Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" (i.e., judge) of the Exchequer of pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who presided in the equity court and answered the bar i.e. spoke for the court." Practically speaking he held the most important office of the Exchequer of pleas.

The chief baron along with the three puisne barons, sat as a court of common law, heard suits in the court of equity, and settled revenue disputes.

From 1550-1579, there was a major distinction between the chief baron and the second, third and fourth puisne barons. The difference was in social status and education. All of the chief barons had been trained as lawyers in the inns of court. With the exception of Henry Bradshaw and Sir Clement Higham, both barristers-at-law, all of the chief barons who served Queen Elizabeth I, had attained the highest and most prestigious rank of a lawyer, serjeant-at-law.

Chief Barons of the Exchequer

• 1423 Sir John Juyn
• 1552 Henry Bradshaw Esq
• 1553 David Brooke
• 1558 Sir Clement Higham
• 1559 Sir Edward Saunders
• 1577 Sir Robert Bell
• 1577 Sir John Jeffery
• 1578 Sir Roger Manwood
• 1593 Sir William Peryam
• 1604 Sir Thomas Fleming
• 1607 Sir Lawrence Tanfield
• 1625 Sir John Walter
• 1631 Sir Humphrey Davenport
• 1645 Sir Richard Lane
• 1648 John Wilde
• 1655 William Steele
• 1658 Sir Thomas Widdrington
• 1660 John Wilde
• 1660 Sir Orlando Bridgeman
• 1660 Sir Matthew Hale
• 1671 Sir Edward Turnor
• 1676 Sir William Montagu
• 1686 Sir Edward Atkyns
• 1689 Sir Robert Atkyns
• 1695 Sir Edward Ward
• 1714 Sir Samuel Dodd
• 1716 Sir Thomas Bury
• 1722 Sir James Montagu
• 1723 Sir Robert Eyre
• 1725 Sir Jeffrey Gilbert
• 1726 Sir Thomas Pengelly
• 1730 Sir James Reynolds
• 1738 Sir John Comyns
• 1740 Sir Edward Probyn
• 1742 Sir Thomas Parker
• 1772 Sir Sydney Smythe
• 1777 Sir John Skinner
• 1787 Sir James Eyre
• 1793 Sir Archibald Macdonald
• 1813 Sir Vicary Gibbs
• 1814 Sir Alexander Thomson
• 1817 Sir Richard Richards
• 1824 Sir William Alexander
• 1831 Lord Lyndhurst
• 1834 Sir James Scarlett, Lord Abinger
• 1844 Sir Jonathan Frederick Pollock
• 1866 Sir Fitzroy Kelly

References

• Bryson, W., The equity side of the Exchequer; Its jurisdiction, administration, procedures, and records; York prize essay for 1973.
• Walker, David M., The Oxford Companion to Law, Appendix I, list of Chief Barons 1660-1880