Old Serjeants' Inn

Old Serjeants' Inn, Chancery Lane

In 1909 the Law Union and Rock Insurance Company Limited bought Serjeants' Inn, knocked it down and built themselves a new headquarters on the site. (This building was later destroyed during an air-raid in 1941.)

To commemorate this 'achievement', they produced this beautiful-looking book in 1912, which gives a brief glimpse into the history of Sergeants' Inn with some fascinating anecdotes from 700 years of records - and quite a few mentions of the company!

There are also 22 illustrations, including a map, portraits, coats-of-arms and views of the old and new buildings. I have collected these together at the end of the book, to avoid further confusing what is already a slightly disjointed narrative.

To download a free version for your eBook reader click here.

Notes

Here is one of my favourite stories from the book; told about Henry Gould, a Judge of the Common Pleas from Serjeants' Inn, sometime in the late 1700's.
"After proceeding for about two hours with a trial at York assizes, Justice Gould observed there were only eleven jurymen in the box. 'Where is the twelfth?' he asked. 'Please you, my Lord,' said one of the eleven, 'he has gone home about some business, but has left his verdict with me.'"

There are three sure-fire ways to spot a company that is about to go bust or become the subject of a rescue takeover;
1) they install a fountain in reception,
2) they buy a company helicopter - or, as here,
3) they produce an expensive book to give away to the staff and favourite clients.
In 1919, the Law Union and Rock Insurance Company Limited was subsumed into London and Lancashire Fire Insurance, never to be heard of again.

The cover is from the original, with the coat-of-arms of the Serjeants' Inn superimposed.

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