Chief Baron of the Exchequer
The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" (meaning judge) of the English Exchequer of Pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who presided in the equity court and answered the bar i.e. spoke for the court."[1] Practically speaking, he held the most important office of the Exchequer of Pleas.
For the Chief Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland, see Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer.
The chief baron, along with the three puisne barons, sat as a court of common law, heard suits in the court of equity and settled revenue disputes. A puisne baron was styled "Mr Baron X" and the chief baron as "Lord Chief Baron X".
From 1550 to 1579, there was a major distinction between the chief baron and the second, third and fourth puisne barons. The difference was in social status and education. All of the chief barons had been trained as lawyers in the inns of court. With the exception of Henry Bradshaw and Sir Clement Higham, both barristers-at-law, all of the chief barons who served Queen Elizabeth I, had attained the highest and most prestigious rank of a lawyer, serjeant-at-law.
In 1875, the Court of Exchequer became the Exchequer Division of the High Court. Following the death of the last chief baron in 1880, the division and that of Common Pleas were merged into the King's Bench Division.[2]
1303 William de Carleton
[3]
1317 Sir Walter Norwich
[3]
1327 Hervey de Stanton
[4]
1345 Sir
Robert Sadington
1375 Sir
William Tauk
1387 Sir Robert de Plesyngton
[6]
1423
Sir John Ivyn
1483
Humphrey Starkey
1486 Sir
William Hody
1513
John Scot
1522
John FitzJames
1526
Sir Richard Broke
1529
Sir Richard Lyster
1545
Sir Roger Cholmley
1552
Henry Bradshaw
1553
David Brooke
1558
Sir Clement Higham
1559
Sir Edward Saunders
1577
Sir Robert Bell
1578
Sir Roger Manwood
1593
Sir William Peryam
1604
Sir Thomas Fleming
1607
Sir Lawrence Tanfield
1625
Sir John Walter
1631
Sir Humphrey Davenport
1645
Sir Richard Lane
1648
John Wilde
1658
Sir Thomas Widdrington
1660
John Wilde
1660
Sir Orlando Bridgeman
1660
Sir Matthew Hale
1671
Sir Edward Turnor
1676
Sir William Montagu
1686
Sir Edward Atkyns
1689
Sir Robert Atkyns
1695
Sir Edward Ward
1714
Sir Samuel Dodd
1716
Sir Thomas Bury
1722
Sir James Montagu
1723
Sir Robert Eyre
1725
Sir Jeffrey Gilbert
1726
Sir Thomas Pengelly
1730
Sir James Reynolds, junior
1738
Sir John Comyns
1740
Sir Edmund Probyn
1742
Sir Thomas Parker
1772
Sir Sydney Smythe
1777
Sir John Skynner
1787
Sir James Eyre
1793
Sir Archibald Macdonald
1813
Sir Vicary Gibbs
1814
Sir Alexander Thomson
1817
Sir Richard Richards
1824
Sir William Alexander
1831
The Lord Lyndhurst
1834
Sir James Scarlett
1844
Sir Frederick Pollock
1866
Sir Fitzroy Kelly
Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer in Scotland
Walker, David M., The Oxford Companion to Law, Appendix I, list of Chief Barons 1660-1880
Sainty (comp.), Sir John, The Judges of England, 1272-1990: a list of the judges of the Superior courts (Selden Society: Supplementary Series 1993, 10).