Sewaktu kurun ke-12 dan ke-13 undang-undang diajarkan di City of London, secara asas oleh clergy. Sewaktu kurun ke-13 dua peristiwa berlaku yang merosakkan pendidikan undang-undang ini; pertama, sebuah decree oleh Henry III dari England pada 2 Disember 1234 bahawa tiada institut pendidikan undang-undang dapat wujud di City of London,[4] dan keduanya sebuah papal bull yang melarangkan clergy dari mengajar common law, daripada canon law.[5] Oleh itu, sistem pendidikan undang-undang fell apart. Peguam common law menghijrah ke hamlet Holborn, tempat terdekat dengan mahkamah di Dewan Westminster yang berada di luar City.[5]

Penemuan dan tahun-tahun terdahulunya

Jata Baron Grey of Wilton, pemilik asal dari Gray's Inn selepas siapa ia dinamakan.

Rekod-rekod awal pada keempat-empat Inns of Court telah hilang, dan ia tidak diketahui bila tiap mereka telah didirikan. Rekod-rekod Gray's Inn sendiri kehilangan hingga 1569, dan tarikh tepat penubuhan oleh itu tidak dapat disahkan.[6] Lincoln's Inn mempunyai rekod-rekod kekal terawal. Gray's Inn bertarikh dari sekurang-kurangnya 1370,[7] dan mendapatkan namanya dari Baron Grey dari Wilton, sedangkan Inn telah terdahulunay dinamakan rumah (atau rumah tumpangan) keluarga Wilton, Rumah besar Portpoole.[8] Sebuah pajakan telah diambil untuk pelbagai bahagian rumah tumpangan diamalkan oleh para peguam sebagai penginapan tempat kediaman dan pekerjaan, dan perantis mereka dirumakan dengan mereka. Dari ini tradisi memakan di "commons", kemungkinan memberikan nama utama inn, diikuti sebagai aturan sesuai untuk ahli-ahlinya. Di luar rekod dari 1437 menunjukkan bahawa Gray's Inn telah diduduki oleh socii, atau ahli-ahli sebuah masyarakat pada zaman itu.[8]

Pada 1456 Reginald de Gray, pemilik Rumah besar sendiri, menjual tanah ke suatu kumpulan termasuk Thomas Bryan. Beberapa bulan kemudian ahli-hali lain menandatangani surat ikatan pajakan, memberikan keizinan harta milik hanya kepada Thomas Bryan.[9] Bryan berlagak sebagai sama ada seorang feoffee atau seorang pemilik mewakili badan pentadbiran Inn (adanya sesetengah rekod mencadangkan bahawa dia mungkin telah menjadi seorang Pembangku pada sudut ini) tetapi pada 1493 memindahkan kemilikan oleh carta ke sebuah kumpulan termasuk Sir Robert Brudenell dan Thomas Wodeward, memulangkan kemilikan Inn secara separuh ke keluarga Grey.[10]

Pada 1506 Inn telah secara tetap dipindahkan luar tangan keluarga Gray ke satu kumpulan termasuk Roger Lupton.[11] Ini bukan suatu pembelian bagi pihak Society, dan ia sekali lagi dijual pada 1516 ke Carthusian House of Jesus of Bethlehem, yang tetap menjadi tuan tanah Society hingga 1539,[12] apabila Akta Kedua Pembubaran membawa Pembubaran Biara dan meluluskan kemilikan Inn ke Crown.[13]

Zaman keemasan Elizabethan

Sewaktu pemerintahan Elizabeth I Gray's Inn naik ke kemasyhuran, dan zaman itulah dianggap "zaman keemasan" Inn, dengan Elizabeth berkhidmat sebagai Wanita Penaung.[14] Ini dapat dikesankan semula ke tindakan Nicholas Bacon, William Cecil dan Gilbert Gerard, semua ahli ketara Inn dan konfidantes Elizabeth.[15] Cecil dan Bacon khususnya bersusah payah mencari lelaki muda yang sangat dijanjikan dan mendapatkan mereka untuk memasuki Inn.[16] Pada 1574 ia adalah terbesar dari kesemuanya Inns of Court mengikut bilangan, dengan 120 peguambela, dan pada 1619 melebihi 200 peguambela telah direkodkan sebagai ahli Inn.[17] Gray's Inn, dan juga as well Inns of Court lain, dinyatakan untuk pesta dan perayaan yang ia menuanrumahkan. Para pelajar Inn melakukan tarian topeng dan lakonan di laman perkahwinan, di hadapan Ratu Elizabeth sendiri, dan menuanrumahkan perayaan dan majlis makan di Candlemas, All Hallows Eve dan Easter.[18] Sewaktu Krismas para pelajar memerintah Inn pada hari itu, melantikkan seorang Lord of Misrule dan mengaturkan sebuah tarian topen keseluruhannya sendiri mereka, dengan Pembangku dan ahli-ahli tua lain Inn pergi bercuti.[19] Tarian topeng Gray's Inn pada 1588 dengan keping pusatnya, The Misfortunes of Arthur oleh Thomas Hughes, dianggapkan oleh A.W. Ward sebagai tarian topen paling menarik di mana-mana Inns.[20] William Shakespeare dilakukan di Inn sekurang-kurangnya sekali, sebagai penaungnya, Lord Southampton, was a member.[21]

Elizabeth I dari England, yang berkhidmat sebagai penaung Inn sewaktu "zaman keemasan"

In this period, the education of a law student lasted approximately twelve to fourteen years. A student would first study at either Oxford or Cambridge University, or at one of the Inns of Chancery, a dedicated legal training institution.[22] If he studied at Oxford or Cambridge he would spend three years working towards a degree, and be admitted to one of the Inns of Court after graduation. If he studied at one of the Inns of Chancery he would do so for one year before seeking admission to the Inn of Court to which his Inn of Chancery was tied — in the case of Gray's Inn, the attached Inns of Chancery were Staple Inn and Barnard's Inn.[23] The student was then considered an "inner barrister", and would study in private, take part in the moots and listen to the readings and other lectures. After between six and nine years of this the student was called to the Bar, assuming he had fulfilled the requirements of having argued twice at moots in one of the Inns of Chancery, twice in the Hall of his Inn of Court and twice in the Inn Library.[24] The new "utter barrister" was then expected to supervise bolts ("arguments" over a single point of law between students and barristers)[25] and moots at his Inn of Court, attend lectures at the Inns of Court and Chancery and teach students. After five years as an "utter" barrister he was allowed to practice in court — after ten years he was made an Ancient.[24]

The period saw the establishment of a regular system of legal education. In the early days of the Inn the quality of legal education had been poor — readings were given infrequently, and the standards for a call to the Bar were weak and varied. During the Elizabethan age readings were given regularly, moots took place daily and barristers who were called to the Bar were expected to play a part in teaching students, resulting in skilled and knowledgeable graduates from the Inn.[17]

Many noted barristers, judges and politicians were members of the Inn during this period, including Gilbert Gerard, Master of the Rolls, Edmund Pelham, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, and Francis Bacon, who served as Treasurer for eight years, supervising significant changes to the facilities of the Inn and the first proper construction of the gardens and walks for which the Inn is noted.[26] The Inn's prosperity continued relatively uninterrupted through the reign of James I.

Zaman Caroline dan Perang Saudara Inggeris

Sebuah peta menunjukkan suatu pandangan penglihatan burung Gray's Inn pada 1677

At the start of the Caroline period, when Charles I came to the throne, the Inn continued to prosper. Over 100 students were admitted to the Inn each year, and except during the plague of 1636 the legal education of students continued.[27] Masques continued to be held, including one in 1634 organised by all four Inns that cost £21,000 — £2,624,000 in 2009 terms.[27] Before 1685 the Inn counted as members five dukes, three marquises, twenty nine earls, five viscounts and thirty nine barons, and during that period "none can exhibit a more illustrious list of great men".[28]

Many academics, including William Holdsworth, a man considered to be one of the best legal academics in history,[29] maintain that this period saw a decline in the standard of teaching at the Inns.[30] From 1640 onwards no readings were held, and barristers such as Sir Edward Coke remarked at the time that the quality of education at the Inns of Court had decreased.[30] Holdsworth put this down to three things — the introduction of printed books, the disinclination of students to attend moots and readings and the disinclination of the Benchers and Readers to enforce attendance.[31] With the introduction of printing, written legal texts became more available, reducing the need for students to attend readings and lectures. However, this meant that the students denied themselves the opportunity to query what they had learnt or discuss it in greater detail.[32] Eventually, students now had a way to learn without attending lectures, they began to excuse themselves from lectures, meetings and moots altogether; in the early 17th century they developed a way of deputising other students to do their moots for them.[33] The Benchers and Readers did little to arrest the decline of the practice of lecturers and readings, first because many probably believed (as the students did) that books were an adequate substitute, aand secondly because many were keen to avoid the work of preparing a reading, which cut into their time as practising barristers.[34]

The outbreak of the First English Civil War led to a complete suspension of legal education, and from November 1642 until July 1644 no Pension meetings were held. Only 43 students were admitted during the four years of the war, and none were called to the Bar.[35] Meetings of Pension resumed after the Battle of Marston Moor but the education system remained dormant. Although Readers were appointed, none read, and no moots were held.[36] In 1646 after the end of the war there was an attempt to restore the old system of readings and moots, and in 1647 an order was made that students were required to moot at least once a day.[37] This failed to work, with Readers refusing to read, and the old system of legal education completely died out.[38]

South Square

The Caroline period saw a decline in prosperity for Gray's Inn.[39] Although there were many notable members of the Inn, both legal (Sir Dudley Digges, Thomas Bedingfield and Francis Bacon, for example) and non legal (including William Juxon, the Archbishop of Canterbury), the list could not compare to that of the Elizabethan period.[40] Following the English Restoration admissions fell to an average of 57 a year.[40]

Pengembalian Inggeris hingga ke hari ini

The fortunes of Gray's Inn continued to decline after the English Restoration, and by 1719 only 22 students were joining the Inn a year.[41] This fall in numbers was partly because the landed gentry were no longer sending sons who had no intention of becoming barristers to study at the Inn. In 1615 13 students joined the Inn for every one student called to the Bar, but by 1713 this was only 2.3 new members to every 1 call.[42] Over a 50-year period the Civil War and high taxation under William III economically crippled many members of the gentry, meaning that they could not afford to allow their sons to study at the Inns.[43] David Lemmings consider it to have been more serious than that, for two reasons; firstly, Inner Temple and Middle Temple had actually shown an increase in membership following the Restoration, and secondly because Gray's Inn had previously had far more "common" members than the other Inns.[44] The decrease in the number of gentry at the Inn could therefore not completely explain the large drop in members.[44]

In 1733 the requirements for a call to the Bar were significantly revised in a joint meeting between the Benchers of Inner Temple and Gray's Inn, revisions accepted by Lincoln's Inn and Middle Temple, although they were not represented.[45] It is not recorded what these changes were, but after a further discussion in 1762 the Inns adopted a rule that any student with a Master of Arts or Bachelor of Laws degree from the universities of Oxford or Cambridge could be called to the Bar after three years as a student, and any other student could be called after five years.[46] An attempt was made to increase the quality of legal education at Gray's Inn; in 1753 a barrister, Danby Pickering, was employed to lecture there, although this agreement ended in 1761 when he was called to the Bar.[46]

The eighteenth century was not a particularly prosperous time for the Inn or its members, and few notable barristers were members during this period. Some noted members include Sir Thomas Clarke, the Master of the Rolls, Sir James Eyre, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and Samuel Romilly, a noted law reformer.[47] In 1780 the Inn was involved in the case of R v the Benchers of Gray's Inn, a test of the role of the Inns of Court as the sole authority to call students to the Bar. The case was brought to the Court of King's Bench by William Hart, a student at the Inn, who asked the court (under Lord Mansfield) to order the Inn to call him to the Bar. Mansfield ruled that the Inns of Court were indeed the only organisations able to call students to the Bar, and refused to order the Inns to call Hart.[48]

During the nineteenth century the Inns began to stagnate; little had been changed since the seventeenth century in terms of legal education or practice, except that students were no longer bound to take the Anglican sacrament before their call to the Bar.[21] In 1852 the Council of Legal Education was established by the Inns, and in 1872 a formal examination for the call to the Bar was introduced.[21] Gray's Inn itself suffered more than most; as in the eighteenth century, the fortunes of its members declined, and many barristers who had been called to the Bar at the Inn transferred to others.[49]

Gray's Inn was the smallest of the Inns during the early 20th century, and was noted for its connection to the Northern Circuit.[50] In the Second World War the Inn was badly damaged during the Blitz in 1941, with the Hall, the Chapel, the Library and many other buildings hit and almost destroyed. The rebuilding of much of the Inn took until 1960.[2] In 2008 Gray's Inn became the first Inn to appoint "fellows" — elected businesspeople, legal academics and others, with the intent being to give them a wider perspective and education than the other Inns would offer.[51]