Gray's Inn
An Introduction to Gray's Inn
There has been law teaching on the site of Gray’s Inn since the reign of Edward III. The first habitation known to have been on or close to the site of the present Hall was the Manor House of the ancient Manor of Purpoole, meaning "the market by the lake". The Manor House was the London residence of the De Gray family, who had strong links with the Wales and Chester Circuit, and a number of lawyers and their families came to live and work here and formed the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn.
Notable Gray’s Inn members over the centuries include Edmund Dudley and Thomas Cromwell, both of whom were beheaded by Henry VIII. The Inn flourished under the reign of Queen Elizabeth, who was the Inn’s Patron Lady. Famous members at that time include Lord Burleigh, Sir Francis Walsingham and the Lord High Admiral of England, Howard of Effingham. The "Armada" screen in the Hall may have been partly made from the timbers of the Spanish ship "Nuestra Senora del Rosario" and donated by Lord Effingham. The Inn was renowned for its "Shows" and, indeed, Shakespeare’s "Comedy of Errors" was first performed in Hall at Christmastide 1594. Shakespeare’s patron, the Early of Southampton, was also a member, and Shakespeare is reputed to have acted in the Hall. In the early nineteenth century the teenage Charles Dickens spent eighteen months as a clerk in what is now South Square, and the Inn features in both "David Copperfield" and "The Pickwick Papers".
In the 20th century, F. E. Smith, Lord Birkenhead, was Treasurer several times, and Winston Churchill and the future President Roosevelt met for the first time as his guests at a Gray’s Inn dinner in 1918. Both Churchill and Roosevelt were later made Honorary Benchers. The Inn was heavily bombed in the second World War. In May 1941 the Hall, Chapel, Library and Offices were badly damaged. All were rebuilt after the War and, since all the original stain glass windows and wood panelling had been removed at the start of the War and sent away for safe keeping, the original interior remains the same. Since the War, two Benchers of Gray’s Inn have become Lord Chancellor: the late Lord Kilmuir and the late Lord Elwyn-Jones. Master Lord Lane was the Lord Chief Justice from 1980 to 1992 and Master Lord Bingham became Lord Chief Justice in 1996 and is now the Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. Finally, HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Duke of Gloucester are both Honorary Benchers.
