellor). The holder nominally acted as the

's deputy in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

legal system and as head of the Chancery Division. The key duties of this judge have not changed in substance since 1971.

Ireland

An equivalent position existed in Ireland between 1867 and 1904 (Vice-Chancellor of Ireland) when the office was abolished. Throughout that period it was held by Hedges Eyre Chatterton (who was born in Cork and died in 1910 aged 91).

Vice-chancellors, 1813–1875

Because of an increase in caseload in the

for its two judges (the

and the

), an additional judicial office, The Vice-Chancellor of England, was created by the Administration of Justice Act 1813 to share the work. With the transfer of the equity jurisdiction to the Court of Chancery from the Court of Exchequer, two vice-chancellors were added in 1841 by the Chancery Act 1841, with the caveat that no successor for the second of the two new judges ( James Wigram) could be appointed. Soon Lancelot Shadwell (the Vice-Chancellor of England at the time the bill came into effect) left office and the three vice-chancellors became of equal status, with the "of England" dropped. In 1851, Parliament relented so a successor to Wigram could be named to keep the number at three ( George Turner), but again with the caveat (that proved temporary) that no future successor could be appointed. The caveat was lifted by an Act of 1852 so the number became fixed at three until the next major court reforms. After the Judicature Acts, which merged the Court of Chancery and various other courts into the new

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC ( Engl ...

, came into force, new vice-chancellors were not appointed: new judges of the Chancery Division became styled "Mr. Justice ..." like other High Court judges (adopting the style of the pre-merger common law courts). * 10 April 1813: Sir Thomas Plumer * 17 January 1818: Sir John Leach * 2 May 1827: Sir

Anthony Hart Sir Anthony Hart ( 1754 – 1831) was a British lawyer, who served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1827 to 1830. Life He was born into a slave-owning family about 1754 in the island of Saint Kitts, West Indies, fourth son of William Hart ...

* 31 October 1827: Sir Lancelot Shadwell * 28 October 1841 – 1851: Sir James Lewis Knight-Bruce * 28 October 1841 – 1850: Sir James Wigram * 2 November 1850 – 1851: Sir Robert Monsey Rolfe ''(The Lord Cranworth from 12 December 1850)'' * 2 April 1851 – 1853: Sir George Turner * 20 October 1851 – 1866: Sir

Richard Torin Kindersley Sir Richard Torin Kindersley (1792–1879) was an English lawyer and judge. He was born, the eldest son of Nathaniel Edward Kindersley, at Madras, India, in 1792, and educated at Haileybury and Trinity College, Cambridge, becoming a fellow in ...

* 20 October 1851 – 1852: Sir James Parker * 20 September 1852 – 1871: Sir John Stuart * 10 January 1853 – 1868: Sir William Wood * 1 December 1866 – 1881: Sir

Richard Malins Sir Richard Malins (9 March 1805 – 15 January 1882) was an English barrister, judge, and politician. Early life The third son of William Malins of Ailston, Warwickshire, by his wife Mary, eldest daughter of Thomas Hunter of Pershore, Worceste ...

* 13 March 1868 – 1869: Sir George Markham Giffard * 2 January 1869 – 1870: Sir William Milbourne James * 4 July 1870 – 1886: Sir James Bacon * 18 April 1871 – 1873: Sir John Wickens * 11 November 1873 – 1882: Sir Charles Hall

Vice-chancellors, 1971–2005

A new judicial post of Vice-Chancellor (its last holder having been that of 1882) was created by section 5 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, which came into effect on 1 October 1971. Under its provisions the Vice-Chancellor was appointed by the

(president of the Chancery Division). He became responsible to the latter for administering the division. The Senior Courts Act 1981 made the position one appointed by the Queen (like the President of the Family Division) and made the Vice-Chancellor vice-president of the Chancery Division. *1971: Sir John Pennycuick *1974: Sir Anthony Plowman *1976: Sir Robert Megarry *3 June 1985: Sir Nicolas Browne-Wilkinson *1 October 1991: Sir Donald Nicholls *3 October 1994: Sir Richard Scott *17 July 2000: Sir

Andrew Morritt Sir Robert Andrew Morritt, CVO (born 5 February 1938), is a former British judge who served as Chancellor of the High Court of England and Wales. Life and career Morritt was educated at Eton College and Magdalene College, Cambridge, and wa ...

(Chancellor of the High Court after the relevant provisions of the

Constitutional Reform Act 2005 The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c 4) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, relevant to UK constitutional law. It provides for a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to take over the previous appellate jurisdiction of the Law L ...

came into effect on 1 October 2005.)

Chancellor of the High Court, 2005–present

The

removed the

's role as a judge. As one of the judicial roles of the office was president of the Chancery Division, the office of Vice-Chancellor was renamed Chancellor of the High Court and replaced the Lord Chancellor. The name change took effect on 1 October 2005, but some of the responsibilities (including the presidency of the division) did not transfer until 3 April 2006. The Constitutional Reform Act retained the position of Vice-Chancellor as vice-president of the Chancery Division, though it does not appear anyone has been appointed to the position or who would make or be eligible for such an appointment. *1 October 2005: Sir

(Vice-Chancellor before the relevant provisions of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 came into effect on 1 October 2005.) *11 January 2013: Sir Terence Etherton *24 October 2016: Sir Geoffrey Vos *3 February 2021: Sir Julian Flaux

References

* ''A History of English Law, Vol. I'', by Sir William Holdsworth (Methuen & Co, 1961 reprint) * ''Twentieth-Century British Political Facts 1900–2000'', by David Butler and Gareth Butler (Macmillan Press 2000) * Joseph Haydn, ''The Book of Dignities'', 1894

External links