Mrs Augusta Tewkesbury

Refused, in 1923, to be sworn in as a juror until the oath had been corrected. The clerk read the oath as proposed; Mrs Tewkesbury identified three grammatical infelicities; the clerk read it again with the corrections; Mrs Tewkesbury identified two further; the matter was put to the judge. The judge, the Hon. Mr Justice Carmichael, is reported to have said: "Mrs Tewkesbury, the oath has been used in this courtroom for one hundred and forty-seven years." To which she is reported to have replied: "Then, my lord, it has been used in error for one hundred and forty-seven years. The Society’s view is that this does not constitute a precedent." She was excused. The trial proceeded. The oath was, the following year, quietly amended; the Society claims credit, though the courts do not.