There I was, sitting in the dock of Number 1 Court, facing
the judges - not just me but eleven others and we were not only facing the
judges but the music and poetry as well. I sincerely hope that this is the only
time I will be sitting in the dock but it was a most enjoyable evening.
To backtrack a little: last night was the first of two
evenings to raise money for the Sheriffs’ and Recorder’s Fund. I have written about this excellent charity
before when I attended the AGM of the Fund during my year as Master of the
Needlemakers Company and which I wrote about here.
The Charity was founded in 1808 by the Sheriffs of the City
of London to help ex-offenders released from prison and their dependents and
merged in 1931 with the Recorder’s fund which helped prisoners released on
probation. I have written before about how valuable relatively small amounts of
money, given wisely, can be. The sums
that are distributed through the probation service are not huge but can buy
essential clothing, tools of trade, training, household equipment, etc. These grants can make all the difference. There
is more information about the charity here.
The evening was titled “Trial and Error” and charted 400
years from Newgate Prison to the Old Bailey. Words and music came from Dickens
to Defoe, Judge Jeffreys and Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Moll Flanders to Mack the
Knife. It was only through careful study
of the programme you were able to identify the dignified judges, learned
barristers and clerks and separate them from the few professional entertainers.
The Needlemakers and our Master, Sue Kent, sponsored the
enactment of part of the trial of Dr Bodkin Adams – as a boy Sue’s husband,
David, was a patient of Dr Adams in Eastbourne. Happily as David was neither
female, nor rich nor old he survived the doctor’s ministrations – see more here!
If you ever thought that barristers really wanted to be
actors – the evidence was irrefutable.
The performance was to be repeated tonight and between the two evenings
£10,000 was raised.
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