HC Deb 10 July 1893 vol 14 c1157
MR. A. C. MORTON

I beg to ask the Attorney General will he explain on what grounds Mr. Musgrave, till recently a clerk whose duty it was to administer oaths, and whose salary was some £300 a year, has been appointed, without any legal training, to the post of Registrar in the Probate and Divorce Division, at a salary of £1,200 a year?

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (Sir C. RUSSELL, Hackney, S.)

I have, in the first place, to point out that the Government have no responsibility whatever for these appointments. They are not made by the Government, but by the President of the Probate and Divorce Division. The learned President has been good enough to send me the following particulars in relation to the question:— Mr. Musgrave has been for 21 years in. the principal Probate Registry, and has been engaged in the most responsible work there. His duties, which he has discharged with marked and recognised ability, were in many respects similar to those which he will have in future to perform. I appointed him Registrar, after careful and prolonged consideration, solely on his personal merits, and I was, and am, convinced that it was the best appointment that could be made. I may add that the Act 21 & 22 Viet., c. 95, s. 8, clearly contemplates the eligibility of clerks in the principal Registry for Registrarship.

MR. A. C. MORTON

Are the statements in the question as to salary correct?

SIR C. RUSSELL

As far as I know they are. They have not been corrected by the learned Judge.