407,336
edits
upgraded article with NI
No edit summary |
(upgraded article with NI) |
||
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
=== Chancery Court === | === Chancery Court === | ||
In early times it was the king in council who received the petitions from those subjects not satisfied by common law procedures, but by the end of the 15<sup>th</sup> century the ''chancellor, ''a leading member of the king's council had taken over this role. The Chancellor was often a bishop having no legal training but much common sense, and his ''chancery'' could sit anywhere and at any time; the procedures was a simple and informal thus quick and inexpensive. It was based on equity not common law and conducted entirely by English. | |||
Equity is a system of justice based on conscience and fairness rather than on the strict rules of common law. A decision ''in equity'' was one given in accordance with natural justice where the law did not provide adequate remedy, or in which its operation would have been unfair. After the Reformation lawyers tended to be appointed as chancellors and they regarded decisions in equity as precedents and thus equity soon became an organized system of rules as rigid as those of law. Chancery business became more rigid, slow and expensive because chancery clerks were paid fees not salaries, so the more paperwork they could generate the higher their income. However this system had benefits for the future genealogist with the volume of documents generated! Chancery is the court with more surviving records than any other. | |||
The system became so moribund during the early 19<sup>th</sup> century that reforms were made, culminating in the incorporation of chancery as simply a division in the new High Court of Justice in 1873-1875 and the empowering of judges to administer both law and equity. | |||
What is a Chancery? A simple definition says "Chancery Proceedings record disputes over inheritance, land, debts, etc., from the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries"(Gibbons). FitzHugh states, "Chancery as a court of law dates from about 1348. It was a court of equity based on Roman Law to deal with cases for which the Common Law made no provision, and later with cases remediable under Common Law but in which the plaintiff would have found himself under a legal disadvantage. It was absorbed into the Supreme Court of Judicature in 1873"(FitzHugh, 65)<br><br>Garrett explains, "Originally, all cases were oral. . . [the] plaintiff and the defendant appeared before the Judge, and indulged in an altercation on the spot. Later, however, the practice grew up of setting down the initial proceedings in writing"(Garrett, 1). Garrett continues by explaining the different types of documents and the general order in which they were made.<br><br>There are two divisions in the Court of Chancery, being the court of Common Law and the court of Equity. This paper discusses only the court of Equity. The primary documents are of two kinds: a) Proceedings; and b) Registers. | What is a Chancery? A simple definition says "Chancery Proceedings record disputes over inheritance, land, debts, etc., from the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries"(Gibbons). FitzHugh states, "Chancery as a court of law dates from about 1348. It was a court of equity based on Roman Law to deal with cases for which the Common Law made no provision, and later with cases remediable under Common Law but in which the plaintiff would have found himself under a legal disadvantage. It was absorbed into the Supreme Court of Judicature in 1873"(FitzHugh, 65)<br><br>Garrett explains, "Originally, all cases were oral. . . [the] plaintiff and the defendant appeared before the Judge, and indulged in an altercation on the spot. Later, however, the practice grew up of setting down the initial proceedings in writing"(Garrett, 1). Garrett continues by explaining the different types of documents and the general order in which they were made.<br><br>There are two divisions in the Court of Chancery, being the court of Common Law and the court of Equity. This paper discusses only the court of Equity. The primary documents are of two kinds: a) Proceedings; and b) Registers. | ||
| Line 7: | Line 13: | ||
==== Content ==== | ==== Content ==== | ||
Proceedings consist of the following documents:<br><br>1) Bill of Complaint<br>2) Writ of Subpoena<br>3) Answer by the defendant, or Plea to reject the Bill<br>4) Replication, or Exception, by the plaintiff<br>5) Rejoinder by the defendant<br>6) Rebuttal by the plaintiff (sometimes)<br>7) Surebuttal by the defendant (sometimes)<br>8) Interrogatories<br>9) Depositions by witnesses<br>10) Bill of Revival<br><br>Registers consist of the following types of documents:<br><br>1) Orders and Decrees<br>2) Awards and Agreements<br><br>The Family History Library has no original records from the court of Chancery. The collection consists of calendars, abstracts, and indexes. To find Chancery Court records, look in the Place Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under: | Proceedings consist of the following documents: | ||
*'''''Bill of Complaint''''' by the plaintiff (also referred to as the ''complainant'' or ''orator'') which states his name, quality or occupation and residence as well as the nature of the complaint. Alternatively the proceedings could start with a '''''Bill of Information''''' by the crown. Either would be addressed to the Lord Chancellor or the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. These bills are very long and full of legal jargon but end with a citation of the names of those complained against. In over 20% of cases the filing of a bill resulted in an informal settlement perhaps by arbitration, and maybe with a financial settlement, and no more records for the case are found (Horwitz 1998). Of those which went further into the pleadings stages (below) some 70% did not result in a decree, but were abandoned for the same reasons but which are not recorded because they took place out of court.<br> | |||
*'''''Writ of Subpoena''''' ordering the defendant to appear in court. Not a lot of these have survived.<br> | |||
*'''''Answer by the Defendant''''', which is the defendant’s version of the facts, or a '''''Plea to Reject the Bill''''' on legal grounds.<br> | |||
*'''''Replication''''', or '''''Exception''''', by the plaintiff which further protracts the case.<br> | |||
*'''''Rejoinder''''' by the defendant.<br> | |||
*'''''Rebuttal''''' may be given by the plaintiff.<br> | |||
*'''''Surebuttal''''' may be given by the defendant.<br> | |||
*'''''Interrogatories''''' which are lists of questions to be put to the parties, drawn up by counsels for both parties.<br> | |||
*'''''Depositions by witnesses''''', which give their name, age, residence and occupation. Town ''depositions ''(1534-1867) are those taken in London from witnesses living there or visiting for the purpose; there may be two sets- one for the plaintiff and one for the defendant. ''Country depositions'' (1558-1714) are those taken outside London or abroad by a commission set up for that purpose. <br> | |||
*'''''A Bill of Revival''''', if one of the parties died before the case was heard.<ref>Christensen, Penelope. "England Overview of Chancery Court (National Institute)," ''The National Institute for Genealogical Studies'' (2012), https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/England_Overview_of_Chancery_Court_%28National_Institute%29.</ref> | |||
<br><br>1) Bill of Complaint<br>2) Writ of Subpoena<br>3) Answer by the defendant, or Plea to reject the Bill<br>4) Replication, or Exception, by the plaintiff<br>5) Rejoinder by the defendant<br>6) Rebuttal by the plaintiff (sometimes)<br>7) Surebuttal by the defendant (sometimes)<br>8) Interrogatories<br>9) Depositions by witnesses<br>10) Bill of Revival<br><br>Registers consist of the following types of documents:<br><br>1) Orders and Decrees<br>2) Awards and Agreements<br><br>The Family History Library has no original records from the court of Chancery. The collection consists of calendars, abstracts, and indexes. To find Chancery Court records, look in the Place Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under: | |||
ENGLAND - COURT RECORDS | ENGLAND - COURT RECORDS | ||
Chancery Court records are held at [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk The National Archives]. | Chancery Court records are held at [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk The National Archives]. | ||
Anglo American Legal Tradition has digitized 1000s of the earliest cases on their [http://aalt.law.uh.edu/ChanPro.html free website]. | |||
==== Genealogical Value ==== | |||
Coldham evinces that it is probably ''a sufficient recommendation of the value of chancery records in a genealogical context to say that it is often possible to come across a five-generation pedigree not only compiled by contemporary litigants and witnesses but authenticated by a master in chancery''. Primary information about migration, marriage, births, deaths and kinship are all here. So also is evidence of their social relationships and aspirations, land ownership, business transactions and wealth or lack thereof. The court of chancery did not deal with criminal cases but did handle disputes arising from criminal cases. | |||
==== Chancery Calendars, Indexes and Abstracts ==== | ==== Chancery Calendars, Indexes and Abstracts ==== | ||
| Line 549: | Line 583: | ||
|} | |} | ||
<!--{120845840254682} --><!--{120845840254683} --><!--{120845840254684} --><!--{120845840254685} --><!--{120845840254686} --><!--{120845840254687} --><!--{120845840254688} --><!--{120845840254689} --><!--{120845840254690} --><!--{120845840254691} --><!--{120845840254692} --><!--{120845840254693} --><!--{120845840254694} --><!--{120845840254695} --><!--{120845840254696} --><!--{120845840254697} --><!--{120845840254698} --><!--{120845840254699} --><br>'''Warning''': Unknown: write failed: No space left on device (28) in '''Unknown''' on line '''0'''<br><br>'''Warning''': Unknown: Failed to write session data (files). Please verify that the current setting of session.save_path is correct () in '''Unknown''' on line '''0'''<br> | <!--{120845840254682} --><!--{120845840254683} --><!--{120845840254684} --><!--{120845840254685} --><!--{120845840254686} --><!--{120845840254687} --><!--{120845840254688} --><!--{120845840254689} --><!--{120845840254690} --><!--{120845840254691} --><!--{120845840254692} --><!--{120845840254693} --><!--{120845840254694} --><!--{120845840254695} --><!--{120845840254696} --><!--{120845840254697} --><!--{120845840254698} --><!--{120845840254699} --><br>'''Warning''': Unknown: write failed: No space left on device (28) in '''Unknown''' on line '''0'''<br><br>'''Warning''': Unknown: Failed to write session data (files). Please verify that the current setting of session.save_path is correct () in '''Unknown''' on line '''0'''<br> | ||
==== ''' Town Depositions'''<!--{12082074786487} --><!--{12082074786488} --><!--{12082074786489} --><!--{120820747864810} --><!--{120820747864811} --><!--{120820747864812} --> ==== | ==== ''' Town Depositions'''<!--{12082074786487} --><!--{12082074786488} --><!--{12082074786489} --><!--{120820747864810} --><!--{120820747864811} --><!--{120820747864812} --> ==== | ||
{| width="735" | {| width="735" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" | ||
|- | |- | ||
| Date<br> Range <br> | | Date<br> Range <br> | ||
| Line 592: | Line 626: | ||
==== ''' Country Depositions'''<!--{120820747864817} --><!--{120820747864818} --><!--{120820747864819} --><!--{120820747864820} --><!--{120820747864821} --><!--{120820747864822} --> ==== | ==== ''' Country Depositions'''<!--{120820747864817} --><!--{120820747864818} --><!--{120820747864819} --><!--{120820747864820} --><!--{120820747864821} --><!--{120820747864822} --> ==== | ||
{| width="735" | {| width="735" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" | ||
|- | |- | ||
| Date<br> Range <br> | | Date<br> Range <br> | ||
| Line 633: | Line 667: | ||
| Use IND 1/16748 to IND 1/16752 | | Use IND 1/16748 to IND 1/16752 | ||
|} | |} | ||
</div> | |||
== References == | == References == | ||