MEMBERSHIP of the Society of Gentlemen Practisers was, as has been shown, practically restricted to attorneys in London and the Home Counties, if only for the reason that they alone would be able to attend its meetings. This, indeed, was an objection raised by Joseph Day in his attack on the society. But it is true that the cases of malpractice dealt with by the society were not restricted to those which occurred in London, and further, that it scrutinised the entire lists of those seeking admission to the Roll at the beginning of each Term—though here also, the difficulty of obtaining reliable information increased with the distance from London, even if it was mitigated by the development of the practice of every country attorney having a London agent.

Yet this was a private society, owing its existence to the initiative of a few men in London, and the development of the provincial law societies took place independently of it. So far as can be seen, there was no formal connection between them and the London society in the early stages of their existence. During the period up to about 1830, indeed, there were occasions when the provincial societies seemed to resent the increasing importance and presumptions of the London society. But it seems likely—and the records of the Yorkshire Law Society amply support the impression—that when the interests of the profession were at stake, provincialism would give way to professional solidarity. It is probable that the provincial societies, like the Society of Gentlemen Practisers itself, can in origin best be regarded as examples of a phenomenon that was common enough in the eighteenth century—groups of men with common interests meeting together for reasons that were primarily social and convivial, and finding that collectively they were able to do things for their common benefit which as individuals they were unable to accomplish. And, as the secretary of the Manchester society told the Select Committee on Legal Education in 1846: ‘These Societies are altogether voluntary, and have originated from the zeal and exertions of a few respectable individuals’.