BEGINNINGS
The outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854 gave A. T. Rackham a chance of advancement. In war-time the business of the Admiralty Court was greatly increased, for it had cognizance of all naval prize matters. At twenty-four, A. T. Rackham’s experience in Messrs Tebbs’ office stood him in good stead. He entered the Civil Service in the Registry of the Admiralty Court with a salary of £200 a year, and was soon extremely busy preparing the Declaration of War and other papers. Much was expected of him, and he did not spare himself. Once, while copying a document for the Queen’s signature, he heard St Paul’s clock – the ‘heart of London’, as Dickens called it – strike three in the morning. Having failed three times to fill the large sheet of gilt-edged paper without a mistake, he had to return to the office earlier than usual, only a few hours afterwards, to accomplish the feat.
A. T. Rackham remained in the Registry until he became Chief Clerk, moving with it first to Somerset House and then to rooms in the new Law Courts. In 1896, while still retaining the Chief Clerkship, he was appointed to the ancient office of Admiralty Marshal and Serjeant at Mace of the High Court of Justice, at £800 a year. During each of the three years of his Marshalship he took part in the annual procession of judges and officials up the central hall of the Royal Courts of Justice on the first day of the sittings after the long vacation.
In September 1861, A. T. Rackham was married to Anne, second daughter of William Stevenson, a draper of Nottingham (her grandfather was Principal of the General Baptist College). They spent a fortnight of their honeymoon at Ventnor and another fortnight in22
