Cranworth Law Society Centenary

Robert Monsey Rolfe was born in 1790 in Cranworth, Norfolk, and was educated at Bury St Edmunds Grammar School, Winchester College and Trinity College, graduating as 17th Wrangler in 1812. In 1815, Rolfe was elected a Fellow of Downing (a position he held until 1824) and was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in 1816. He was appointed Recorder of Bury St Edmunds before taking silk in 1832. That year he was elected Member of Parliament for Penryn and Falmouth (Liberal) and was knighted and made Solicitor-General in 1834. In November 1839 he accepted a judgeship as one of the Barons of the Exchequer and was raised to the peerage in 1850, taking the title of Lord Cranworth.

Lord Cranworth held the Great Seal as Lord Chancellor between 1852 and 1858 and again briefly from 1865-6. He was elected as the College’s first Honorary Fellow in 1866 and continued to sit in the House of Lords until his death on 26 July 1868.

(Reproduced with permission of The Master, Fellows, and Scholars of Downing College in the University of Cambridge)

Sadly, no minutes of the Society have survived, but reports of meetings were printed in the College magazine, The Griffin, and, later, in the Alumni Association Newsletter and College Record. The founding meeting discussed the draft constitution and also heard a second paper by Dr C. S. Kenny, former Downing Professor of the Laws of England, on the Society of Legal Correspondents.

The Cranworth Law Society lapsed for three years between 1926 and 1929, due in part to low student numbers. This recently donated menu, for the Annual Dinner a year after the Cranworth's revival, is the earliest known surviving record of the Society.

The rejuvenated Cranworth enjoyed a successful and active programme, with thirty speakers during the 1930s and the first recorded moot in 1932 against Pembroke soon followed by others. Student speakers included Robert Jennings (1932, later President of the International Court of Justice), who spoke on capital punishment, and Clive Parry (1936, later Professor of Law at Downing), who spoke on Pacific Blockade and the Spanish situation.

DCPP/JUDD (with grateful thanks to Leo Judd for donating the Cranworth papers of his father, J. B. T. Judd (1927))

With the onset of war, lower student numbers and a continued difficulty finding speakers meant that activity virtually ceased. After a brief revival in Lent 1941, the Society did not meet again until Lent 1945 after an increase in men studying Law, including cadets. The Society’s President at that time, Remilekun Fani-Kayode (1943), presided over a busy programme and delivered a paper himself on ‘Aspects of Mohammedan Law’, drawing 'the Society's attention to legal systems and functions of law motivated by aims different to our own' (Society report, The Griffin, Lent 1945).

Lent 1945 term card, DCCS/4/2/1 (Downing College Archive)

Regular meetings resumed after the end of the war and, from 1948, the annual dinner. The 1949 dinner (pictured here) welcomed guest of honour Sir Roland Burrows, KC, who reflected on aspects of the Nuremberg trials.

The first recorded moot took place in 1932, with others also taking place against Trinity Hall, Middle Temple and Lincoln College, Oxford. The Cranworth celebrated the 50th anniversary of its annual moot with Magdalene College in 2019 before an eminent bench which included Sir Richard McCombe and Lady Black.

With grateful thanks to Brian Hughes for donating his Cranworth papers to the Archive.

One of the most unusual guests of the Society – fresh from ‘This Is Your Life’ and a major coup for the Society at the time – Col. Wintle was the guest speaker at the Annual Dinner in 1959. He had gained fame and a reputation for eccentricity after a legal case which saw him become the first non-lawyer to receive a unanimous verdict in his favour in the House of Lords. His battle against a Brighton solicitor over a relative’s will had already seen him serve six months in prison. His letter accepting the Cranworth's invitation referred to his 14-hour House of Lords speech, promising not to 'subject you to a similar ordeal'!

With grateful thanks to W. D. S. Cotton for donating his Cranworth papers to the Archive.

Mrs. Justice Booth, guest speaker in 1980-1, reflected on the ‘lighter aspects’ of her career at the Bar. Carrie Sage (1983), President of the Society in 1985-6, hosted several high-profile guests including campaigner Mrs Victoria Gillick and Terry Waite, the Archibishop of Canterbury’s Special Envoy, who was guest of honour at the Annual Dinner in 1986 shortly before he was taken hostage in Lebanon. 

Cranworth Law Society term cards, 1983 and 1984, with thanks to Carrie Sage.

Subjects have ranged from specific aspects of law and personal reflections on guests' legal careers to more unusual topics, such as ‘The Law in relation to Magic’ and 'The punishment of witchcraft in England' (delivered three times by Fellow H. C. Whalley-Tooker in the 1930s).

Recent guest speakers have included Lord Dyson, Baroness Hale, Professor Lizzie Cooke, Lady Black, Lord McCombe, Farmida Bi and Lord Lloyd-Jones (guest of honour at the centenary dinner). A list of speakers and subjects, although sadly not comprehensive, is available from the College Archivist (ju213@dow.cam.ac.uk).

Alumna Farmida Bi speaking at the 2020 biennial Cranworth Alumni dinner at Middle Temple Hall in London.

The Society is active throughout the year, hosting speakers and social events, professional networking events and a biennial alumni dinner, in addition to the annual dinner in College. 

Attendees at the centenary dinner in College on 22 April 2022 (© Martin Bond/ A Cambridge Diary)

Lord Lloyd-Jones's centenary speech celebrated the life and career of Lord Cranworth and the long and distinguished history of the Cranworth Law Society named after him. A copy has been deposited in the College Archive.

Lord Lloyd-Jones, with Joseph Sullivan, Finn Bell, Callum Caldwell, and Michael Smith, the outgoing and incoming Presidents of the Cranworth Law Society, at the centenary dinner (with thanks to Lord Lloyd-Jones).