 The basis of the Attorney General’s Office lies deep in our constitutional tradition. In 1407 Henry IV gave Thomas Derham a patent empowering him to act as the King's attorney in all the courts of England.
Beforehand, attorneys with limited powers had been appointed for each main court or geographical area. This practice was gradually displaced, and the Attorney General assisted by a Solicitor-General, became the crown's chief legal office. He was the only person who could start legal proceedings on behalf of the crown. As consultants to the King, the Attorney and Solicitor-general gave legal advice to all departments of state, and appeared for them in court. The Office of the Attorney General did not exist. The first person assigned as "Attorney General" was Anthony Checkley appointed in 1680. In fact his appointment appears to have been for the limited purpose of prosecuting and claimed witch. Checkley was a merchant with no formal legal training. Indeed, Edward Randolph accused him of being "not only ignorant of the laws of England, but...himself an illegal trader." The first Attorney General of Massachusetts to be vested with the broad common law powers of the English office was Benjamin Bullivant. He was signed up in 1686 by Joseph Dudley as part of a general reform of the judicial system. After 1767 the Attorney General was supported by a Solicitor-General. The Constitution of the Commonwealth adopted in 1780, was familiar with both offices. It provided for their appointment by the Superintendent, with the advice and consent of the council. The offices of District and County Attorney were created in 1807. The act placed them under the supervision of the Attorney General. Nevertheless, in 1843 the office of Attorney General was eliminated, and its functions transferred to the District and County Attorneys. The Joint Special Committee on Retrenchment, 9. The experiment was short and apparently unsuccessful from the position of both economy and competence. In 1849 the office was re-established with all its previous powers. In 1855 the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution was adopted, it established the office of Attorney General as a true constitutional office, providing for popular election to the post.
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