A Queen's Counsel (post-nominal QC), or King's Counsel (post-nominal KC) during the reign of a king, is an eminent lawyer (usually a barrister or advocate) who is appointed by the monarch to be one of "Her Majesty's Counsel learned in the law." The term is recognised as an honorific. Appointments are made from within the legal profession on the basis of merit rather than a particular level of experience. Members have the privilege of sitting within the bar of court. As members wear silk gowns of a particular design (see court dress), appointment as Queen's Counsel is known informally as taking silk, and hence QCs are often colloquially called silks.

The rank emerged in the sixteenth century, but came to prominence over the course of the nineteenth. Appointment was open to barristers only until 1995. The first women KCs had been appointed only in 1949.

1954 NameInns of CourtUniversityNotesRefRonald Owen Lloyd Armstrong-Jones, MBE"Mr. Ronald Armstrong-Jones". The Times. 28 January 1966. p. 14.Sir John Rowlatt, KCIE, CB, MC"Sir J. Rowlatt", The Times, 5 July 1956, p. 14.Clive Stuart Saxon BurtGray's Inn (1925)University College, OxfordBurt was born in 1900 and graduated from Oxford in 1922 with a history degree. After being called to the bar, he practised on the Western Circuit, although this was interrupted by service in the Second World War; he was commissioned into the Scots Guards in 1940 and ended the war a Captain. He was appointed chairman of the Performing Rights Tribunal in 1957, but the following year became a Metropolitan Magistrate, serving until 1973. He died in 1981."Burt, Clive Stuart Saxon", Who Was Who (online ed., Oxford University Press, December 2018). Retrieved 12 May 2019."University news", The Times, 1 August 1922, p. 18.The Solicitors' Journal and Weekly Reporter (1924), p. 698.For his military service, see The London Gazette, 13 September 1940 (supplement 34946), p. 5527; and The London Gazette, 2 April 1946 (supplement 37521), p. 1690.Charles John Addison Doughty"Mr Charles Doughty." Times, 12 July 1973, p. 18.David Eifion Puleston Evans"His Hon D. Evans." Times, 5 May 1984, p. 10.Maurice Legat Lyell"Sir Maurice Lyell." Times, 29 May 1975, p. 16.Bernard Benjamin Gillis"His Honour Bernard Gillis." Times, 27 May 1996, p. 17.Myer Alan Barry King-Hamilton"Alan King-Hamilton obituary". The Guardian. 25 March 2010.Percy Malcolm Wright, MBE"Judge Malcolm Wright." Times, 15 Aug. 1959, p. 8.Thomas George Talbot"Thomas Talbot." Times, 12 Feb. 1992, p. 15.Dingle Mackintosh Foot"Sir Dingle Foot." Times, 20 June 1978, p. 19.Norman John Skelhorn"Skelhorn, Sir Norman John", The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.John Anthony Plowman"Sir Anthony Plowman". The Times. 11 September 1993.John Fitzgerald Marnan, MBEInner Temple (1931)"John Fitzgerald Marnan", Inner Temple Admissions Data (Inner Temple Archives). Retrieved 12 May 2019.Trinity College, OxfordMarnan was born in 1908, the son of an Irish barrister. He married three times, firstly to a daughter of the civil servant Sir Keith Price, and thirdly to a daughter of Major-General W. N. Herbert. He graduated from Oxford in 1931. His practice as a barrister was interrupted by service in the Second World War with the Irish Guards; he was appointed an MBE in 1944 and ended the war with the rank of Major. He was appointed a Metropolitan Magistrate in 1956, but two years later became a Crown Counsel in Kenya. In 1959, he was appointed a Justice of the Federal Supreme Court of the West Indies Federation. He returned to England in 1962 to be a commissioner in the Crown Court, moving to the Central Criminal Court two years later. He was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Greater London Quarter Sessions in 1966 and Chairman of the North East area of London Quarter Sessions two years later. His final judicial appointment was as a Circuit Judge; he sat between 1972 and 1980. He died in 1990."Marnan, His Honour John Fitzgerald", Who Was Who (online ed., Oxford University Press, December 2018). Retrieved 12 May 2019.East Africa and Rhodesia, vol. 36 (1959), p. 101.Oxford University Calendar (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1940), p. 603.Richard Orme Wilberforce, OBE"Obituary: Lord Wilberforce", The Guardian, 18 February 2003.Alexander David Karmel"His Honour Alexander Karmel." Times, 27 Oct. 1998, p. 25.David Lockhart-Mure Renton, TD"Lord Renton", The Times, 25 May 2007.John Thompson"Sir John Thompson." Times, 21 July 1995, p. 19.Ernest Martin Jukes"Mr E. Martin Jukes." Times, 24 Apr. 1982, p. 14.Joseph Donaldson Cantley, OBE"Obituary: Sir Joseph Cantley", The Independent, 9 January 1993.George Stanley Waller, OBE"Lord Justice Waller." Times, 10 Feb. 1999, p. 19.Leonard Caplan"Leonard Caplan", The Telegraph, 8 February 2001.

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