Masters of the Bench

Born in Sheffield 1944. King Edward VI School, Chelmsford, 1955-62. Read Law at UCL 1962-65 (LLB, PhD; Honorary Fellow 1991). Called to the Bar, Inner Temple 1966 (Honorary Bencher 1988); ad eundem, Gray’s Inn 1978 (Honorary Bencher 2013). Taught Law at UCL 1965-70, Cambridge 1971-2011 (MA, LLD), latterly as Downing Professor of the Laws of England; Fellow of St Catharine’s College. Literary Director, Selden Society, 1981-2011 (President 2015-18). FBA 1984; Honorary LLD Chicago 1992; Honorary Foreign Member, American Academy, 2001; knighted for services to legal history 2003. Author of books and papers on English legal history, including Introduction to English Legal History (5th edition, 2019); Oxford History of the Laws of England, vol. 6 (1483-1558) (2003); Sources of English Legal History (2010, 2024); The Men of Court 1440-1550 (2012); Collected Papers on English Legal History (2013); The Reinvention of Magna Carta (2017); English Law under Two Elizabeths (2021).