Rumpole of the Bailey public school) and studied law at either Keble College or the fictional "St Joseph's College", Oxford, coming away with "a dubious third". He would not be eligible to be called to the Bar in England today, as a lower second is the minimum requirement. He was called to the bar at the "Outer Temple" (a fictional Inn of Court, named on the analogy of the Inner Temple, where John Mortimer was called, and the Middle Temple). Apart from the legal drama in each story, Rumpole also has to deal with his relationships with family and friends. His wife Hilda was
A Child of the Jago in the Jago, dirt is good and cleanliness resented. It is clear that the overcrowded rooms in which the tenants live are filthy, airless and without running water. Clothes are few and, like the bodies they adorn, are unlikely to be washed often, if at all. It is suggested that there is a correlation between the cleanliness of the body with that of the mind and soul. The book and author were used as a plot point in a 1991 episode of "Rumpole of the Bailey", "Rumpole for the Prosecution". The Kaiser Chiefs released the song "Child of the Jago"