History of the Circuit
The Circuits were started in 1176 when Henry II sent his judges on circuit to do justice in his name. This included the Northern Circuit, the old Northern counties of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland, Westmorland and Cumberland. By the 18th century, when our Circuit records start, the Assizes were a regular occurrence in all of the county towns of these: Lancaster, York, Durham, Newcastle, Appleby and Carlisle. Bar mess, regular barrister dining, was also well-established during the Assizes, when a coterie of barristers from London travelled round on the trail of the judges to attend trials before them alongside some local practitioners.
The Circuit was divided in 1876. That part to the west of the Pennines retained the old name and the lands to the east became the North Eastern Circuit. Both circuits have much in common and have maintained strong social and sporting links. In 2016 the North Eastern Circuit held Grand Court in Leeds to mark its 140th birthday, and the Northern Circuit was delighted to be represented there by its then leader, Andrew O’Byrne KC, and others.
In 1876 there were 62 barristers with chambers on Circuit. There were 29 in Liverpool, 32 in Manchester and one sole practitioner in Preston. Now we are over 1100 strong, 1250 if you include the current Bench and retired judges and barristers.
There are and have been many famous Circuiteers. F.E Smith (Lord Birkenhead) and Hartley Shawcross KC, who opened and closed the prosecution case against the Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg, were household names. Others who attained high distinction outside the law include John Buchan who wrote ‘The Thirty-Nine Steps,’ W.S. Gilbert, and James Boswell, a former Circuit Junior and the biographer of Dr Johnson.
Since 1876, the Circuit, which comprises approximately 10 percent of the Bar, has produced the following judges: Lord Chancellor (3); Law Lord (7); President of the Supreme Court (1); Lord Chief Justice (3); Master of the Rolls (3); President of the Queen’s Bench Division (1); President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division (5); Senior President of Tribunals (1); Lord Justice of Appea (28); Lady Justice of Appeal (2); High Court Judge (94).
Our most eminent recent judge has undoubtedly been Baroness Hale of Richmond, who in 2017 was appointed President of the Supreme Court, having been Deputy-President since 2013.
In 2007, after a reorganisation of the legal landscape in Wales, the Circuit was strengthened by the welcome arrival of members of the Chester Bench and Bar led by the Recorder of Chester HHJ Elgan Edwards.
We are delighted to have a Northern Circuit Directory, 1876-2004 with its supplementary volume to mid-July 2016, produced by our previous (and much-missed) Remembrancer HHJ David Lynch.
We look forward to our history continuing and if you are a barrister in the North(West) please do join us.
David Hoffman
Circuit Remembrancer
October 2025
Recent appointments
2013 was a remarkable year in the Circuit’s long and distinguished history because it saw the appointment of eight of its members to high judicial office; Baroness Hale was appointed Deputy-President of the Supreme Court; Lord Justice Leveson to the office of President of the Queen’s Bench Division; Mr Justice Ryder to the Court of Appeal (and now Senior President of Tribunals); Mark Turner KC, Frances Patterson KC, His Honour Judge Stephen Stewart KC, and His Honour Judge Andrew Gilbart KC to the Queen’s Bench Division and Anthony Hayden KC to the Family Division of the High Court. The following year saw the appointment of Andrew Edis KC to the High Court, Queen’s Bench Division.
In 2017 we saw five new Queen’s Counsel: Louis Browne, David McLachlan, Sam Karim, David Knifton and Andrew Singer.
We also saw in terms of judicial office, Lady Hale’s appointment as President of the Supreme Court; Mr Justice Holroyde appointed to the Court of Appeal; Upper Tribunal Judge Gwyneth Knowles KC to the Family Division of the High Court; and Amanda Yip KC and HHJ Jane Clare Moulder to the Queen’s Bench Division.
In 2018, we were pleased to congratulate HHJ David Waksman KC and Clive Freedman KC who were appointed to the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court.
In 2019 we had nine Manchester practitioners sworn in as Queen's Counsel: Peter Burns, Giles Cannock, Lorraine Cavanagh,
Richard Chapman, Nina Grahame, Jaime Hamilton, Richard Littler, Sarah Pritchard and Nicholas Siddall.
We also had Philip Barnes, Richard Carter, Peter Horgan, Anna Pope, Martin Reid and Nicholas Williams appointed as recorders.
In 2020 we had the following appointments as Queen's Counsel: Samantha Bowcock, Michael Brady, Louis Doyle, Mark Ford, Andrew Grantham, Samantha Hillas, Tim Storrie, Kate Burnell, Sophie Cartwright, Giles Maynard-Connor, Alex Leach, Edward Morgan, Mohammed Nawaz, Mark Rhind, Imran Shafi and David Temkin.
The Circuit was also delighted that Sally Penni was awarded an MBE for services to diversity in the workplace, social mobility and law.
The following were appointed as recorders: Sophie Allan, Peter Anderson, Jon Close, John Gray, Simon Gurney, Joseph Hart, Mark Cooper, Michael Maher, Kirsty McKinlay, Ashley Serr and Mohammed Shafi.
In 2021 we had the five Northern Circuit silks: Christopher Barnes, Andrew Ford, Lisa Linklater, Sarah Reid and Richard Whitehall.
We began 2022 by applauding nine new Recorders: Michael Armstrong, Anna Bentley, Nicola Daley, Kenderick Horne, Daniel Lister, Helen Mulholland, Amy Nicholson, Kevin Slack, and Martine Snowden. We ended 2022 knowing that Lord Justice Edis had been appointed Senior Presiding Judge of England & Wales and that Lord Justice Holroyde was now Vice-President of the Court of Appeal, Criminal Division.
We also had the following silks announced: Helen Mulholland, Mary Ruck, Owen Edwards, Iris Ferber, Michael Jones, Shaun Spencer, Anna Morris, Jonathan Easton and Iain Simkin.
Congratulations to the silks in 2024 which included: Eleanor Temple, Ruth Stockley, Martin Reid, William Baker, Brad Pomfret, Daniel Northall and Farrhat Arshad.
Then silks in 2025: Oliver Cook and Richard English.
These facts and figures demonstrate the strength and depth of the Northern Circuit. We continue to attract talented and industrious practitioners to uphold the high standards and fine traditions of this great Circuit.