Thechief justice of the common pleas was the head of theCourt of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench, which was the second-highestcommon lawcourt in theEnglish legal system until 1875, when it, along with the other two common law courts and the equity and probate courts, became part of theHigh Court of Justice. As such, the chief justice of the Common Pleas was one of the highest judicial officials inEngland, behind only thelord high chancellor and theLord Chief Justice of England, who headed theKing's Bench (Queen's when the monarch was female).

Initially, the position of chief justice of the common pleas was not an appointment; of the justices serving in the court, one would become more respected than his peers, and was therefore considered the "chief" justice.

The position was formalised in 1272, with the raising of SirGilbert of Preston to Chief Justice, and from then on, it was a formally-appointed role, similar to the positions of Lord Chief Justice andChief Baron of the Exchequer.^[1] When the High Court was created in 1875, each of the three common law courts became separate divisions of it, each headed by the person who had led the respective court before the merger.

When the Lord Chief Justice and Chief Baron died in 1880, the three common law divisions (Queen's Bench, Exchequer, and Common Pleas) were merged, andJohn Coleridge, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, became Lord Chief Justice, and the offices of Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and Chief Baron were abolished.^[2]

• 
  SirEdward Coke, a famed jurist whose judgements included seminal cases in corporate and competition law and the creation ofjudicial review
• 
  SirOrlando Bridgeman, who tried theRegicides of Charles I
• 
  SirNicholas Conyngham Tindal, who successfully defendedQueen Caroline on charges of adultery in 1820
• 
  SirAlexander Cockburn, who was repeatedly refused a peerage on the grounds of "notoriously bad moral character"

Portrait	Name	Term as Chief Justice		Reason for termination[3]
	Simon of Pattishall	1190–1214		Died
	Martin of Pattishall	1217–1229		Retired
	SirThomas Moulton	1229–1233		Resigned to travel anEyre circuit
	William de Raley	1233–1234		Appointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench
	SirThomas Moulton	1234–1236		Retired
	Robert of Lexinton	1236–1244		Retired
	Henry of Bath	1245–1249		Stripped of his position after accusations ofperverting the course of justice
	Roger of Thirkleby	1249–1256		Replaced
	Henry of Bath	1256–1258		Retired
	Roger of Thirkleby	1258–1260		Died
	SirGilbert of Preston	1260–1267		Resigned to travel anEyre circuit
	SirMartin of Littlebury	1267–1272		Replaced
	SirGilbert of Preston	1272–1274		Died
	Roger of Seaton	1274–1278		Retired
	SirThomas Weyland	1278–1289		Removed from his position and exiled
	SirRalph Sandwich	1289–1290		Resigned
	John of Mettingham	1290–1301		Died
	SirRalph de Hengham	1301–1309		Retired
	SirWilliam Bereford	1309–1326		Died
	Hervey de Stanton	1326		Not reappointed byEdward III
	SirWilliam Herle	1327–1329		Resigned to travel an Eyre circuit
	SirJohn Stonor	1329–1331		Not reappointed byEdward III
	SirWilliam Herle	1331–1333		Resigned to travel an Eyre circuit
	SirHenry le Scrope	1333		Replaced
	SirWilliam Herle	1333–1335		Retired
	SirJohn Stonor	1335–1341		Removed
	SirRoger Hillary	1341–1342		Replaced
	SirJohn Stonor	1342–1354		Retired
	SirRoger Hillary	1354–1356		Died
	SirRobert Thorpe	1356–1371		AppointedLord Chancellor
	SirWilliam Fyncheden	1371–1374		Died
	SirRobert Bealknap	1374–1388		Exiled
	SirRobert Charleton	1388–1395		Died
	William Thirning	1396–1413		Died
	Richard Norton	1413–1420		Died
	SirWilliam Babington	1423–1436		Retired
	SirJohn Juyn	9 February 1436	20 January 1439	Appointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench
	John Cottesmore	20 January 1439	29 August 1439†	Died
	SirRichard Newton	17 September 1439	13 December 1448†	Died
	SirJohn Prysot	16 January 1449	1461†	Died
	SirRobert Danby	11 May 1461	1471	Not reappointed byEdward IV
	SirThomas Bryan	1471	14 August 1500†	Died
	SirThomas Wode	28 October 1500	31 August 1502†	Died
	SirThomas Frowyk	30 September 1502	7 October 1506†	Died
	SirRobert Rede	1506	7 January 1519†	Died
	SirJohn Ernley	27 January 1519	22 April 1520†	Died
	SirRobert Brudenell	23 April 1520	22 November 1530	Retired
	SirRobert Norwich	22 November 1530	April 1535†	Died
	SirJohn Baldwin	19 April 1535	24 October 1545†	Died
	SirEdward Montagu	6 November 1545	1553	Retired
	SirRichard Morgan	September 1553	1554	Removed after going insane
	SirRobert Broke	1554	6 September 1558†	Died
	SirAnthony Browne	5 October 1558	January 1559	Appointed a justice of the Queen's Bench
	SirJames Dyer	January 1559	24 March 1582†	Died
	SirEdmund Anderson	2 May 1582	1 August 1605†	Died
	SirFrancis Gawdy	August 1605	15 December 1605†	Died
	SirEdward Coke	30 June 1606	25 October 1613	Appointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench
	SirHenry Hobart, Bt	26 November 1613	29 December 1625†	Died
	SirRichard Hutton	December 1625	November 1626	Acting Chief Justice
	SirThomas Richardson	22 November 1626	October 1631	Appointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench
	SirRobert Heath	October 1631	13 September 1634	Dismissed
	SirJohn Finch	16 October 1634	1640	AppointedLord Keeper of the Great Seal
	SirEdward Littleton	27 January 1640	18 January 1641	Appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal
	SirJohn Bankes	29 January 1641	28 December 1644†	Died
	SirOliver St John	1 October 1648	1660	Excluded from public office following the Restoration
	SirOrlando Bridgeman, Bt	22 October 1660	May 1668	Appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal
	SirJohn Vaughan	23 May 1668	10 December 1674†	Died
	SirFrancis North	23 January 1675	20 December 1682	Appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal
	SirFrancis Pemberton	January 1683	September 1683	Dismissed
	SirThomas Jones	29 September 1683	21 April 1686	Dismissed
	SirHenry Bedingfield	21 April 1686	6 February 1687†	Died
	SirRobert Wright	13 April 1687	18 April 1687	Exchanged with Edward Herbert for the position of Chief Justice of the King's Bench
	SirEdward Herbert	18 April 1687	1689	Dismissed after fleeing to Ireland withJames II
	SirHenry Pollexfen	6 May 1689	15 June 1691†	Died
	SirGeorge Treby	30 April 1692	13 December 1700†	Died
	SirThomas Trevor (Lord Trevor from 1712)	5 July 1701	14 October 1714	Not reappointed byGeorge I
	SirPeter King	27 October 1714	1 June 1725	Appointed Lord Chancellor
	SirRobert Eyre	1725	28 December 1735†	Died
	SirThomas Reeve	26 January 1736	19 January 1737†	Died
	SirJohn Willes	28 January 1737	15 December 1761†	Died
	SirCharles Pratt (Lord Camden from 1765)	January 1762	30 July 1766	Appointed Lord Chancellor
	SirJohn Eardley Wilmot	20 August 1766	26 January 1771	Resigned
	SirWilliam de Grey	January 1771	June 1780	Resigned
	The Lord Loughborough	June 1780	28 January 1793	Appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal
	SirJames Eyre	11 February 1793	1 July 1799†	Died
	The Lord Eldon	17 July 1799	1801	Appointed Lord Chancellor
	The Lord Alvanley	22 May 1801	19 March 1804†	Died
	SirJames Mansfield	24 April 1804	21 February 1814	Resigned
	SirVicary Gibbs	February 1814	November 1818	Resigned
	SirRobert Dallas	November 1818	1824	Retired
	The Lord Gifford	9 January 1824	5 April 1824	AppointedMaster of the Rolls
	SirWilliam Best	15 April 1824	June 1829	Retired
	SirNicholas Conyngham Tindal	9 June 1829	6 July 1846†	Died
	SirThomas Wilde	6 July 1846	15 July 1850	Appointed Lord Chancellor
	SirJohn Jervis	16 July 1850	1 November 1856†	Died
	SirAlexander Cockburn, Bt	November 1856	24 June 1859	AppointedChief Justice of the Queen's Bench
	SirWilliam Erle	June 1859	November 1866	Retired
	SirWilliam Bovill	November 1866	1 November 1873†	Died
	SirJohn Coleridge (Lord Coleridge from 1874)	November 1873	20 November 1880	Court merged with theCourt of Queen's Bench and theExchequer of Pleas; became the first Lord Chief Justice of a unified Queen's Bench Division.[2]

AWetherspoon pub inKeswick, Cumbria is named "The Chief Justice of the Common Pleas", this is due to the current building constructed in 1901 been built on land which was formally the site of a ‘workhouse’ - founded in the will (dated 1642) of SirJohn Bankes. The current building which housed the towns magistrates’ court and police station until the year 2000, was built next to the towns main post office itself constructed ten years earlier around 1890.^[4]

• Kiralfy, A. K. R. (1962).Potter's Historical Introduction to English Law and Its Institutions. London: Sweet & Maxwell, Ltd.

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