History Society

The Inner Temple History Society is open to all members of the Inns of Court and the general public. Lectures will focus on topics relevant to the history of the Inn, its membership and Estate.

Previous Lectures

2023

22 February
THE HISTORY OF THE INNER TEMPLE THROUGH ITS TREASURES by Richard Parsons (Goldsmith and Silver Consultant to the Inn)

2022

10 October
HUMAN RIGHTS IN BRITAIN AND FRANCE FROM THOMAS BECKET TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION by Sir Michael Tugendhat (Honorary Professor of Law, University of Leicester, Inner Temple Bencher, joint author with Elizabeth de Montlaur Martin of the Les droits du genre humain: la liberté en France et en Angleterre (1159-1793), [The rights of mankind: Liberty in France and England (1159-1793)] Société de législation comparée, Paris, 2021)

10 May
DR IVY WILLIAMS, AN ENDURING INSPIRATION TO WOMEN LAWYERS by Dr Frances Burton (Emeritus Research Fellow, University of Buckingham and retired Barrister)

2 February
WILLIAM CRASHAWE'S LIBRARY AND THE CIRCULATION OF BOOKS AT THE INNS OF COURT IN THE EARLY 17TH CENTURY by Professor Michelle O’Callaghan (Professor of Early Modern Literature, University of Reading, and Director of the Early Modern Research Centre (EMRC))

2021

22 March
LAW IN A TIME OF PLAGUE: WAS THE LAW A GOOD DOCTOR? by Professor Sir John Baker QC LLD FBA (Emeritus Downing Professor Emeritus of the Laws of England 1998-2011 and Inner Temple Bencher) and Professor John Wass MA MD FRCP (Professor of Endocrinology, University of Oxford and Inner Temple Bencher)

2020

21 October
The Selden Society and Inns of Court Annual Lecture
THE FIRE COURTS: SUCCESSFULLY DELIVERING JUSTICE IN A TIME OF PLAGUE AND FIRE by Professor Jay Tidmarsh (Notre Dame Law School)

16 March
LONDON AND THE TEMPLE 1270 by Professor Caroline Barron OBE (Emeritus Professor of History, Royal Holloway, University of London)

19 February
THE SUPREME COURT by Frederic Reynold QC (Author of High Principle, Low Politics and the Emergence of the Supreme Court)

22 January
LONDON AND THE REFORMATION by Dr Susan Brigden (Author of London and the Reformation and Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford)

2019

23 October
LAWYERS AND DIPLOMATS AT THE INNER TEMPLE by Greg Dorey CVO (Sub-Treasurer of The Inner Temple and former British Ambassador to Hungary and Ethiopia)

4 June
THE MISFORTUNES OF ARTHUR a play by Thomas Hughes. Originally created for the 1587 Gray’s Inn revels and last performed for Elizabeth I at Greenwich Palace in 1588. The first time it has been performed at an Inn for 432 years

25 March
LAW SPORTS: Revelling at the Elizabethan and Jacobean Inns of Court by Professor Michelle O’Callaghan (Director of the Early Modern Research Centre and Author)

4 February
MY LIFE OF CRIME - Cases and Causes by Sir Ivan Lawrence QC, Inner Temple Bencher  and celebrated criminal defence lawyer

2018

16 Ocbtober
PEERAGE LAW, its evolution and Hereditary Peerage and Baronetcy Claims in the 21st century by Thomas Woodcock CVO DL FSA, Garter Principal King of Arms and Inner Temple Bencher

23 July
JOHN WILKES MEMORIAL LECTURE by Matthew Parris

21 May
JUST AN ORDINARY LAWYER written and performed by Tayo Aluko

16 March
KING’S INNS, DUBLIN, AND THE IRISH AT LONDON’S INNS OF COURT by Dr Colum Kenny, Emeritus Prof of Communications at Dublin City University

19 April
AN INNER TEMPLE ‘MISCELLANY’: Revels, Plays, and Proclamations, 1526-1633 by Alan H Nelson, Professor Emeritus at the Department of English at the University of California, Berkeley

29 January
THE RIVER’S TALE: Stories from the Thames Discovery Programme by Nathalie Cohen, Head of Community Archeology for the Thames Discovery Programme