History Society Review

Every year The Inner Temple is involved with the Selden Society and Four Inns of Court Lecture Series. The Selden Society is the pre-eminent legal history learned society in the Common Law world. It has a massive international reach with members across the Globe. Since their inception in 2020 these lectures have attracted speakers of the very highest calibre, including two former members of the Supreme Court and a former Lord Chief Justice.

In 2025, Master Sumption spoke on the origins of public international law. It is rumoured that Master Sumption was once introduced by his opponent in a case as “the cleverest man in England”, which had echoes of John Milton’s description of another Inner Temple member in the 17th century, John Selden, who he described as “the chief of learned men reputed in this land”. Accepting that there might be a degree of challengeable hyperbole in those descriptions, it was an undoubted privilege to listen to Master Sumption’s brilliant dissertation. His eminence as a lawyer is unquestionable. His standing as a medieval historian demonstrated by his deeply researched and highly readable publications on the medieval period.

Master Sumption disputed the prevailing historiographical orthodoxy that locates the origins of international law as a discrete legal discipline in the aftermath of the Peace of Westphalia (1648) and the writings of Hugo Grotius. He sought to demonstrate that the medieval period saw the development of a coherent notion of sovereignty and an elaborate code of what would now be called customary international law.

Master Baker spoke to record audiences at The Inner Temple History Society on the Early History of the Bar, a question that has long intrigued members of the Inn and academic historian alike, and which a very long career has placed him in the best position to answer.

Master Baker, Professor Sir John Baker KC, has published very extensively. He has lectured and taught both nationally and internationally and is widely regarded as the doyen of English Legal History. His work in the field probably has no living equal and his contribution to the work of the Archives of the Inn and the History Society has been unequalled.

His work in the field probably has no living equal and his contribution to the work of the Archives of the Inn and the History Society has been unequalled.

Master Baker traced the emergence of judges, attorneys and pleaders in the 1250s. Alongside which the Inns of Court developed and, by 1388, had acquired a special status and responsibility for training. He explained how the Inns evolved into special societies providing training through moots and statute readings formalising the qualification for practice at the Bar.

Another such exhibition accompanied the symposium to consider the significance of the exceptional annotated volume of Paradise Lost recently acquired by the Inn. It included the Inn’s 1688 copy of Paradise Lost, and further biographical details of the members who are listed in the flyleaf of the book, and other early Milton pamphlets and books in the Inn’s collection.

Honorary Bencher, Dr Tom Kinninmont, chaired the panel discussion. Having an academic background in English literature he was able to make an active contribution to the dialogue between two leading Milton experts, Professor Joe Moshenska and Dr William Poole. The discussion ranged widely over the topics of Milton the man, the poem, its significance and the dramatic potential of Paradise Lost.

Although there is no clear record that part of Paradise Lost was performed at the Inn, it seems very likely from the annotations on the 1688 edition that there was such a performance at the Inn in the late 17th century. It is planned that in the Michaelmas term 2026 Master Kinninmont, who is also an award winning producer and drama director, will produce and direct another such performance, after over 300 years.

The final talk before the publication of this Yearbook was given by Dr Valentin Jeutner from the University of Lund. His theme was the evolution of the legal concept of ‘the reasonable person’. Dr Jeutner traced the origins of the reasonable person back to the ancient world, drawing connections to the silent person of Ancient Egypt (geru maa), the earnest person of Ancient Greece (ho spoudaios), and the paterfamilias of Ancient Rome. He explained how the concept later emerged in common law during the period of British industrialisation, shaped in part by the ideas of the Scottish Enlightenment, as a tool to support fairer and more accurate judgments in an increasingly complex society. For what might at first sight have seemed a somewhat esoteric subject the talk drew one of the larger audiences of the year, with over 100 people attending in person and, of course, more online.

For what might at first sight have seemed a somewhat esoteric subject the talk drew one of the larger audiences of the year, with over 100 people attending in person and, of course, more online.

The Michaelmas term 2026 will see the Selden Society and Four Inns series being hosted at The Inner Temple. The Rt Hon The Lord Burnett KG, the former Lord Chief Justice, will trace the development of the English jury trial with particular reference to the criminal courts, and explore the boundaries over time between the courts which tried criminal cases with juries and those which did not. He will examine the current issues surrounding the limitations on the jurisdiction of Magistrates in their historic context.

The History Society, with the backing of Rob Hodgson and his staff in the Library and Celia Pilkington, the Inn’s Archivist, has had an outstanding year and I am sure that my successor will enjoy working with them as much as I have. I look forward to attending many interesting talks in the future.

His Honour Donald Cryan (Hon) LLM
Chair of the History Society 2022–2026

History Society Talks:
innertemple.org.uk/englishbar
innertemple.org.uk/paradiselost
innertemple.org.uk/reasonable-person

We sadly say farewell to Master Cryan, who retires in December after a fruitful and distinguished tenure as Chair of the Inner Temple History Society.

His Chairmanship has brought us a host of fascinating lectures exploring the history of the Inn, from its silver, buildings and library to more esoteric legal topics, including the history of the concept of the law’s reasonable person and the early history of the Bar.

His tenure also coincided with his Presidency of the Selden Society, roles which he combined through his innovative Four Inns and Selden Society lecture series. This brought distinguished speakers, including Lady Hale and Lords Sumption, Burnett and Neuberger, to the four Inns to speak on subjects of national and legal interest.

Under Master Cryan’s Chairmanship, audiences have grown and the History Society has continued to delight us with a rich and varied feast of lectures. We are enormously grateful to him for all that he has contributed and wish him a very happy and well-deserved retirement, with our warmest thanks.

Celia Pilkington
Archivist