Accounts of Jowitt pay tribute to his magnificent appearance,3 which is apparent from the famous portrait (see frontispiece) by Ambrose McEvoy, painted when Jowitt was 23. He had a superbly sonorous voice that an actor would have been proud of. When he subsequently entered the House of Commons, he was regarded as “the handsomest man in the House”,4 whilst his intellectual abilities were seen as superior to the courtroom masters of the day, Norman Birkett and Patrick Hastings. From 1925 (when RA Wright KC, later Lord Wright, went on the bench) Jowitt was the undisputed head of the Commercial bar.5 He attracted attention for his subdued and charming manner, at a time when barristers were more inclined to browbeat witnesses. Jowitt’s standing among solicitors was undoubted. Those who retained him were impressed by the painstaking attention which he paid to his briefs and the courtesy with which he considered his client’s suggestions in conference.6 The clerk was Edward Cheeseman. He was not a popular William Jowitt KC, 1923 man. He was “a little man with a round face and spectacles and a chirpy manner when he was sober”.7 Cheeseman seems to have paid little regard to members of chambers other than Jowitt himself. Thus Asquith was required to provide the customary guarantee of a minimum in clerks’ fees in a sum much higher 3 RFV Heuston, Lives of the Lord Chancellors Vol 2 (1987) Clarendon Press (“Heuston”) p69 4 Together with one other: Ibid p69 5 Ibid p70 6 Ibid p70 7 Patrick Devlin, Taken at the Flood (1996) Taverner Publication (“Devlin”) p153
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