King's Advocate

The King's Advocate (or Queen's Advocate when the monarch was female) was one of the Law Officers of the Crown. He represented the Crown in the ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England, where cases were argued not by barristers but by advocates (see Doctor's Commons). In the nineteenth century much of the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts was transferred to other courts, firstly the Courts of Probate and Divorce and Matrimonial Causes and eventually the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice. The position of Queen's Advocate remained vacant after the resignation of Sir Travers Twiss in 1872. Use in colonies and extraterritorial jurisdictions In some British colonies and extraterritorial British courts, the principal British Government lawyer was called the King's Advocate, Queen's Advocate or Crown Advocate. For example, before the British Supreme Court for China and Japan and in Malta the principal British Government lawyer was called the Crown Advocate. In Cyprus, he was referred to as the King's Advocate. The Attorney General of Sri Lanka was known as the King's Advocate or Queen's Advocate between 1833 and 1884. King's/Queen's Advocates incomplete before the 18th century 3 March 1609 Sir Henry (Martin) Marten 1625: Sir Thomas Ryves 25 July 1701: Sir John Cooke 13 January 1715: Sir Nathaniel Lloyd 26 January 1727: George Paul 23 April 1755: George Hay 11 September 1764: James Marriott 2 November 1778: William Wynne 6 November 1798: John Nicholl 1 March 1809: Sir Christopher Robinson 28 February 1828: Sir Herbert Jenner 18 October 1834: John Dodson (knighted 29 October 1834) 5 March 1852: John Dorney Harding (knighted 24 March 1852) 12 September 1862: Robert Joseph Phillimore (knighted 17 September 1862) 27 August 1867: Travers Twiss (knighted 4 November 1867) References