England Chancery Court Records

England

England Court Records

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^th 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^th 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.

Content

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.
  

• Writ of Subpoena ordering the defendant to appear in court. Not a lot of these have survived.
  

• Answer by the Defendant, which is the defendant’s version of the facts, or a Plea to Reject the Bill on legal grounds.
  

• Replication, or Exception, by the plaintiff which further protracts the case.
  

• Rejoinder by the defendant.
  

• Rebuttal may be given by the plaintiff.
  

• Surebuttal may be given by the defendant.
  

• Interrogatories which are lists of questions to be put to the parties, drawn up by counsels for both parties.
  

• 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.
  

• A Bill of Revival, if one of the parties died before the case was heard.

The FamilySearch Library has no original records from the court of Chancery, but it does have many finding aids such as record calendars, abstracts, and indexes. To find Chancery Court records, look in the Place Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under:

ENGLAND - COURT RECORDS

Chancery Court records are held at The National Archives.

Anglo-American Legal Tradition has digitized 1000s of the earliest cases on their 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

Some of the Chancery court records have been indexed. See the article by Ronald A. Hill mentioned below to see a list of indexes for different time periods. Also, two of The National Archives Research Guides “Chancery Proceedings: Equity Suits from 1558" and “Chancery Proceedings: Equity Suits before 1558” list the records and what records have been indexed.

The National Archives website has available the “Equity Pleadings Database”, which includes part of the C6 class of records and is searchable by name or place. Also, some of these records have been indexed in The National Archives Catalogue. Search the catalogue with an ancestor's surname in the "Word or Phrase" field and the letter C in the "Department or Series code" field.

Two men, Charles Allen Bernau and George Frederick Tudor Sherwood, have both complied calendars and indexes to chancery material. The FamilySearch Library has the Bernau Collection and Sherwood Collection:

• Genealogical Extracts from Chancery Proceedings by Bernau FS Library Film 385284 (1st of 615 films).
• Depositions from Chancery Proceedings, 1714-1758, Exchequer, Charity Depositions, With a Few Before 1714 by Bernau FS Library Books 942 P2dp v. 1-24.
• The Sherwood Record Collection: The Sherwood Slip Index by Surname and County. FS Library Film 413549 (1st of 453 films).

For cases from the eighteenth century forward, try searching Google Books for summaries of chancery cases in publications such as The Jurist.

Chancery Proceedings and Depositions Indexes, Published, and Digitised Records

The information in the following chart was compiled from The National Archives Research Guides to Chancery Records, and Ronald A. Hill's superb article “English Genealogical Research: Using Chancery Court Proceedings”. National Genealogical Society Quarterly. Volume 91, No. 2, June 2007. pp. 111-138. Digital version at NGS website (£) (used with permission).

border="1"

|- | Date/Range

| Class/Bdle

| Description

| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Indexes or Printed

|- | 1377-1558
| C1/1
| Chancery Proceedings
| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Calendar of Proceedings in Chancery, vol. 1, pp. i-cxlvii, FS Library film 874093, item 1.
E A Lewis, An Inventory of the Early Chancery.
Images of original records at AALT - free.

|- | 1377-1422
| C1/2
| Chancery Proceedings
| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Calendar of Proceedings in Chancery, vol. 2, pp. i-lxxvi, FS Library film 874093, item 2.
Images of original records at AALT - free.

|- | 1385-1467
| C1/3-37
| Chancery Proceedings

C1 documents were sorted in the 19th century into bundles according to the name of the chancellor to whom they were addressed. In many cases, the
chancellor was specifically named and suits can be dated to within a few years. In others, the address was such that more than one chancellor could be identified (e.g. 'the bishop of London, Lord Chancellor', when several bishops of London have been Chancellor in their time). To narrow this down further,
you will need to consult the tables given at the front of each of the published volumes mentioned in the Bibliography.
These are all on the open shelves at The National Archives.

| style="vertical-align: top;" | | Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early
Chancery Proceedings. Digitised by Ancestry (£); FS Library British Q 942 B4pre no. 12;
Harleian Society FS Library British 942 B4h vols. 78 & 79
(FS Library film 162077 items 3-4); Bernau Index; Sherwood Slip Index.

Images of original records at AALT - free.

W P Baildon ed., Select Cases in Chancery, A.D.
1364-1471 (Selden Society, 1896). Many local record societies have published transcripts for their own county. For a list of local record society publications, see E C Mullins, Texts and Calendars (London, 2 vols, 1978, 1983: continued on Historical Manuscripts Commission). Most are available in The National Archives library.

|- | 1433-1485

| C1/38-75
| Chancery Proceedings
| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings; Digitised by Ancestry (£); FS Library British Q 942 B4pre no. 16; Bernau Index; Sherwood Slip Index.

Images of original records at AALT - free.

W P Baildon ed., Select Cases in Chancery, A.D. 1364-1471 (Selden Society, 1896). Many local record societies have published transcripts for their own county. For a list of local record society publications, see E C Mullins, Texts and Calendars (London, 2 vols, 1978, 1983: continued on Historical Manuscripts Commission). Most are available in The National Archives library.

|- |
1485-1500 |
C1/76-235 |
Chancery Proceedings | style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings; Digitised by Ancestry (£); FS Library British Q 942 B4pre no. 20; Bernau Index; Sherwood Slip Index.
W P Baildon ed., Select Cases in Chancery, A.D. 1364-1471 (Selden Society, 1896). Many local record societies have published transcripts for their own county. For a list of local record society publications, see E C Mullins, Texts and Calendars (London, 2 vols, 1978, 1983: continued on Historical Manuscripts Commission). Most are available in The National Archives library.

Images of original records at AALT - free.

|- | 1500-1515 |

C1/236-377

| Chancery Proceedings
| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings; Digitised by Ancestry (£); FS Library British Q 942 B4pre no. 29; Bernau Index; Sherwood Slip Index.
W P Baildon ed., Select Cases in Chancery, A.D. 1364-1471 (Selden Society, 1896). Many local record societies have published transcripts for their own county. For a list of local record society publications, see E C Mullins, Texts and Calendars (London, 2 vols, 1978, 1983: continued on www.hmc.gov.uk). Most are available in The National Archives library.

Images of original records at AALT - free.

|- | 1515-1518 |

C1/378-457

| Chancery Proceedings | style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings Digitised by Ancestry (£); FS Library British Q 942 B4pre no. 38; Bernau Index; Sherwood Slip Index.
W P Baildon ed., Select Cases in Chancery, A.D. 1364-1471 (Selden Society, 1896). Many local record societies have published transcripts for their own county. For a list of local record society publications, see E C Mullins, Texts and Calendars (London, 2 vols, 1978, 1983: continued on www.hmc.gov.uk). Most are available in The National Archives library.

Images of original records C1/378-428, 441, 456at AALT - free.

|- |
1518-1529 |
C1/458-600

| Chancery Proceedings

| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings; Digitised by Ancestry (£); FS Library British Q 942 B4pre no. 38; Bernau Index; Sherwood Slip Index.
W P Baildon ed., Select Cases in Chancery, A.D. 1364-1471 (Selden Society, 1896). Many local record societies have published transcripts for their own county. For a list of local record society publications, see E C Mullins, Texts and Calendars (London, 2 vols, 1978, 1983: continued on www.hmc.gov.uk). Most are available in The National Archives library.

|- | 1529-1532 |

C1/601-694

| Chancery Proceedings
| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings; Digitised by Ancestry (£); FS Library British Q 942 B4pre no. 48; Sherwood Slip Index.
W P Baildon ed., Select Cases in Chancery, A.D. 1364-1471 (Selden Society, 1896). Many local record societies have published transcripts for their own county. For a list of local record society publications, see E C Mullins, Texts and Calendars (London, 2 vols, 1978, 1983: continued on www.hmc.gov.uk). Most are available in The National Archives library.

|- | 1532-38 |

C1/694-771

|
Chancery Proceedings
| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings; Digitised by Ancestry (£); FS Library British Q 942 B4pre no. 48; Sherwood Slip Index.
W P Baildon ed., Select Cases in Chancery, A.D. 1364-1471 (Selden Society, 1896). Many local record societies have published transcripts for their own county. For a list of local record society publications, see E C Mullins, Texts and Calendars (London, 2 vols, 1978, 1983: continued on www.hmc.gov.uk). Most are available in The National Archives library.

|- |

1533-1538

|

C1/772-934

| Chancery Proceedings
| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings; Digitised by Ancestry (£); FS Library British Q 942 B4pre no. 50;

W P Baildon ed., Select Cases in Chancery, A.D. 1364-1471 (Selden Society, 1896). Many local record societies have published transcripts for their own county. For a list of local record society publications, see E C Mullins, Texts and Calendars (London, 2 vols, 1978, 1983: continued on www.hmc.gov.uk). Most are available in The National Archives library.

|- |

1538-1544

|
C1/935-1094

| Chancery Proceedings
| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings; Digitised by Ancestry (£); FS Library British Q 942 B4pre no. 51; Sx bundles 935-987 only.
W P Baildon ed., Select Cases in Chancery, A.D. 1364-1471 (Selden Society, 1896). Many local record societies have published transcripts for their own county. For a list of local record society publications, see E C Mullins, Texts and Calendars (London, 2 vols, 1978, 1983: continued on www.hmc.gov.uk). Most are available in The National Archives library.

|- |
1544-1551 |
C1/1095-1285

|
Chancery Proceedings | style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings; Digitised by Ancestry (£); FS Library British Q 942 B4pre no. 54;

W P Baildon ed., Select Cases in Chancery, A.D. 1364-1471 (Selden Society, 1896). Many local record societies have published transcripts for their own county. For a list of local record society publications, see E C Mullins, Texts and Calendars (London, 2 vols, 1978, 1983: continued on www.hmc.gov.uk). Most are available in The National Archives library.

|- |

1551-1553

|
C1/1286-1324

|
Chancery Proceedings | style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings; Digitised by Ancestry (£); FS Library British Q 942 B4pre no. 54;

W P Baildon ed., Select Cases in Chancery, A.D. 1364-1471 (Selden Society, 1896). Many local record societies have published transcripts for their own county. For a list of local record society publications, see E C Mullins, Texts and Calendars (London, 2 vols, 1978, 1983: continued on www.hmc.gov.uk). Most are available in The National Archives library.

|- |

1553-1555

|

C1/1325-1397

|
Chancery Proceedings | style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings; Digitised by Ancestry (£); FS Library British Q 942 B4pre no. 55

W P Baildon ed., Select Cases in Chancery, A.D. 1364-1471 (Selden Society, 1896). Many local record societies have published transcripts for their own county. For a list of local record society publications, see E C Mullins, Texts and Calendars (London, 2 vols, 1978, 1983: continued on www.hmc.gov.uk). Most are available in The National Archives library.

|- |
1556-1558 |
C1/1398-1488

|
Chancery Proceedings | style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings; Digitised by Ancestry (£); FS Library British Q 942 B4pre no. 55

W P Baildon ed., Select Cases in Chancery, A.D. 1364-1471 (Selden Society, 1896). Many local record societies have published transcripts for their own county. For a list of local record society publications, see E C Mullins, Texts and Calendars (London, 2 vols, 1978, 1983: continued on www.hmc.gov.uk). Most are available in The National Archives library.

|- | 1386-1558 |

C1/1489-1519

| Chancery Proceedings various dates, some early.

| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings; Digitised by Ancestry (£); FS Library British Q 942 B4pre no. 55.

W P Baildon ed., Select Cases in Chancery, A.D. 1364-1471 (Selden Society, 1896). Many local record societies have published transcripts for their own county. For a list of local record society publications, see E C Mullins, Texts and Calendars (London, 2 vols, 1978, 1983: continued on www.hmc.gov.uk). Most are available in The National Archives library.

|- | 1558-1603 | C2/Eliz/A.a.1-H.h.6
| Chancery Proceedings: Series I or the Regnal Series. Several sequences of paper finding aids, including name and place indexes, at The National Archives. *Some published catalogues; see Bibliography.

| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Not all are searchable online. Some but not all are included in the Bernau Index. Calendars of the Proceedings in Chancery in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. Vol 1 FS Library film 874093 item 1 or 1501916; prefaced by bundle 1. Early Chancery Proceedings mentioned above.

|- |
1558-1603 | C2/Eliz/H.h. 7-R.r.12
| Chancery Proceedings: Series I or the Regnal Series. Several sequences of paper finding aids, including name and place indexes, at The National Archives. *Some published catalogues; see Bibliography.

| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Not all are searchable online. Some but not all are included in the Berna Index. Calendars of the Proceedings in Chancery in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. Vol 1 FS Library film 874093 item 2 or 1501917; prefaced by bundle 2 Early Chancery Proceedings mentioned above.

|- | 1558-1603
| C2/Eliz/S.s. 1-Z.z.1 | Chancery Proceedings: Series I or the Regnal Series. Several sequences of paper finding aids, including name and place indexes, at The National Archives. *Some published catalogues; see Bibliography.

| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Not all are searchable online. Some but not all are included in the Bernau Index. Calendars of the Proceedings in Chancery in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. Vol 1 FS Library film 874094 or 1501918.

|- | 1558-1603
| C2/Eliz/Misc. Bundl
|
Chancery Proceedings: Series I or the Regnal Series. Several sequences of paper finding aids, including name and place indexes, at The National Archives. *Some published catalogues; see Bibliography.

| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Not all are searchable online. Some but not all are included in the Bernau Index. Calendars of the Proceedings in Chancery in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. Vol 1 FS Library film 874094 or 1501918.

|- | 1603-1625 | C2/James |
Chancery Proceedings: Series I or the Regnal Series. Several sequences of paper finding aids, including name and place indexes, at The National Archives. *Some published catalogues; see Bibliography.

| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Not all are searchable online. Some but not all are included in the Bernau Index. Lists and Indexes, Index of Chancery Proceedings (Series I) James I,
A-K only FS Library Q 942 B4pre no. 47
(FS Library film 924081 item 2)

L-M only FS Library Q 942 B4pre no. 32
(FS Library film 916576 item 2 or 1501921 item 1)
N-R only FS Library Q 942 B4pre no. 33
(FS Library film 916576 item 3 or 1501921 2)
S-Z only FS Library Q 942 B4pre no. 34
(FS Library film 916576 item 4 and 916577 item 1 or 1501923 item 1)
Some in Sherwood Slip Index

|- | 1625-1649 | C2/Chas
| Chancery Proceedings: Series I or the Regnal Series. Several sequences of paper finding aids, including name and place indexes, at The National Archives. *Some published catalogues; see Bibliography.

| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Coldham's index of these 82,000 cases is available for a fee at Findmypast. Some but not all cases are included in the Bernau Index, the Sherwood Slip Index, and the TNA Catalogue. Partial index found in The Index Library, A Calendar of Chancery Proceedings, Bills & Answers, Charles I.
A-D only FS Library 942 B4b Vol 2
(FS Library film 962742 item 1)
E-L only FS Library 942 B4b Vol 5
(FS Library film 962742 item 2)
M-R only FS Library 942 B4b Vol 6
(FS Library film 962742 item 3)
S-Z only FS Library 942 B4b Vol. 14
(FS Library film 564344 item 1)

|- |
1558-1579 | C 3/1-202 |

Chancery Proceedings: Series II.*

| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Searchable online for 1st plaintiff, 1st defendant and county. Lists and Indexes, Index of Chancery Proceedings (Series II), FHL Q 942 B4pre no. 7 (FS Library film 1696603 item 10). Indexed in Bernau Index and Sherwood Slip Index.

|- | 1579-1621
| C 3/203-329 | Chancery Proceedings: Series II.*

| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Searchable online for 1st plaintiff, 1st defendant and county. Lists and Indexes, Index of Chancery Proceedings (Series II), FS Library Q 942 B4pre no. 24. Indexed in Bernau Index and Sherwood Slip Index.

|- |
1621-1660 |
C3/330-469 |
Chancery Proceedings: Series II.*

| style="vertical-align: top;" |
|
Searchable online for 1st plaintiff, 1st defendant and county. Lists and Indexes, Index of Chancery Proceedings (Series II), FHL Q 942 B4pre no. 30. Indexed in Bernau Index and Sherwood Slip Index.

|- |
1558-1649 | C3/470-485
|
Chancery Proceedings: Series II.* Unsorted bundles.

| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Searchable online for 1st plaintiff, 1st defendant and county. FS Library film 1501919 item 3.
|- |
|
C4 |
Miscellaneous proceedings that have likely been detached for C1-C3; Not very accessible.

| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Partially searchable online; nothing available at FS Library; An unpublished descriptive list of part of the series available at the TNA.

|- |
1570-1714 |
C8 |
Six Clerks Series: Mitford division**

| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Not searchable online. TNA manuscript calendar
Plaintiff A-C FS Library film 824651
Plaintiff C-H FS Library film 824652
Plaintiff H-N FS Library film 824653
Plaintiff O-S FS Library film 824654
Plaintiff T-Z FS Library film 824655
Another Filming as follows:
Plaintiff A-F FS Library film 1501932
Plaintiff G-R FS Library film 1501933
Plaintiff S-Z FS Library film 1501934
Peter Coldham, Index to disputed estates in chancery, FS Library fiche ______ has _____?

|- |
1613-1714 |
C 5 |
Six Clerks Series: Bridges | style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Searchable online for 1st plaintiff, 1st defendant and county. Lists and Indexes, Index of Chancery Proceedings, Bridges Division 1613-1714.

A-C only FS Library Q 942 B4pre no. 39
D-H only FS Library Q 942 B4pre no. 42
I-Q only FS Library Q 942 B4pre no. 44
R-Z only FS Library Q 942 B4pre no. 45

Included in Bernau Index and Sherwood Slip Index

|- |
1620-1714 |
C 7

|
Six Clerks Series: Hamilton** | style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Not searchable online.

TNA manuscript calendars
Plaintiff A-C FS Library film 824644
Plaintiff D-G FS Library film 824645
Plaintiff H-K FS Library film 824646
Plaintiff L-O FS Library film 824647
Plaintiff P-S FS Library film 824648
Plaintiff S-V FS Library film 8 24649
Plaintiff W-Z FS Library film 824650
Another filming available:
Plaintiff A-E FS Library film 1501928
Plaintiff F-K FS Library film 1501929
Plaintiff L-S FS Library film 1501930
Plaintiff S-Z FS Library film 1501931

Peter Coldham, Index to disputed estates in chancery, FS Library ???????

|- |
1625-1714 |
C 6

|
Six Clerks Series: Collins** | style="vertical-align: top;" |
|
See the Equity Pleadings Database on the national archives website.

TNA manuscript calendars
Plaintiff A-F FS Library film 824637
Plaintiff G-N FS Library film 824638
Plaintiff M-V FS Library film 824639
Plaintiff W-Z FS Library film 824640 item 3
Plaintiff A-K FS Library film 824640 item 2
Plaintiff L-Z FS Library film 824641
Another filming available:
Plaintiff A-F, bundles 1-268 FS Library film 1501925 item 2
Plaintiff G-R, bundles 1-268 FS Library film 1501926
Plaintiff S-Z, bundles 1-268 FS Library film 1501927 item 1
Plaintiff A-Z, bundles 1-269-355 FS Library film 1501927 item 2
Index to Personal estates for bundles 1-268 only FS Library film 824640 item 2 or 1501925 item 1

Single Bills calendar to bundles 356-610 only FS Library film 824643 or 1501924 item 3

|- |
1640-1714 |
C 10 |
Six Clerks Series: Whittington. Miscellaneous pleadings are listed at the end of the Whittington volume**

| style="vertical-align: top;" |
| Searchable online for 1st plaintiff, 1st defendant and county for about half the series.

TNA manuscript calendars:
Plaintiff A-C FS Library film 824657
Plaintiff D-K FS Library film 824658
Plaintiff L-P FS Library film 824659
Plaintiff Q-S FS Library film 824660
Plaintiff T-Z FS Library film 824661
Another filming available
Plaintiff A-C FS Library film 1501935
Plaintiff D-M FS Library film 1501936
Plaintiff N-Z FS Library film 1501937
Peter Coldham, Index to disputed estates in Chancery, FS Library ?????

|- | 1649-1714 | C9 | Six Clerks Series: Reynardson
| style="vertical-align: top;" |
|
Searchable online for 1st plaintiff and 1st defendant. The Index Library, Index of Chancery Proceedings (Reynardson's Division, 1649-1714)
A-K only FS Library 942 B4b Vol 29 (FS Library film 990401)
L-Z only FS Library 942 B4b Vol 32 (FS Library film 526491 item 3)

Manuscript calendar for bundles 1-41 (out of 491 bundles) FS Library film 824656 or 1501935 Sherwood Slip Index contains defendants surnames.

|}

• Miscellaneous set of answers and subsidiary documents are in C 4, which is searchable.
• For C 6, C 7, C 8 and C 10, there are indexes to disputed wills (by the name of the testator, not of the plaintiff) available at The National Archives. P W Coldham compiled these idexes.

cellpadding="1" width="735" border="1"

|- | | | | |- | 1715-1758 | C 11 | Various Six Clerks, Series I. | Searchable online for 1st plaintiff and one defendant. The Bernau Notebooks give more information (for all parties) surname, forename, occupation and date: available at the FS Library see Bernau notebooks listing below.

|- | 1758-1800 | C 12 | Various Six Clerks, Series II | Searchable online for 1st plaintiff and one defendant.

Bernau Chancery Proceedings at FS Library:
Volume 1 A-Bez FS Library film 87884
Volume 2 Bib-Cim FS Library film 87884
Volume 3 Cla-Dys FS Library film 87885
Volume 4 Eab-Gre FS Library film 87885
Volume 5 Gri-Jax FS Library film 87886
Volume 6 Kac-Nye FS Library film 87886
Volume 7 Oad-Sid FS Library film 87887
Volume 8 Sie-Zou FS Library film 87887

|- | 1800-1842 | C 13 | Various Six Clerks, Series III | Searchable online for 1st plaintiff and one defendant: work is taking place on this series to make it searchable by full name of all defendants.

|- | 1842-1852 | C 14 | Modern Series: Pleadings | Searchable online for 1st plaintiff and 1st defendant. To check that a suit is the right one, order up the relevant volume from C 32.

|- | 1844-1864 | C 18 | Miscellaneous Pleadings. Contains a very few 17th and 18th century pleadings.

| Searchable online for 1st plaintiff and 1st defendant and defendant. Gives forename as well.

|- | 1853-1860 | C 15 | Modern Series: Pleadings | Searchable online for 1st plaintiff and 1st defendant. To check that a suit is the right one, order up the relevant volume from C 32.

|- | 1861-1875 | C 16 | Modern Series: Pleadings | Not searchable online. To check that a suit is the right one, order up the relevant volume from C 32.

|- | 1876 Onwards | J 54 | Chancery Division: Pleadings, Common Law Orders etc.,

| Not searchable online. Index for 1876-1880 only in IND 1/2218 to IND 1/2226

|}

Town Depositions

cellpadding="1" width="735" border="1"

|- | Date
Range
| Class/
Bdle
| Description | Indexes or Printed
|- | 1534-1853 | C 24 | Town depositions | C 24/2450 to C 24/2508 are searchable on line.

Deponents indexed in Bernau Index.

Mostly listed by term: use IND 1/16759 and IND 1/9115 to IND 1/9121.

Partial Calendar 1534-1558 FS Library film 916577 item 2.

|- | 1854-1880

March

| C 15, C 16, J 54 | Town depositions are filed with the pleadings. | See pleadings above. |- | 1880 April | See Country depositions | | |}

Country Depositions

cellpadding="1" width="735" border="1"

|- | Date
Range
| Class/
Bdle
| Description | Indexes or Printed
|- | 1558-1649 | C 21 | Country depositions | Searchable online for 1st plaintiff and 1st defendant.
Deponents indexed in Bernau Index and Sherwood Slip Index
Original manuscript calendars
Plaintiff A-J FS Library film 916583 item 2
Plaintiff K-S FS Library film 916582 item 5
Plaintiff S-Z FS Library film 916583 item 1
Another filming available:
Plaintiff A-J FS Library film 1501923 item 2
Plaintiff K-Z FS Library film 1501923 item 3

|- | 1649-1714

| C 22 | Country depositions | Searchable online for 1st plaintiff and 1st defendant.

Depoinents indexed in Bernau Index for C 22/1, and for all cases where the plaintiff's name began with A: about 8% of total

Manuscript Calendars, alphabetical by plaintiff surname
Collins Division bundles 1-219 FS Library film 916557 item 3
Hamilton Division bundles 220-307 FS Library film 916577 item 3
Hamilton Division bundles 308-311 FS Library film 916578 item 1
Bridges Division bundles 312-581 FS Library film 916578 item 1
Mitford Division bundles 582-738 FS Library film 916578 item 2
Whittington Division bundles 739-824 FS Library film 916578 item 3
Whittington Division bundles 824-953 FS Library film 916579 item 1
Reynardson Division bundles 954-1052 film 916579 item 2

|- | 1715-1880 March | C 11,
C 12,
C 13,
C 14

| Country depositions are filed with the pleadings | See pleadings above |- | 1880
April
1925
| J 17 | Town and Country depositions | Use IND 1/16748 to IND 1/16752 |}

Chancery Final Decrees

Anglo-American Legal Tradition has digitised images and created many indices to chancery final decrees from 1534 up through the 1700s (C 78 and C 79): Chancery Final Decrees.

References

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)