Serjeant-at-law rings

Serjeants-at-law were elite lawyers working in the central common law courts of England and from which judges were selected.  The order was established in the 14th C and the last serjeant was appointed in the 19th C.  Serjeants were selected by the Chancellor of England from a small list of lawyers who had extensive experience.  Upon their appointment, serjeants were required to present rings to the monarch and various dignitaries and some were given to friends.

Only 1,200 serjeants were ever appointed and there were never more than ten alive at any given time.  Although it is thought that over 100,000 rings were made only around a hundred or so have ever been found and only a few of these appear in the PAS database.  Various inscriptions were used and a useful source of information regarding these is 'The Order of Serjeants at Law: A chronicle of creations, with related texts and a historical introduction, London: Selden Society, 1984,  Baker J.H.'