A manuscript licence to plead (written in a secretarial hand), signed at the head by Queen Victoria (as 'Victoria R'), granted to Hardinge Stanley Giffard QC
Folio (324 × 197 mm), 2 pages (the first leaf of a bifolium, its last page docketed), with a paper-and-wax embossed seal, an embossed duty stamp and an ink registration stamp in the left-hand margin of the first page; 25 February 1869.
Three horizontal folds (with short splits to the ends of the folds neatly sealed); first page lightly marked; exposed portion of the docketed page a little tanned and marked; overall in very good condition.
The licence is granted to Giffard to defend John Howells of Merthyr at Glamorgan Spring Assizes of 1869 on a charge of manslaughter. The document is countersigned by the Home Secretary, Henry Austin Bruce. Hardinge Giffard was later appointed Lord Chancellor and 1st Earl of Halsbury; he is best known for his famous digest, 'Halsbury's Laws of England'. Provenance: Collection of The Hon Barry Jones AC.
Item #115528
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