A brief history of notary publics and their role in Liverpool

John Gibson
31 October 2011

In a letter dated April 1588 and written by the Duke of Medina Sidonia to the Shipmasters of the Spanish Armada, it was stated that a copy of the Armada’s sailing instructions:

"...signed by me and countersigned by my secretary, will be sent to each ship of the fleet, and will be publicly read by the notary on board ; in order that sailors and soldiers alike may be informed of them, and not plead ignorance. The said notaries are ordered to read these instructions three times each week publicly, and to obtain due testimony that they have done so. Any neglect of this shall be severely punished".

Although this quote shows the office of notary public is hundreds of years old, few know that the office of notary public was created before Christ was born. In those times, the office of notary public was as a stenographer but this quickly developed in the Roman courts of Republican Rome, where they became para-legals.

Notaries soon developed into a formal branch of the legal profession and notaries were often attached to the Imperial court and prepared and engrossed deeds and other legal documents, which were then sealed under the seal of the court. Eventually, notaries were granted the right to use their own official seals to give their acts "public" status and advice on law, including land transactions. The Roman Consuls and subsequently the emperors of the Roman Empire would appoint notaries to their public office.

With the fall of the Roman Empire the task of appointing notaries was taken over by the Pope. In 1279, the Pope delegated the power to appoint notaries to the Archbishop of Canterbury and ever since then, all notaries in England have been appointed through him and his Court of Faculties.  

Liverpool historical records have shown that notary publics were active in helping local shipowners and ship’s masters with notarial matters such as “ship’s protests” at the time of Queen Elizabeth the First’s reign.  For many centuries, ship’s masters have been asking for a notary to notarise a “Note of Protest” when damage has been or is suspected to have been caused to the ship or her cargo as a result of exceptionally bad weather or an accident at sea. The Protest is intended to show that the damage was caused by maritime perils and not by any negligence or misconduct on the part of the Master, officers or crew. The notary records the protest and issues a record of it which can help in the defence against any claim issued against the owners of the vessel.

In France, Spain, Italy and many other jurisdictions, the notary is at the top of the legal hierarchy. In England the situation is different.  The notarial profession is small and a largely unknown part of the legal community.

Hill Dickinson LLP has a proud tradition of notarial services for most if not all of its 200 year history. The firm now has the largest single concentration of notary publics within one firm, in the whole of the north of England. Hill Dickinson’s notaries are experienced in all shipping, commercial and private notarial acts. Contact John Gibson, notary public on 0151 600 8149 for further details or if you have any question about this article.