Advocate General: Entry Books of Opinions and High Court of Admiralty, Instance Court:...

PRO 30/28

1798-1857

Entry books of the advocate general (1798-1834) relating to admiralty, probate, ecclesiastical and matrimonial causes, and to the rights of Britons overseas, with some opinions given jointly with the attorney general and solicitor general; together with entry books of bills of costs (1832-1857) in causes heard in the Instance Court of the High Court of Admiralty.

The records appear to have remained at the PRO, unaccessioned, until 1923 when they were accessioned under the title Doctors Commons Records. Some of the volumes were repaired and rebound where necessary. The series title was changed in 1996 when the documents were re-examined.

There appear to be two types of entry books of opinions. One type gives few clues as to date or source of enquiry (e.g. pieces 1-2, 13-14); another provides copies of in- and out-letters (e.g. pieces 10-12): both types give copies of the previous documentation, often of considerably earlier date than the dates given for the entry books themselves. It also appears that opinions on Admiralty and 'government' business was in general kept in one series (pieces 1-12, and 15), and opinions on probate and ecclesiastical suits were kept in another series (pieces 13-14), although this division is by no means categoric

Several loose items were removed from pieces 10-13 and 16 in 1923, and were brought together in piece 23.

The entry books of law officers' opinions for 1806-1818, which include some opinions of the advocate general, are in TS 25/1

Other opinions (or presumably other copies of some of the same opinions) of the advocate general are to be found in: ADM 7/298-316 and FO 83/1-8.

Public Record(s)

English

23 papers and volumes

Topics

Marriage and divorce

Religions

Navy

Wills and probate

Armed Forces (General Administration)

These records were stored in the basement of one of the houses in old Doctors' Commons, where they were identified by Hubert Hall, an assistant keeper of public records, in the mid 1890s.

The advocate general, or king's advocate was the principal law officer of the crown in the admiralty and ecclesiastical courts: as a civil lawyer, he was a member of Doctors' Commons, and had his office there.