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The Master of the Rolls is the second most senior judge in England and Wales after the Lord Chief Justice, and serves as the presiding officer of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal. The position dates from at least 1286 as a clerk responsible for keeping the records of the Court of Chancery and it developed into a judicial office by 1520. With the Judicature Act 1873, the Master of the Rolls transferred from the now-defunct Court of Chancery to the Court of Appeal, retaining his clerical functions as the nominal head of the Public Record Office until the Public Records Act 1958 transferred responsibility for it to the Lord Chancellor. One of the most prominent people to hold the position of Master of the Rolls was Thomas Cromwell (pictured), a highly influential figure during the reign of Henry VIII. The present Master of the Rolls is Lord Dyson, who succeeded Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury on 1 October 2012. (Full list...)