It is 1954 which sees the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. An opportunity for courts to close for two days, albeit that for this year only, shutters would be up for the Queen’s birthday. The Law Times—£3.18s.6d annual subscription for 52 copies and 7s 6d for a 30-word classified ad—got in on the act with a special commemorative edition. Said the editor to the regular ‘Conveyancer’ columnist: ‘We are running “The Crown in Popular Estimation”. “Heraldry of the Coronation”. A whole load of stuff like that. Can you do, say, restrictive covenants for the benefit of Buckingham Palace?’ ‘No.’ He did ‘Conveyancing in Five Reigns’.
Too much crime
The backlog of High Court civil cases awaiting trial in London and on the circuits was serious, and it was far too early to blame COVID-19. The year’s Hilary Term opened with 1,700
