Master of the Rolls of the Court of Chancery

The title of the office derives from the fact that originally, the office-holder was a clerk responsible for keeping the "Rolls," or records, of the Chancery court. The post eventually evolved into a judicial one.

The Master of the Rolls is the third most senior judge of England, the Lord Chancellor being first and the Lord Chief Justice being second. The Master of the Rolls is the presiding officer of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal.

The Court of Appeal is the second most senior court in the English Legal System (with only the judges of the House of Lords above it). The senior judge is the Master of the Rolls, who also has a function in the registration of every solicitor in England and Wales. The Court also includes the Lord Chief Justice, who is at the same time the head of the High Court of Justice, and thirty-five Lords Justices of Appeal.

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