Master

A person having authority; one who directs or superintends or instructs; one who has superior skill; one who hires or employs; one who has command of a merchant vessel and care of the cargo. Master in chancery: an officer of a court of chancery who acts as an assistant to the chancellor, and whose principal duty consists in inquiring into various matters referred to him for the purpose, and reporting thereon to the court In English law. Master at common law: an officer of the superior ministering oaths to attorneys on their admission, and in certifying to the court, in cases of doubt or difficulty, what the practice of the court was. The principal duties out of court consisted in taxing attorneys' costs, in computing interest, in examining witnesses who were going abroad, and in hearing and determining rules referred to them by the court Master of the crown office: the Queen's coroner and prosecuting attorney in the criminal department of the \ court of Queen's Bench. Master of the rolls: a judge who holds a chancery court ranking next to that of the Lord Chancellor, and who has the keeping of the rolls and grants which pass the great seal, and the record of the chancery. He was originally appointed only for the superintendence of the writs and records appertaining to the common-law department of the court, and is still properly the chief of the masters in chancery.