Her Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, often known as the Solicitor General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown

Law Officers of the Crown

The Law Officers of the Crown are the chief legal advisers to the Crown, and advise and represent the various governments in the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth Realms. In England and Wales, Northern Ireland and most Commonwealth and colonial governments, the chief law officer of the...

, and the deputy of the Attorney General

Attorney General for England and Wales

Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...

, whose duty is to advise the Crown

The Crown

The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...

 and Cabinet

Cabinet of the United Kingdom

The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....

 on the law. He or she can exercise the powers of the Attorney General in the Attorney General's absence.

There is also a Solicitor General for Scotland

Solicitor General for Scotland

Her Majesty's Solicitor General for Scotland is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Lord Advocate, whose duty is to advise the Crown and the Scottish Government on Scots Law...

, who is the deputy of the Lord Advocate

Lord Advocate

Her Majesty's Advocate , known as the Lord Advocate , is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament...

. As well as the Sovereign's Solicitor General, the Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...

 and a Queen consort

Queen consort

A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...

 (when the Sovereign is male) are also entitled to have an Attorney and Solicitor General, though the present Prince of Wales has only an Attorney General and no Solicitor General.

The Solicitor General is addressed in court as "Mr Solicitor". Despite the title, the position is usually held by a barrister

Barrister

A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...

. The current Solicitor General is Edward Garnier

Edward Garnier

Edward Henry Garnier, QC, MP is a barrister and Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. A former Guardian Newspaper lawyer he is on the socially liberal wing of his party and has been the Member of Parliament for Harborough in Leicestershire since 1992...

, QC

Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...

 appointed to the role on 13 May 2010.

15th century

incomplete

• Richard Fowler 1461-1470
• Richard Page 1470-1483
• Thomas Lynom 1483-1485
• Andrew Dimmock 1485-1503

16th century

• Thomas Lucas 1503-1507
• John Ernley
  John Ernley
  Sir John Ernley was a British justice. He was educated at one of the Inns of Chancery from 1478 to 1480 before being admitted to Gray's Inn. By 1490 he was a particularly conspicuous member of the "Sussex circle" gathered around Edmund Dudley...
  
   1507-1514
• John Port
  John Port (the elder)
  Sir John Port , judge, was born about 1480 at Chester, where his ancestors had been merchants for some generations : his father, Henry Port, was mayor of Chester in 1486, and his mother was a daughter of Robert Barrow, also a mayor of Chester in 1526...
  
   1514-1521
• Richard Lyster
  Richard Lyster
  Sir Richard Lyster was an English judge and Chief Justice of the King’s Bench.-Origins and early career:Sir Frederick Madden in his "Remarks on the Monument of Sir Richard Lyster in St. Michael's Church Southampton," describes both the judge's grandfather, Thomas, and his father, John, as of...
  
   1521-1525
• Christopher Hales
  Christopher Hales
  -Origins:The family of Hales was a most ancient one, deriving its name from Hales in Norfolk, where Roger de Hales possessed property in the reign of Henry II. Before the close of Edward III's reign, it had removed into Kent and was settled at Halden near Tenterden. The unfortunate Robert de Hales...
  
   1525-1531
• Baldwin Mallet 1531-1533
• Richard Rich
  Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich
  Sir Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich , was Lord Chancellor during the reign of King Edward VI of England. He was the founder of Felsted School with its associated alms houses in Essex in 1564....
  
   1533-1536
• William Whorwood
  William Whorwood
  Sir William Whorwood was Solicitor General from 1536 to 1540 and then Attorney General under Henry VIII until his death.He was a younger son of John Whorwood, one of a family of minor gentry, who had long lived at Compton in Kinver...
  
   1536-1540
• Henry Bradshaw 1540-1545
• Edward Griffin 1545-1552
• John Gosnel 1552-1553
• William Cordell
  William Cordell
  Sir William Cordell was Solicitor General and Master of the Rolls during the reign of Queen Mary I and Speaker of the House of Commons during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I....
  
   1553-1557
• Richard Weston
  Richard Weston
  Richard Weston was an English botanist.Weston was originally a thread-hosier of Leicester, but in some of his anonymous works describes himself as "a country gentleman". In 1773 he was living at Kensington Gore, but later was living at Leicester where he was secretary of the local agricultural...
  
   1557-1559
• William Rosewell
  William Rosewell
  William Rosewell was the Solicitor-General to Queen Elizabeth between 1559 and 1566.William Rosewell was born about 1520, the son of William Rosewell of Loxton, Somerset, England. He came to some prominence as Solicitor-General to Queen Elizabeth. He appears in the list of Queen’s Counsel between...
  
   1559-1566
• Richard Onslow
  Richard Onslow (Solicitor General)
  Richard Onslow was a 16th century English lawyer who served as Solicitor General and Speaker of the House of Commons....
  
   1566-1569
• Sir Thomas Bromley
  Thomas Bromley
  Sir Thomas Bromley was an English lord chancellor.-Life:He was born in Staffordshire, was educated at Oxford University and then called to the bar at the Middle Temple...
  
   1569-1579
• Sir John Popham 1579-1581
• Sir Thomas Egerton 1581-1592
• Sir Edward Coke
  Edward Coke
  Sir Edward Coke SL PC was an English barrister, judge and politician considered to be the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Born into a middle class family, Coke was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge before leaving to study at the Inner Temple, where he was called to the...
  
   1592-1594
• Thomas Fleming
  Thomas Fleming (judge)
  Sir Thomas Fleming was an English member of Parliament and judge, whose most famous case was the trial of Guy Fawkes in relation to the Gunpowder Plot...
  
   1595-1604

17th century

• Sir John Doderidge 1604-1607
• Sir Francis Bacon 1607-1613
• Henry Yelverton
  Henry Yelverton (attorney-general)
  -Life:The eldest son of Sir Christopher Yelverton and his wife, Margaret Catesby, he was born on 29 June 1566, it is said at Easton-Mauduit, his father's house in Northamptonshire. He became a barrister on 25 April 1593, and an ancient on 25 May of the same year. He was reader in 1607.In 1597, 1604...
  
   1613-1617
• Sir Thomas Coventry
  Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry
  Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry was a prominent English lawyer, politician and judge during the early 17th century.-Education and early legal career:...
  
   1617-1621
• Robert Heath
  Robert Heath
  Sir Robert Heath was an English lawyer and judge.-Early life:He was educated at Tunbridge Wells grammar school, St John's College, Cambridge from age 14 and Clifford's Inn from age 17; and became a barrister of the Inner Temple in 1603. He was an MP for the City of London in 1620, and became...
  
   1621-1625
• Sir Richard Sheldon
  Richard Sheldon
  Richard Sheldon was the winner of the gold medal in the men's shot put at the 1900 Summer Olympics held in Paris, France. Sheldon, an American, won with a throw of 14.10 m. He also won a bronze medal in the discus throw. Brother of Lewis Sheldon.-References:...
  
   1625-1634
• Sir Edward Littleton
  Edward Littleton, 1st Baron Lyttleton of Mounslow
  Edward, Baron Littleton , from Munslow in Shropshire, was a Chief Justice of North Wales. He was descended from the judge and legal scholar, Thomas de Littleton. His father, also Edward, had been Chief Justice of North Wales before him.-Education and career:He was educated at Oxford before...
  
   1634-1640
• Sir Edward Herbert 1640-1641
• Oliver St John
  Oliver St John
  Sir Oliver St John , was an English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1653. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War.- Early life :...
  
   1641-1643 (continued to 1648 under parliament)
• Sir Thomas Gardiner
  Thomas Gardiner (Royalist)
  Thomas Gardiner was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War....
  
   1643-1645
• Sir Geoffrey Palmer
  Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet
  Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet, SL was an English lawyer and politician.Born in Carlton, Northamptonshire, he obtained a BA from Christ's College, Cambridge in 1616 and a MA 1619. He was admitted to the Middle Temple on 14 June 1616 and called to the bar on 23 May 1623...
  
   1645-1649
• Edmund Prideaux
  Edmund Prideaux
  Sir Edmund Prideaux was an English lawyer and Member of Parliament, who supported the Parliamentary cause during the English Civil War. He was briefly solicitor-general but chose to resign rather than participate in the regicide of Charles I and was afterwards attorney-general a position he held...
  
   1648-1649
• John Cooke 1649-1650
• Robert Reynolds
  Robert Reynolds (Attorney General)
  Sir Robert Reynolds was an English lawyer and Member of Parliament who served as Solicitor General and Attorney General during the Commonwealth period....
  
   1650-1654
• William Ellis 1654-1660
• Sir Heneage Finch
  Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham
  Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham, PC , Lord Chancellor of England, was descended from the old family of Finch, many of whose members had attained high legal eminence, and was the eldest son of Sir Heneage Finch, recorder of London, by his first wife Frances Bell, daughter of Sir Edmond Bell of...
  
   1660-1670
• Sir Edward Turnor 1670-1671
• Sir Francis North
  Francis North, 1st Baron Guilford
  Francis North, 1st Baron Guilford PC KC was the third son of the 4th Baron North, and was created Baron Guilford in 1683, after becoming Lord Keeper of the Great Seal in succession to Lord Nottingham....
  
   1671-1673
• Sir William Jones
  William Jones (law-officer)
  -Life:He was son of Richard Jones, of Stowey, Somerset, M.P. for Somerset in 1654, and entered Gray's Inn on 6 May 1647. He was called to the bar, and acquired a practice in the court of king's bench...
  
   1673-1674
• Sir Francis Winnington 1674-1679
• Heneage Finch
  Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Aylesford
  Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Aylesford, PC, KC was an English lawyer and statesman.-Early life:Second son of Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham, he was educated at Westminster School and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated on November 18, 1664...
  
   1679-1686
• Sir Thomas Powis 1686-1687
• Sir William Williams 1687-1689
• Sir George Treby
  George Treby (judge)
  Sir George Treby JP was a British justice and politician.-Early life and education:He was the oldest son of Peter Treby, a barrister at the Court of Common Pleas and his wife Joan. He was educated at Plympton School, and was accepted into Exeter College, Oxford in June 1660...
  
   1689
• Sir John Somers
  John Somers, 1st Baron Somers
  John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, PC, FRS was an English Whig jurist and statesman. Somers first came to national attention in the trial of the Seven Bishops where he was on the their defence counsel. He published tracts on political topics such as the succession to the crown, where he elaborated his...
  
   1689-1692
• Sir Thomas Trevor
  Thomas Trevor, 1st Baron Trevor
  Thomas Trevor, 1st Baron Trevor PC was knighted in 1692 as Solicitor General and in 1695 became Attorney-General....
  
   1692-1695
• Sir John Hawles
  John Hawles
  -Life:The second son of Thomas Hawles of Moanton in Wiltshire, by Elizabeth Antrobus of Hampshire, was born in the Close at Salisbury. His father, whose name is sometimes spelled Hollis, belonged to the family of Hawles of Upwimborne, Dorset...
  
   1695-1702

18th century

• Sir Simon Harcourt 1702-1707
• Sir James Montagu
  James Montagu (judge)
  Sir James Montagu SL QC was an English barrister, and judge. As a politician, he sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1695 and 1713 and served as Solicitor General and Attorney General.-Life:...
  
   1707-1708
• Robert Eyre
  Robert Eyre
  Sir Robert Eyre was an English lawyer, who served as Solicitor-General and then as a judge, ultimately as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.-Family:...
  
   1708-1710
• Sir Robert Raymond
  Robert Raymond, 1st Baron Raymond
  Robert Raymond, 1st Baron Raymond PC was a British judge.Robert Raymond was the son of the judge Thomas Raymond. He was educated at Eton and Christ's College, Cambridge. Said to have been admitted to Gray's Inn aged nine, he became a barrister in 1697 and was admitted at Lincoln's Inn in 1710...
  
   1710-1714
• Nicholas Lechmere
  Nicholas Lechmere, 1st Baron Lechmere
  Nicholas Lechmere, 1st Baron Lechmere was an English lawyer and politician who served as Attorney-General and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster....
  
   1714-1715
• John Fortescue Aland 1715-1717
• Sir William Thomson 1717-1720
• Sir Philip Yorke
  Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke
  Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke PC was an English lawyer and politician who served as Lord Chancellor. He was a close confidant of the Duke of Newcastle, Prime Minister between 1754 and 1756 and 1757 until 1762....
  
   1720-1724
• Sir Clement Wearg
  Clement Wearg
  Sir Clement Wearg was an English lawyer and politician, solicitor-general from 1724.-Life:He was son and heir of Thomas Wearg of the Inner Temple, who married in 1679 Mary Fletcher of Ely, and was born in London. He was baptised at St. Botolph Without, Aldersgate, where his grandfather, Thomas...
  
   1724-1725
• Charles Talbot
  Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot of Hensol
  Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot PC was a British lawyer and politician. He was Lord Chancellor of Great Britain from 1733 to 1737....
  
   1726-1733
• Sir Dudley Ryder
  Dudley Ryder (judge)
  Sir Dudley Ryder was a British politician, judge and diarist.-Career:The son of a draper, Ryder studied at a dissenting academy in Hackney and the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and Leiden University in The Netherlands. He went to the Middle Temple in 1713 and was called to the Bar in 1719...
  
   1733-1737
• John Strange
  John Strange (English politician)
  Sir John Strange KC PC was a British politician and judge. He was born to another John Strange and his second wife, Mary Plaistowe. He became a student at the Middle Temple on 11 July 1712 before starting a pupillage at the chambers of Charles Salkeld, who trained Lord Hardwicke. He was called to...
  
   1737-1742
• William Murray
  William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield
  William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, SL, PC was a British barrister, politician and judge noted for his reform of English law. Born to Scottish nobility, he was educated in Perth, Scotland before moving to London at the age of 13 to take up a place at Westminster School...
  
   1742-1754
• Sir Richard Lloyd 1754-1756
• Charles Yorke
  Charles Yorke
  Charles Yorke was Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Life:The second son of Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, he was born in London, and was educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. His literary abilities were shown at an early age by his collaboration with his brother Philip in the...
  
   1756-1762
• Sir Fletcher Norton
  Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley
  Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley PC was an English politician.He was the eldest son of Thomas Norton of Grantley, Yorkshire. He became a barrister in 1739, and, after a period of inactivity, built up a profitable practice, becoming a King's Counsel in 1754, and later attorney-general for the...
  
   1762-1763
• William de Grey
  William de Grey, 1st Baron Walsingham
  William de Grey, 1st Baron Walsingham KC was a British lawyer, judge and politician. He served as Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas between 1771 and 1780....
  
   1763-1766
• Edward Willes
  Edward Willes (judge)
  Edward Willes was an English-born judge who became Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer.- Family :He was the son of Edward Willes and was born on the family estate at Newbold Comyn, near Leamington. He married Mary Denny of Norfolk and had three children...
  
   1766-1768
• John Dunning
  John Dunning, 1st Baron Ashburton
  John Dunning, 1st Baron Ashburton was an English lawyer and politician.He was first noticed in English politics when he wrote a notice in 1762 defending the British East India Company merchants against their Dutch rivals. He was a Member of Parliament from 1768 onward...
  
   1768-1770
• Edward Thurlow
  Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow
  Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow PC, KC was a British lawyer and Tory politician. He served as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain for fourteen years and under four Prime Ministers.- Early life:...
  
   1770-1771
• Alexander Wedderburn
  Alexander Wedderburn, 1st Earl of Rosslyn
  Alexander Wedderburn, 1st Earl of Rosslyn was Lord Chancellor of Great Britain from 1793 to 1801.-Life:He was the eldest son of Peter Wedderburn , and was born in East Lothian....
  
   1771-1778
• James Wallace
  James Wallace (politician)
  James Wallace was an English barrister, Member of Parliament, Solicitor General and Attorney General.-Life:The son of Thomas Wallace, of Asholme, Northumberland, attorney-at-law, Wallace was called to the Bar in 1757. In 1770, he was elected as one of the Members of Parliament for Horsham in Sussex...
  
   1778-1780
• James Mansfield
  James Mansfield
  Sir James Mansfield , SL, KC was a British lawyer, judge and politician. He was twice Solicitor General and served as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas from 1799 to 1814.-Early life and career:...
  
   1780-1782
• John Lee
  John Lee (Attorney-General)
  John Lee KC was an English lawyer, politician, and law officer of the Crown. He assisted in the early days of Unitarianism in England.-Life:...
  
   1782
• Richard Pepper Arden
  Richard Pepper Arden, 1st Baron Alvanley
  Richard Pepper Arden, 1st Baron Alvanley PC, KC was a British barrister and politician.He was born on 20 May 1744 in Bredbury, the son of John Arden , and Mary Pepper, and baptised on 20 June 1744 in Stockport. Educated at The Manchester Grammar School, he matriculated at Trinity College,...
  
   1782-1783
• John Lee
  John Lee (Attorney-General)
  John Lee KC was an English lawyer, politician, and law officer of the Crown. He assisted in the early days of Unitarianism in England.-Life:...
  
   1783
• James Mansfield
  James Mansfield
  Sir James Mansfield , SL, KC was a British lawyer, judge and politician. He was twice Solicitor General and served as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas from 1799 to 1814.-Early life and career:...
  
   1783
• Richard Pepper Arden
  Richard Pepper Arden, 1st Baron Alvanley
  Richard Pepper Arden, 1st Baron Alvanley PC, KC was a British barrister and politician.He was born on 20 May 1744 in Bredbury, the son of John Arden , and Mary Pepper, and baptised on 20 June 1744 in Stockport. Educated at The Manchester Grammar School, he matriculated at Trinity College,...
  
   1783-1784
• Archibald Macdonald
  Archibald Macdonald
  Sir Archibald Macdonald, 1st Baronet was a British lawyer and politician.-Family:Archibald Macdonald was the posthumous son of Sir Alexander Macdonald, 7th Baronet, and younger brother of the 8th baronet , but was bought to England in the aftermath of Culloden to complete his education at...
  
   1784-1788
• Sir John Scott
  John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon
  John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon PC KC FRS FSA was a British barrister and politician. He served as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain between 1801 and 1806 and again between 1807 and 1827.- Background and education :...
  
   1788-1793
• Sir John Mitford 1793-1799
• Sir William Grant 1799-1801

19th century

• Spencer Perceval
  Spencer Perceval
  Spencer Perceval, KC was a British statesman and First Lord of the Treasury, making him de facto Prime Minister. He is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated...
  
   1801-1802
• Sir Thomas Manners-Sutton
  Thomas Manners-Sutton, 1st Baron Manners
  Thomas Manners-Sutton, 1st Baron Manners PC, KC , was a British lawyer and politician who served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1807 to 1827.-Background and education:...
  
   1802-1805
• Sir Vicary Gibbs
  Vicary Gibbs
  Sir Vicary Gibbs, KC was an English judge and politician. He was known for his caustic wit, which won for him the sobriquet of "Vinegar Gibbs".-Early life and education :...
  
   1805-1806
• Sir Samuel Romilly
  Samuel Romilly
  Sir Samuel Romilly , was a British legal reformer.-Background and education:Romilly was born in Frith Street, Soho, London, the second son of Peter Romilly, a watchmaker and jeweller...
  
   1806-1807
• Sir Thomas Plumer
  Thomas Plumer
  Sir Thomas Plumer MR was a British judge and politician , the first Vice Chancellor of England and later Master of the Rolls....
  
   1807-1812
• Sir William Garrow
  William Garrow
  Sir William Garrow KC, PC, FRS was a British barrister, politician and judge known for his indirect reform of the advocacy system, which helped usher in the adversarial court system used in most common law nations today...
  
   1812-1813
• Sir Robert Dallas
  Robert Dallas
  Sir Robert Dallas , PC, SL KC was an English judge, of a Scottish family.Robert Charles Dallas was born at Kingston, Jamaica in 1756. Dallas and his brother George were educated first at James Elphinstone's school in Kensington, and then in Geneva, by the pastor Chauvet. He entered Lincoln's Inn...
  
   1813
• Sir Samuel Shepherd
  Samuel Shepherd
  Sir Samuel Shepherd KS PC was a British barrister, judge and politician who served as Attorney General for England and Wales and Lord Chief Baron of the Scottish Court of Exchequer...
  
   1813-1817
• Sir Robert Gifford
  Robert Gifford, 1st Baron Gifford
  Robert Gifford, 1st Baron Gifford was a British lawyer, judge and politician.Gifford was elected to the House of Commons for Eye in 1817, a seat he represented until 1824, and served under the Earl of Liverpool as Solicitor General between 1817 and 1819 and as Attorney General between 1819 and 1824...
  
   1817-1819
• Sir John Singleton Copley 1819-1824
• Sir Charles Wetherell
  Charles Wetherell
  Sir Charles Wetherell , was an English lawyer, politician and judge.Wetherell was born in Oxford, the third son of Reverend Nathan Wetherell, of Durham, Master of the University College and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford...
  
   1824-1826
• Sir Nicholas Conyngham Tindal
  Nicholas Conyngham Tindal
  Sir Nicolas Conyngham Tindal was a celebrated English lawyer who successfully defended Queen Caroline at her trial for adultery in 1820...
  
   1826-1829
• Sir Edward Burtenshaw Sugden 1829-1830
• Sir William Horne
  William Horne (Liberal politician)
  Sir William Horne was a British barrister and Liberal politician.-Background and education:The son of the Reverend Thomas Horne of Chiswick, Horne studied law at Lincoln's Inn, being called to the Bar in 1798....
  
   1830-1832
• Sir John Campbell 1832-1834
• Sir Charles Christopher Pepys 1834
• Sir Robert Monsey Rolfe 1834
• William Webb Follett
  William Webb Follett
  Sir William Webb Follett , was an English lawyer and politician.-Background and education:Follett was born at Topsham in Devon, the son of Captain Benjamin Follett, who had retired from the army in 1790 and gone into business, and his wife Ann Webb, daughter of John Webb. His younger brother was...
  
   1834-1835
• Robert Monsey Rolfe 1835-1839
• Sir Thomas Wilde 1839-1841
• Sir William Webb Follett
  William Webb Follett
  Sir William Webb Follett , was an English lawyer and politician.-Background and education:Follett was born at Topsham in Devon, the son of Captain Benjamin Follett, who had retired from the army in 1790 and gone into business, and his wife Ann Webb, daughter of John Webb. His younger brother was...
  
   1841-1844
• Sir Frederic Thesiger
  Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford
  Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford PC KC FRS was a British jurist and Conservative politician. He was twice Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Early life:...
  
   1844-1845
• Sir Fitzroy Kelly
  Fitzroy Kelly
  Sir Fitzroy Edward Kelly PC, KC , was an English commercial lawyer, Tory politician and judge.-Background and education:...
  
   1845-1846
• John Jervis
  John Jervis (politician)
  Sir John Jervis was an English lawyer, law reformer and Attorney General in the administration of Lord John Russell...
  
   1846
• Sir David Dundas
  David Dundas (solicitor)
  Sir David Dundas QC was a Scottish lawyer and Liberal politician.Dundas was educated at Westminster School and at Christ Church, Oxford. He was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 1823, and appointed Queen's Counsel in February 1840....
  
   1846-1848
• Sir John Romilly
  John Romilly, 1st Baron Romilly
  John Romilly, 1st Baron Romilly PC, QC , known as Sir John Romilly between 1848 and 1866, was an English Whig politician and judge. He served in Lord John Russell's first administration as Solicitor-General from 1848 to 1850 and as Attorney-General from 1850 and 1851...
  
   1848-1850
• Sir Alexander Cockburn
  Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet
  Sir Alexander James Edmund Cockburn, 12th Baronet Q.C. was a Scottish lawyer, politician and judge. A notorious womaniser and socialite, as Lord Chief Justice he heard some of the leading causes célèbres of the 19th century.-Life:Cockburn was born in Alţâna, in what is now Romania and was then...
  
   1850-1851
• Sir William Page Wood 1851-1852
• Sir Fitzroy Kelly
  Fitzroy Kelly
  Sir Fitzroy Edward Kelly PC, KC , was an English commercial lawyer, Tory politician and judge.-Background and education:...
  
   1852
• Sir Richard Bethell
  Richard Bethell, 1st Baron Westbury
  Richard Bethell, 1st Baron Westbury PC, QC , was a British lawyer, judge and Liberal politician. He served as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain between 1861 and 1865.-Background and education:...
  
   1852-1856
• James Archibald Stuart-Wortley 1856-1857
• Henry Singer Keating 1857-1858
• Sir Hugh McCalmont Cairns 1858-1859
• Henry Singer Keating 1859
• Sir William Atherton
  William Atherton (MP)
  Sir William Atherton QC was a British barrister and Liberal Party politician. An advanced Liberal who favoured the secret ballot and widening of suffrage, he held a seat in the House of Commons from 1852 to 1864, and was a Law Officer of the Crown for four years.- Career :Atherton was the son of...
  
   1859-1861
• Sir Roundell Palmer
  Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne
  Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne PC , was a British lawyer and politician. He served twice as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Background and education:...
  
   1861-1863
• Sir Robert Porrett Collier 1863-1866
• Sir William Bovill
  William Bovill
  Sir William Bovill was an English lawyer, politician and judge. He served as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas between 1866 and his death in 1873.-Background:...
  
   1866
• Sir John Burgess Karslake
  John Burgess Karslake
  Sir John Burgess Karslake was an English lawyer and politician.The son of Henry Karslake, a solicitor and Confidential Secretary to the Duke of Kent, by his wife Elizabeth Marsh Preston, the daughter of Richard Preston, Q.C. and sometime M.P. for Ashburton, he was educated at Harrow...
  
   1866-1867
• Sir Charles Jasper Selwyn
  Charles Jasper Selwyn
  Sir Charles Jasper Selwyn PC, QC , was an English lawyer, politician and Lord Justice of Appeal.-Background and education:...
  
   1867-1868
• Sir William Baliol Brett 1868
• Sir Richard Baggallay
  Richard Baggallay
  Sir Richard Baggallay PC , was a British Conservative politician and judge of the Court of Appeal.-Background and education:...
  
   1868
• Sir John Duke Coleridge
  John Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge
  John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge PC was a British lawyer, judge and Liberal politician. He held the posts, in turn, of Solicitor General for England and Wales, Attorney General for England and Wales, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and Lord Chief Justice of England.-Background and...
  
   1868-1871
• Sir George Jessel
  George Jessel (jurist)
  Sir George Jessel , a British judge, was born in London. He was one of the most influential commercial law and equity judges of his time, and served as the Master of the Rolls.-Early life and education:...
  
   1871-1873
• Sir Henry James
  Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford
  Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford GCVO, PC, QC , known as Sir Henry James between 1873 and 1895, was an Anglo-Welsh lawyer and statesman. Initially a Liberal, he served under William Ewart Gladstone as Solicitor General in 1873 and as Attorney-General between 1873 and 1874 and 1880 and 1885...
  
   1873
• Sir William Vernon Harcourt
  William Vernon Harcourt (politician)
  Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt was a British lawyer, journalist and Liberal statesman. He served as Member of Parliament for various constituencies and held the offices of Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer under William Ewart Gladstone before becoming Leader of...
  
   1873-1874
• Sir Richard Baggallay
  Richard Baggallay
  Sir Richard Baggallay PC , was a British Conservative politician and judge of the Court of Appeal.-Background and education:...
  
   1874
• Sir John Holker
  John Holker
  Sir John Holker QC was a British lawyer and politician. He sat as a Member of Parliament for Preston from 1872 until his death ten years later. He was first Solicitor General and later Attorney General in the second government of Benjamin Disraeli.- External links :...
  
   1874-1875
• Sir Hardinge Giffard
  Hardinge Giffard, 1st Earl of Halsbury
  Hardinge Stanley Giffard, 1st Earl of Halsbury PC, QC was a leading barrister, politician and government minister. He served thrice as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Background and education:...
  
   1875-1880
• Sir Farrer Herschell
  Farrer Herschell, 1st Baron Herschell
  Farrer Herschell, 1st Baron Herschell GCB, PC, QC was Lord Chancellor of Great Britain in 1886, and again from 1892 to 1895.-Early career:...
  
   1880-1885
• Sir John Eldon Gorst
  John Eldon Gorst
  Sir John Eldon Gorst PC, QC, FRS was a British lawyer and politician. He served as Solicitor General for England and Wales from 1885 to 1886 and as Vice-President of the Committee on Education between 1895 and 1902....
  
   1885-1886
• Sir Horace Davey 1886
• Sir Edward George Clarke
  Edward George Clarke
  Sir Edward George Clarke QC QC was a British barrister and politician, considered one of the leading advocates of the late Victorian era and serving as Solicitor-General in the Conservative government of 1886–1892...
  
   1886-1892
• Sir John Rigby 1892-1894
• Sir Robert Threshie Reid 1894
• Sir Frank Lockwood
  Frank Lockwood
  Sir Frank Lockwood was an English lawyer and Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1897....
  
   1894-1895
• Sir Robert Finlay
  Robert Finlay, 1st Viscount Finlay
  Robert Bannatyne Finlay, 1st Viscount Finlay GCMG, PC, QC,MD was a British lawyer, doctor and politician who became Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Background and education:...
  
   1895-1900

20th century

• Sir Edward Carson
  Edward Carson, Baron Carson
  Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson PC, PC , Kt, QC , often known as Sir Edward Carson or Lord Carson, was a barrister, judge and politician from Ireland...
  
   (7 May 1900 - 4 December 1905)
• Sir William Robson
  William Robson, Baron Robson
  William Snowdon Robson, Baron Robson PC was an English lawyer, judge and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1885 and 1910....
  
   (12 December 1905 - 28 January 1908)
• Sir Samuel Thomas Evans
  Samuel Thomas Evans
  Sir Samuel Thomas Evans GCB PC QC , was a Welsh barrister, judge and Liberal politician.-Background and education:...
  
   (28 January 1908 - 6 March 1910)
• Sir Rufus Isaacs
  Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading
  Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, GCB, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, PC, KC , was an English lawyer, jurist and politician...
  
   (6 March 1910 - 7 October 1910)
• Sir John Simon
  John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon
  John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon GCSI GCVO OBE PC was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second. He is one of only three people to have served as Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer,...
  
   (7 October 1910 - 19 October 1913)
• Sir Stanley Buckmaster
  Stanley Buckmaster, 1st Viscount Buckmaster
  Stanley Owen Buckmaster, 1st Viscount Buckmaster, GCVO, PC, KC was a British lawyer and Liberal politician. He was Lord Chancellor under H. H...
  
   (19 October 1913 - 2 June 1915)
• Sir F. E. Smith
  F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
  Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead GCSI, PC, KC , best known to history as F. E. Smith , was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living...
  
   (2 June 1915 - 8 November 1915)
• Sir George Cave
  George Cave, 1st Viscount Cave
  George Cave, 1st Viscount Cave GCMG, KC, PC was a British lawyer and Conservative politician. He was Home Secretary under David Lloyd George from 1916 to 1919 and served as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain from 1922 to 1924 and again from 1924 to 1928.-Background and education:Cave was born in...
  
   (8 November 1915 - 10 December 1916)
• Sir Gordon Hewart
  Gordon Hewart, 1st Viscount Hewart
  Gordon Hewart, 1st Viscount Hewart, PC was a politician and judge in the United Kingdom.-Background and education:...
  
   (10 December 1916 - 10 January 1919)
• Sir Ernest Pollock
  Ernest Pollock, 1st Viscount Hanworth
  Ernest Murray Pollock, 1st Viscount Hanworth KBE PC KC was a British Conservative Member of Parliament and Master of the Rolls.He was the MP for Warwick and Leamington from 1910 to 1923...
  
   (10 January 1919 - 6 March 1922)
• Sir Leslie Scott
  Leslie Scott (UK politician)
  Sir Leslie Frederic Scott, KC, PC was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom, and later a senior judge....
  
   (6 March 1922 - 19 October 1922)
• Sir Thomas Inskip
  Thomas Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote
  Thomas Walker Hobart Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote CBE, PC, KC was a British politician who served in many legal posts, culminating in serving as Lord Chancellor from 1939 until 1940...
  
   (31 October 1922 - 22 January 1924)
• Sir Henry Slesser
  Henry Slesser
  Sir Henry Herman Slesser, KC was a barrister and Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom, and later a senior judge....
  
   (23 January 1924 - 3 November 1924)
• Sir Thomas Inskip
  Thomas Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote
  Thomas Walker Hobart Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote CBE, PC, KC was a British politician who served in many legal posts, culminating in serving as Lord Chancellor from 1939 until 1940...
  
   (11 November 1924 - 28 March 1928)
• Sir Boyd Merriman
  Boyd Merriman, 1st Baron Merriman
  Frank Boyd Merriman, 1st Baron Merriman PC, KC, OBE, GCVO , often known as Boyd Merriman, was a Conservative Party politician and judge in the United Kingdom.-Education:...
  
   (28 March 1928 - 5 June 1929)
• Sir James Melville (7 June 1929 -22 October 1930)
• Sir Stafford Cripps
  Stafford Cripps
  Sir Richard Stafford Cripps was a British Labour politician of the first half of the 20th century. During World War II he served in a number of positions in the wartime coalition, including Ambassador to the Soviet Union and Minister of Aircraft Production...
  
   (22 October 1930 - 24 August 1931)
• Sir Thomas Inskip
  Thomas Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote
  Thomas Walker Hobart Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote CBE, PC, KC was a British politician who served in many legal posts, culminating in serving as Lord Chancellor from 1939 until 1940...
  
   (3 September 1931 - 26 January 1932)
• Sir Boyd Merriman
  Boyd Merriman, 1st Baron Merriman
  Frank Boyd Merriman, 1st Baron Merriman PC, KC, OBE, GCVO , often known as Boyd Merriman, was a Conservative Party politician and judge in the United Kingdom.-Education:...
  
   (26 January 1932 - 29 September 1933)
• Sir Donald Somervell
  Donald Somervell, Baron Somervell
  Donald Bradley Somervell, Baron Somervell of Harrow OBE, PC, QC was a British barrister, judge and Conservative Party politician...
  
   (29 September 1933 - 19 March 1936)
• Sir Terence O'Connor
  Terence O'Connor
  Sir Terence James O'Connor was a Conservative Party politician in the United KingdomHe was elected to the House of Commons at the 1924 general election, as Member of Parliament for Luton, but lost his seat at the October 1929 general election to the Liberal candidate, Leslie Burgin.O'Connor...
  
   (19 March 1936 - 7 May 1940) (died in office)
• Sir William Jowitt
  William Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt
  William Allen Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt PC, KC , was a British Labour politician and lawyer, who served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain under Clement Attlee from 1945 to 1951.-Background and education:...
  
   (15 May 1940 - 4 March 1942)
• Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe
  David Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir
  David Patrick Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir GCVO, PC, KC, , known as Sir David Maxwell Fyfe from 1942 to 1954 and as The Viscount Kilmuir from 1954 to 1962, was a British Conservative politician, lawyer and judge who combined an industrious and precocious legal career with political ambitions...
  
   (4 March 1942 - 25 May 1945)
• Sir Walter Monckton
  Walter Monckton, 1st Viscount Monckton of Brenchley
  Walter Turner Monckton, 1st Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, GCVO, KCMG, MC, PC was a British politician.-Early years:...
  
   (25 May 1945 - 26 July 1945)
• Sir Frank Soskice
  Frank Soskice
  Frank Soskice, Baron Stow Hill PC was a British lawyer and Labour Party politician.-Background and education:...
  
   (4 August 1945 - 24 April 1951)
• Sir Lynn Ungoed-Thomas
  Lynn Ungoed-Thomas
  Arwyn Lynn Ungoed-Thomas , known as Lynn Ungoed-Thomas, was a Welsh Labour Party politician and British judge.-Biography:...
  
   (24 April 1951 - 26 October 1951)
• Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller
  Reginald Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne
  Reginald Edward Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne PC, QC , known as Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller, Bt, from 1954 to 1962 and as The Lord Dilhorne from 1962 to 1964, was an English lawyer and Conservative politician...
  
   (3 November 1951 - 18 October 1954)
• Sir Harry Hylton-Foster
  Harry Hylton-Foster
  Sir Harry Braustyn Hylton-Foster , was a British Conservative Party politician who served as an Member of Parliament from 1950 until his death...
  
   (18 October 1954 - 22 October 1959)
• Sir Jocelyn Simon (22 October 1959 - 8 February 1962)
• Sir John Hobson
  John Hobson (politician)
  Sir John Gardiner Sumner Hobson PC was a British Conservative Party politician.-Career:He was first elected to the House of Commons at a 1957 by-election in the Warwick and Leamington constituency, caused by the resignation due to ill-health of the Conservative MP and former Prime Minister,...
  
   (8 February 1962 - 19 July 1962)
• Sir Peter Rawlinson (19 July 1962 - 16 October 1964)
• Sir Dingle Foot
  Dingle Foot
  Sir Dingle Mackintosh Foot, Q.C. was a British lawyer and politician, born in Plymouth, Devon.-Education and career:...
  
   (18 October 1964 - 24 August 1967)
• Sir Arthur Irvine
  Arthur Irvine
  Sir Arthur James Irvine, QC was a British politician.Irvine was educated at Edinburgh Academy and Oriel College, Oxford, where he was president of the Oxford Union in 1932. He became a barrister in 1935, when he was called by Middle Temple, and became secretary to the Lord Chief Justice 1935-40...
  
   (24 August 1967 - 19 June 1970)
• Sir Geoffrey Howe
  Geoffrey Howe
  Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, CH, QC, PC is a former British Conservative politician. He was Margaret Thatcher's longest-serving Cabinet minister, successively holding the posts of Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary, and finally Leader of the House of Commons...
  
   (23 June 1970 - 5 November 1972)
• Sir Michael Havers
  Michael Havers, Baron Havers
  Robert Michael Oldfield Havers, Baron Havers PC, QC was a British barrister and Conservative politician. From his knighthood in 1972 until becoming a peer in 1987 he was known as Sir Michael Havers.- Early life :...
  
   (5 November 1972 - 4 March 1974)
• Peter Archer
  Peter Archer, Baron Archer of Sandwell
  Peter Kingsley Archer, Baron Archer of Sandwell, PC , is a Labour Party member of the House of Lords.He was previously the Member of Parliament for Rowley Regis and Tipton and for Warley West, having first been elected in the 1966 general election until his leaving the House of Commons at the 1992...
  
   (7 March 1974 - 4 May 1979)
• Sir Ian Percival
  Ian Percival
  Sir Walter Ian Percival QC , known as Ian Percival, was a British Conservative Party politician.Percival was educated at Latymer Upper School and St. Catharine's College, Cambridge. He was commissioned from Sandhurst into The Buffs in 1941 and served in World War II in North Africa and Burma,...
  
   (5 May 1979 - 13 June 1983)
• Sir Patrick Mayhew (13 June 1983 - 13 June 1987)
• Sir Nicholas Lyell (13 June 1987 - 15 April 1992)
• Sir Derek Spencer
  Derek Spencer
  Sir Derek Harold Spencer, QC , is a British Conservative Party politician.-Professional career:Born in Clitheroe, Lancashire, he became a barrister in 1961 and 'took silk' as a QC in 1980.He is a Master of the Bench, Gray's Inn....
  
   (15 April 1992 - 2 May 1997)
• Lord Falconer of Thoroton
  Charles Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton
  Charles Leslie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, PC is a British Labour politician, who became the Lord Chancellor and the first Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs in 2003...
  
   (6 May 1997 - 28 July 1998)
• Ross Cranston
  Ross Cranston
  Sir Ross Frederick Cranston , styled The Hon. Mr Justice Cranston, is a High Court judge, formerly an academic lawyer and Labour Party politician, in the United Kingdom.-Early life:...
  
   (28 July 1998 - 11 June 2001)

21st century

• Harriet Harman
  Harriet Harman
  Harriet Ruth Harman QC is a British Labour Party politician, who is the Member of Parliament for Camberwell and Peckham, and was MP for the predecessorPeckham constituency from 1982 to 1997...
  
   (11 June 2001 - 10 May 2005)
• Mike O'Brien (11 May 2005 - 29 June 2007)
• Vera Baird
  Vera Baird
  Vera Baird is a British Labour Party activist, barrister, author and lecturer. She serves as visiting lecturer at London Southbank University and is co-director of Astraea: Gender Justice...
  
   (29 June 2007 - 11 May 2010)
• Edward Garnier
  Edward Garnier
  Edward Henry Garnier, QC, MP is a barrister and Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. A former Guardian Newspaper lawyer he is on the socially liberal wing of his party and has been the Member of Parliament for Harborough in Leicestershire since 1992...
  
  (13 May 2010 - )