Christ's College - University of Cambridge

Lawyers from Christ's

From the early history of the College, former Christ’s students have achieved success and prominence in the law. The first judge to be appointed from Christ’s was probably Thomas Gent in 1584.  Most recently, another former law student (Lord Irvine of Lairg, Honorary Fellow, 1996) achieved historical and constitutional significance as the last Lord Chancellor to sit as a judge in the House of Lords.  Sir Martin Moore-Bick (Honorary Fellow, 2009) is a serving judge in the Court of Appeal.

During Lord Irvine’s tenure, the Great Seal of the Realm had to be replaced after 48 years of service.  A new seal was commissioned and, according to tradition, the old seal was left in Lord Chancellor Irvine’s care.  In 2008 Lord Irvine presented the old Great Seal (designed by Gilbert Ledward and used from near the start of the present Queen’s reign in 1953) to Christ’s College.

Our former students’ involvement in the law has not been such a simple matter as professional success. In fact some of our alumni jeopardised their careers for the principles they supported. The barrister Nicholas Fuller challenged the claims of courts run by the Church to punish people with different religious views. For this Fuller was imprisoned, whilst Sir Randolph Crewe, who had been appointed chief justice of the King’s Bench by King James I, was dismissed after less than two years when he refused to declare one of King Charles I’s policies to be lawful!

Other alumni have made less controversial contributions to law and society. Some alumni have been important legal authors. Henry Finch’s book Nomotechnia has been described as the most complete and the best institutional book before Blackstone.  Modern scholarship has shown that Finch’s book owes much of its structure and analysis to the techniques he studied as a student here. A 20th Century graduate, Lord Devlin, achieved high judicial office which he ultimately resigned to concentrate upon writing, particularly on the boundary between law and morals.

Christ’s lawyers have never been limited to purely legal matters. An example of their breadth of interest is John Fletcher Moulton. A Fellow of the College who became a very successful barrister and later judge, he was also made a Fellow of the Royal Society for his experiments with electricity! Basil Montagu is also noteworthy. After being threatened with imprisonment for debt in his youth, he went on to professional success (principally work concerning bankruptcy). As well as this professional activity he wrote a number of law books, was friends with writers such as Wordsworth, engaged in early-nineteenth century debates on the death penalty, worked for the government to try and solve the problem of increasing youth crime in London, produced an edition of the works of Francis Bacon, and wrote a number of other works on unrelated subjects!

Other notable alumni include:

Lord Patrick Devlin, matriculated in 1927, collected his MA in 1961. He was made an Honorary Fellow in 1949.

The Rt Hon the Lord Alexander Irvine of Lairg is an Honorary Fellow of College and matriculated in 1962.

The Rt Hon the Lord Peter Rawlinson of Ewell, PC, QC. He was an honorary fellow and studied History at Christ's in 1938. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Rawlinson,_Baron_Rawlinson_of_Ewell)

Lord Justice Sir Martin Moore-Bick (m.1965) - made the speech at the Grand Law Dinner in 2010 and is currently a Lord Justice of Appeal in the Court of Appeal.