 A Reader was a person literally elected to read — he would be elected to the Pension (council) of Gray's Inn, and would take his place by giving a "reading", or lecture, on a particular legal topic. Two readers would be elected annually by Pension to serve a one-year term. Initially (before the rise of the Benchers) the Readers were the governing body of Gray's Inn, and formed Pension. The earliest certain records of Readers are from the 16th century — although the Inn's records only start at 1569 William Dugdale (himself a member) published a list in his Origines Juridiciales dating from 1514. S.E. Thorne published a list dating from 1430, but this is entirely conjectural and not based on any official records, only reports of "readings" that took place at Gray's Inn. By 1569 there had certainly been Readers for more than a century.
