A catalogue of notable Middle Templars, with brief biographical notices/Preface

by John Hutchinson

PREFACE.

IN the following pages will be found a List—fairly complete, it is believed, if not exhaustive—of such Englishmen or others, being British subjects^[1], as have been considered deserving of a place of record in any standard work of British Biography, and whose names are to be found also in the Admission Books of the Middle Temple^[2].

The List extends to nearly one thousand names. Of these a very large number are, of course, those of distinction in the records of the Law—Judges, Advocates, Jurists and the like; but the majority, it is somewhat remarkable to note, will be found to possess other claims to distinction, and to consist of those who, after admission to the Inn, either wholly or partially abandoned the Law, and found more congenial scope for their abilities in other pursuits. And of these not only is the number, but the variety, remarkable; for amongst them will be noticed representatives of almost every department of intellectual activity—Philosophers and Moralists, Orators and Wits, Historians and Antiquaries, Poets and Dramatists, Artists and Musicians, Journalists and Critics, Mathematicians and Men of Science, Grammarians and Philologists, Essayists and Novelists, even Theologians and Divines; while, of those whose fame rests more upon their actions than their writings, occur the names of Statesmen and Politicians, Soldiers, Sailors, Courtiers, Ambassadors, and even of Merchants and Agriculturists.

This feature of the Catalogue goes to establish the fact that the Inns of Court, whilst primarily "institutions set apart for the study and practice of the Law," have at all times kept up the character originally attributed to them as the resort also of students whose object was general culture as much as professional training^[3]. That they were also Societies to which it was deemed no small honour to belong is shown by the presence amongst ordinary members of many of the chief public men of the time, at their respective dates—Royal and Noble personages, Statesmen, Soldiers, Sailors, Courtiers, Ecclesiastical and other Dignitaries^[4]— who were admitted apparently honoris causa, though there is no express mention of the fact on the Registers.

Another, and not the least interesting feature of the List, is the presence upon it of a number of members from the British North American Colonies before their separation from the Mother Country, who, on their return home, took a leading part in bringing about that separation, and in the framing of the Federal and State Constitutions, a part for which the legal knowledge acquired at the Inn doubtless qualified them.

The period over which the Catalogue extends embraces exactly four centuries, extending back from the end of the past year (1901) to the year 1501, the date of the earliest of the Inn Registers. It is, of course, only reasonable to suppose that there were many distinguished Middle Templars before that time, but unfortunately no means exists of tracing any beyond a few of the judicial class, who have been identified from entries in the Year Books and other legal records. Tradition has, indeed, connected two of the most interesting names in English literature—those of John Gower (1325—1402) and Geoffrey Chaucer (1340—1400) with "the Temple," but there is nothing to show to which of the Inns (if either) they belonged. They are, therefore, excluded from the Catalogue^[5].

A gap in the Registers, by the loss of a volume, unfortunately occurring between the years 1524 and 1551, may account for the absence of the names of some who might be entitled to a place upon the Catalogue.

The Biographical Notices which accompany the names, and which have been added chiefly for the sake of ready reference, contain only the salient facts in each instance. Fuller information must be looked for elsewhere, if required^[6]. Care has, however, been taken to give such special information in each case as the Registers afford, especially as to parentage; and, in the case of such members as have been Authors, a sufficient reference has been made to the titles and nature of their works as to show the extent of the contributions of the Inn as a body to the general literary wealth of the country.

The Notices are arranged alphabetically, but an Index, or Collected List, of Members, both of those noticed and others incidentally mentioned, has been added for the sake of ready reference, under their Names, Titles and Sobriquets.

It is hoped that a volume containing such information, and in which is preserved, in a compact and convenient form, some record of their more notable predecessors, may not be unacceptable to present and future members of the Inn.

J. H.

Middle Temple Library.
August, 1902.

1. Two noteworthy exceptions to this rule will be found, on pp. 95 and 163 respectively, in the persons of the Venetian Ambassadors, Antonio Foscarini and Pietro Mocenigo
2. This has been the general principle of selection. A departure from it, in the direction of a more Hberal inclusion, has, however, been made in a few instances apparently overlooked in the Biographies alluded to.
3. Fortescue (De Laudibus, cap. 49) relates that the curriculum of students at the Inns of Court included not only the study of the Law, but such subjects as "sacred and prophane History," and that even the lighter accomplishments of Singing, Dancing, and all kinds of Music were practised; while Sir George Buck (Appendix to Stow's Chronicle, p. 1069) reckons the Inns amongst the " Universities of England."
4. Including one Mitred Abbot (p. 18).
5. The writer of the Article on Chaucer in the Biographia Britannica makes him of the Middle Temple. Urry, in the Preface to the poet's works, places him in the Inner; but there is no authority for either statement. Other attempts have been made to attach him to the latter Inn, but the evidence is quite insufficient. The same is true as to Gower.
6. Particularly in the Dictionary of National Biography, from which the Notices have been largely compiled, and with which the articles (many of them written before the appearance of that comprehensive publication) have been in all cases compared. In the Lives of the Judges on the List the work of Mr. Foss has been largely consulted.