"Never plead guilty!"-Rumpole of the Bailey, Defender of the Downtrodden

"Elementary, my dear Watson."

Authors in the British Empire, and it's remnants are often fondly remembered in the annuals of mystery fiction. In the late 1850's Wilkie Collins wrote the first mystery novel in the English language The Moonstone. In the late 1880's a young Scotsman named Arthur Conan Doyle had a struggling medical practice, when he wrote a little piece called A Study in a Scarlet, that would introduce the world to Mr. Sherlock Holmes of 221B Baker Street, and his trustworthy companion Dr. John H. Watson. Their exploits would be some of the best remembered (and repeated in television, radio, and film) in the world. In the early decades of the twentieth century, a novel called The Mysterious Affair at Styles would not only be the start of the long, and brilliant career of the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, but also his creator Agatha Christie who would go on to perfect the mystery genre, with many memorable stories, and characters. Any of these authors is bound to get a mention in a high school English class. But there is one author, whose works have yet to gained the notoriety of the above mentioned-Sir John Mortimer.

Sir John Mortimer

Sir John Mortimer was a British  barrister  (a lawyer who is specifically trained to argue in court as opposed to a solicitor, lawyers who do legal work, sort of appearing in court, and will hire barristers on behalf of their clients), who would eventually retire from the Bar, to focus on his writing career that encompassed anything from novels, short stories, plays, radio, to film and television. Taking the phrase "write about what you know" to heart, Sir John drew from his days in the courtroom to create Rumpole of the Bailey.

Rumpole's tools of the trade: his wig, a brief, and a glass of "Chateu Fleet Street"

Horace Rumpole is a barrister with a few quirks. Amongst them are his tendency to quote English poets particularly Wordsworth, his fondness for cheap cigars, and wine from Pomeroy's Wine Bar, his refusal to be made a Circuit Judge, or a "Circus Judge, or a Queen's Counsel (special honor to recognize senior members of the Bar), or a "Queer Customer", and somewhat surprising his disdain for law:

         
 "Law is a subject which, I may say, never interested me greatly. People in trouble, yes. Bloodstains and handwriting, certainly. The art of cross-examination, of course. Winning over a jury, fascinating. But law!"-John Mortimer, Rumpole and the Gentle Art of Blackmail

 Then there is of course there is the most defining trait of Rumpole, which is his motto-"never plead guilty!". Rumpole, a self proclaimed "Old Bailey Hack" who works almost entirely  as a defense counsel. He is a firm believer of the credo "innocent until proven guilty, believes it is "more necessary to defend, then prosecute" and will do the best he can for his clients, although he frequently laments the hopeless cases he is given, and the incompetence of his clients:

             " I could win most of my cases if it weren't for the clients. Clients have no tact, poor old darlings. No bloody sensitivity! They will waltz into the witness-box and blurt out things which are far better left unblurted."-John Mortimer, Rumpole and the Confession of  Guilt

Despite his losses, Rumpole is very talented at what he does. In his youth as a junior barrister he gained recognition for winning the Penge Bungalow Murders "alone and without a leader", which paved the way for his career as a defense counsel. Rumpole's most frequent clients are the Timsons, a clan of "minor villains" from South London who deal with petty theft, and will call upon Rumpole whenever they have need of his services. Rumpole has defened at least three generations of the family.  Although Rumpole is not a detective in the tradition of Sherlock Holmes, or Hercule Poirot, he often plays the part when trying to get a "not guilty" verdict, by either digging up evidence that is harmful to the prosecution himself, or with the help of either his client's solicitor, or private investigator F.I.G. "Fig" Newton. Although Rumpole firmly believes in "innocent until proven guilty", there are times when the reality of his job kicks in. In Rumpole and the Expert Witness, he learns that his client is guilty on his own, after a "not guilty" verdict comes back from the jury, and is genuinely upset by the fact he unwittingly helped get a murder (who happens to be a son of an old frined") off, and can do nothing about it. In Rumpole and the Alternative Society, when his hippie-like client whom he is defending on a drug charge openly admits that she is guilty after a rather good day in cour for her, he goes straight to the presiding judge, and informs him that his client decided to change her plea to "guilty".  Most striking is Rumpole and the Honourable Member, where he defends a MP on a rape charge. His cross-examination of the victim causes him to get into a heated argument with his daughter-in-law over his tactics. The MP  admits his guilt on the stand, but Rumpole is shaken by the experience.

Rumpole in his element-the Old Bailey

Rumpole's ideals, and attitudes make him a very controversial character with his peers, and family. His colleagues at his chambers (barristers are not allowed to "partner up" they are considered self-employed but will group together in a building with their own separate offices independent of each other) think of him as an embarrassment. They often frown upon the type of people Rumpole takes in as clients, and prefer "respectable" civil, and prosecution work instead of criminal defence. Particularly vocal are Claude Erskine-Brown, and the very priggishly pious Head of Chamber  "Soap Sam" Ballard (or "Bollard" as Rumpole calls him) both of whom long for the day when Rumpole will leave chambers, and have at times tried to hasten Rumpole's retirement. However Rumpole does have a few friends in chambers amongst them Liz Probert a "radical barrister" (no surprise since she was Rumpole's pupil), and Pydilla Erskine-Brown née Trant (the Portia of our Chambers), whom although she later becomes a judge never-the-less thinks of very highly of her old mentor Rumpole. The best example occurs in Rumpole's Return, where she gets into an argument with a so called "radical" barrister, after Rumpole won a murder case. He thought it was hopeless so he offered it to Rumpole, because he thought Rumpole would lose, and then retire allowing him to takeover Rumpole's office in chambers. Phydilla has this to tell him:
       
"You’re wrong. Wrong about Rumpole. He’s the radical! You’re not. You’ll grow up to be a prosecutor, or a Circuit Judge! But Rumpole never will, because he says what he thinks, and because he doesn’t give a damn what anybody thinks about him. And because he can win the cases you’re afraid even to do on your own."


Rumpole's colleague aren't the only ones who disapprove of him, most judges don't like him either, and Rumpole returns the sentiment.  All of them share the following traits: they are bluntly biased towards the prosecution, and believe that Rumpole is always wasting the court's time no matter how good his case is. Amongst them are Mr. Justice Grave, or "Justice Gravestone",  Mr. Justice Oliphant (whose fondness of "Northern common sense" drives Rumpole crazy), and then there is the most infamous of them all Judge Roger Bullingham. Judge Bullingham or the "Mad Bull" is a judge with an "unreasoning prejudice against all black persons, defence lawyers and probation officers", and can barely hide his contempt for Rumpole.


It may seem that no one is able to control Rumpole, but there is one person who is able to keep him line-Mrs. Hilda Rumpole, his wife. Hilda, or "She Who Must Be Obeyed" as Rumpole calls her, is very disappointed that her husband is neither a Queen's Counsel, Circuit Judge, or at least Head of Chambers. Despite her criticism of Rumpole,the two do seem to care for each other. Hilda is somewhat prone to suspicions of acts of adultery committed by her husband that often leads to tense relations between the two, such as the time Rumpole did a divorce case due to a lull in crime in   Rumpole and the Married Lady:


"‘You can come home as late as you like now, Rumpole. And you can spend all the time you like with her.’

‘Her?’ Whoever could she be talking about?

‘I’ve heard her! Time and time again. On the telephone.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ I tried a light laugh. ‘That’s a client.’

‘Rumpole! I’ve lived with you for a good many years.’

‘Man and boy.’

‘And I’ve never known you to be telephoned by a client. At home!’

‘I usually have quiet, undemanding clients. Murderers don’t fuss. Robbers can usually guess the outcome, so that they’re calm and resigned. Divorcing ladies are different. They’re inclined to telephone constantly.’

‘So I’ve noticed!’

But love conquers all and they always reconcile, as Rumpole puts it "they'd rather have war together than a lonley peace", not unlike his divorce client. Hilda on her part, believes that Rumpole "would go to seed" without her. The two have one child Nick Rumpole the "brains of the family", who works in America as a professor of sociology.


Although the stories are written for humour, they do tackle serious issues. Rumpole and the Confession of Guilt deals with racism in the criminal justice system of the UK. But most serious of all is Rumpole and the Reign of Terror, in which Rumpole takes on a Pakistani doctor as a client, who is beening held on terrorism charges, and is determined that even if he is guilty he should at least be given a fair trial to decide his guilt, much to the disapproval of the establishment, and the government itself. These witty, and engaging stories are overlooked treasures of the mystery genre, deserve a much wider audience, and are sure not to disappoint the reader.


                                                           Adaptions 

Leo McKern in his most famous role

Besides the books, Rumpole has been a stable fixture of British radio, and television. The television series Rumpole of the Bailey (which inspired the early istallments of the book series, every episode having either a short story, or full-length novel adaption by Mortimer himself) aired on PBS' MYSTERY!, and starred Australian character actor Leo McKern as Rumpole. On BBC Radio, Rumpole has been portrayed by multiple actors. In 1980, Maurice Denham played Rumpole in Rumpole: The Splendours and Miseries of an Old Bailey Hack.  Desmond Barrit played him once in a one radio play, before Timothy West took over the role in 2003 in new radio plays adapted by Mortimer himself. He continues to appear in new radio plays adapted by others after Mortimer's death, mainly serving as the narator, as the new plays feature Benedict Cumberbatch as a younger Rumpole.