Recorder of London

The recorder of London is an ancient legal office in the City of London. The recorder of London is the senior circuit judge at the Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey), hearing trials of criminal offences. The recorder is appointed by the Crown on the recommendation of the City of London Corporation with the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor. The recorder's deputy is the Common Serjeant of London, appointed by the Crown on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor. The recorder of London is, since 14 April 2020, Mark Lucraft.^[1]

Background

 

The Central Criminal Court, commonly called the Old Bailey after the street which it fronts.

The first recorder of London was appointed in 1298. Originally it seems likely that the recorder would have recorded pleas in the court of the Lord Mayor and the aldermen and delivered their judgments. A charter granted by Henry VI in 1444 appointed the recorder ex officio a conservator of the peace. The recorder increasingly exercised judicial functions thereafter, eventually becoming the principal judge in the City of London.

The recorder became a judge at the Central Criminal Court when it was created by Parliament in 1834. The Central Criminal Court became part of the Crown Court under the Courts Act 1971, but the recorder maintained their position when the office of recorder in other cities became honorary.

Functions

In addition to hearing criminal trials at the Central Criminal Court, the recorder of London heads up court list management (including allocation of cases) to the court's judges. The recorder also provides legal advice to the Lord Mayor and the Court of Aldermen.

The recorder has a traditional costume and takes charge of the election of the Lord Mayor of London, declares the result, and physically presents the new Lord Mayor for the monarch's approval, first to the Lord Chancellor, and then to the Lord Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls (at the Royal Courts of Justice on the day of the Lord Mayor's Show). On the occasion of a state visit, the recorder usually presents an Address of Welcome on behalf of the City.

The recorder of London is the returning officer at the election of the verderers of Epping Forest, and is usually appointed High Steward of Southwark, appointed by the Court of Aldermen, holding the sitting of the three courts leet of the City's (largely ceremonial) manors there each year.

The recorder can act as the deputy of the Common Serjeant in the election of the Sheriff and their presentation to the King's Remembrancer at the Quit Rent ceremony.

List of recorders of London

(before 1495 may not be complete)

1298 – (or John) Geoffrey de Norton 1303 – John de Wengrave (later Lord Mayor) 1321 – Jeffrey de Hertpoll (or Hertpole) 1321 – Robert de Swalchyne (or Robert de Swalclyve) 1329 – Gregory de Norton 1339 – Roger de Depham 1353 – Thomas Ludlow (later Chief Baron) 1365 – William de Halden 1377 – William Cheyne (perhaps later Chief Justice of the King's Bench) 1389 – John Tremayne 1392 – William Makenade 1394 – John Cokayne 1398 – Matthew de Sulhworth 1403 – Thomas Thornburgh 1405 – John Preston 1415 – John Barton 1422 – John Fray (later Chief Baron) 1426 – John Simonds 1435 – Alexander Anne 1440 – Thomas Cockayn 1440 – William (alias John) Bowes (also Speaker) 1442 – Robert Danvers 1451 – Thomas Billing (later Chief Justice of the King's Bench) 1455 – Thomas Urswick (later Chief Baron) 1471 – Sir Humphrey Starkey (later Chief Baron) 1483 – Thomas Fitzwilliam (later Speaker of the House of Commons) 1495–1508 – Sir Robert Sheffield 1508–1518 – John Chalyner 1518–1520 – Richard Broke (later also Justice of Common Pleas and Chief Baron) 1520–1526 – William Shelley (later Justice of Common Pleas) 1526–1536 – John Baker 1536–1546 – Sir Roger Cholmeley (later Chief Justice of the King's Bench) 1546–1553 – Robert Broke (later Justice of the Common Pleas, also Speaker) 1553–1563 – Ralph Cholmley (later Chief Justice of the Common Pleas^[2]) 1563–1566 – Richard Onslow 1566–1569 – Sir Thomas Bromley (later Lord Chancellor) 1569–1571 – Thomas Wilbraham (later a judge of the Court of Wards and Liveries) 1571–1591 – William Fleetwood 1591–1592 – Edward Coke (later Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and then Chief Justice of the King's Bench) 1592–1594 – Edward Drew 1594–1595 – Thomas Fleming 1595–1603 – John Croke (also Speaker of the House of Commons in 1601) 1603–1616 – Henry Montagu (later Chief Justice of the King's Bench) 1616 – Thomas Coventry 1616–1618 – Sir Anthony Benn 1618 – Richard Martin 1618–1620 – Robert Heath 1620 – Robert Shute

1620–1631 – Sir Heneage Finch (also Speaker of the House of Commons) 1631–1634 – Edward Littleton 1634–1635 – Robert Mason 1635 – Sir Henry Calthorpe 1635–1643 – Thomas Gardiner 1643 – Peter Phesant 1643–1649 – Sir John Glynn (previously Recorder of Westminster) 1649–1655 – William Steele (later Chief Baron of the Exchequer and then Lord Chancellor of Ireland) 1655–1658 – Lislebone Long 1658–1659 – John Green 1659–1668 – William Wilde (later Justice of the Common Pleas and then Justice of the King's Bench) 1668–1676 – John Howell 1676–1678 – Sir William Dolben (later Justice of the King's Bench) 1678–1680 – Sir George Jeffreys (later Chief Justice of the King's Bench) 1680–1683 – George Treby (displaced after the City of London's charters were suspended in 1683 under the Quo Warranto proceedings; restored in 1692, but then Chief Justice of the Common Pleas) 1683–1685 – Sir Thomas Jenner (later Baron of the Exchequer) 1685–1687 – Sir John Holt (later Lord Chief Justice) 1687–1688 – Sir John Tate 1688–1692 – Bartholomew Shower 1692–1708 – Salathiel Lovell (later Justice of the Common Pleas and Baron of the Exchequer) 1708–1714 – Sir Peter King (later Chief Justice of Common Pleas) 1714–1739 – Sir William Thompson (later Baron of the Exchequer) 1739–1742 – Sir John Strange 1742–1743 – Simon Urlin 1743–1749 – John Stracey 1749–1753 – Sir Richard Adams (later Baron of the Exchequer) 1753–1763 – Sir William Moreton 1763–1772 – Sir James Eyre (later Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and Chief Justice of the Common Pleas) 1772–1779 – John Glynn 1779–1789 – James Adair 1789–1803 – Sir John William Rose 1803–1822 – Sir John Silvester, Bt 1822–1833 – Newman Knowlys 1833–1850 – Charles Ewan Law 1850–1856 – James Stuart-Wortley, MP 1856–1878 – Russell Gurney 1878–1891 – Thomas Chambers 1892–1900 – Charles Hall 1900–1922 – Sir Forrest Fulton 1922–1934 – Sir Ernest Wild 1934–1937 – Henry Holman Gregory 1937–1959 – Sir Gerald Dodson 1959–1964 – Edward Anthony Hawke 1964–1975 – Carl Aarvold 1975–1990 – Sir James Miskin 1990–1998 – Sir Lawrence Verney 1998–2004 – Michael Hyam 2004–2013 – Peter Beaumont 2013–2015 – Brian Barker 2015–2019 – Nicholas Hilliard^[3] 2020–present – Mark Lucraft

References

1. "Chief Coroner of England and Wales appointed as next Recorder of London".
2. According to Henry Machyn, Cholmley's funeral (as Recorder) was in 1563. See J.G. Nichols (ed.), The Diary of Henry Machyn, Citizen and Merchant-Taylor of London, Camden Society (London 1848), Original Series Vol. XLII, p. 307.
3. "Warrants Under the Royal Sign Manual". www.thegazette.co.uk.

• Senior Circuit Judge Appointment – The Recorder of London 3 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Judicial Appointments Commission
• Next Recorder of London announced: His Honour Judge Brian Barker QC, City of London, 10 December 2012
• The history and antiquities of London, Westminster, Southwark, and other parts adjacent, Volume 2, Thomas Allen, 1839, p. 282–284
• The Bar and the Old Bailey, 1750–1850, p. 45, 151
• The Office of Recorder of the City of London, Sir Lawrence Verney, 30 October 2000
• [www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/jobs/Documents/Information%20pack.pdf Job description]