England Court Records: Difference between revisions

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.<br><br>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 Family History Library Catalog under:

Chancery Court records are held at The National Archives.<br><br>'''Chancery Calendars, Indexes and Abstracts<br>'''<br>Some of the Chancery court records have been indexed. See the article by Ron Hill in the “Helpful Guides” section 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&nbsp;indexed.<br><br>The&nbsp;National Archives website has available the “[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/equity/ 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 [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/Default.asp?j=1 Catalogue]. Search the Catalogue on the National Archives website with an ancestor's surname in the "Word or Phrase" field and the letter C in the "Department or Series code" field. <br><br>Two men, Charles Allen Bernau and George Frederick Tudor Sherwood, have both complied calendars and indexes to chancery material. Family History Library has the&nbsp;Bernau Collection and Sherwood Collection. You may search the Family History Library Catalog by Place under&nbsp;England - Court Records - Indexes or England - Court Records or do a Keyword search for Bernau and Sherwood.

In addition to the brief bibliography listed below, several volumes in the ''List and Index Society'' series, and in The National Archives ''Lists and Indexes'' series contain information about Chancery court records. Also, the publications of the Harleian Society include several volumes.<br><br>Bevan, Amanda and Andrea Duncan. ''Tracing Your Ancestors in the Public Record Office''. 4th ed. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1990. Sections 47.5-7.<br>Bernau, Charles Allen. ''Records of the Chancery Court, London''. Salt Lake City: Family History Library, 1974. Introduction by David E. Gardner.<br>FitzHugh, Terrick V.H. ''The Dictionary of Genealogy''. Totowa, New Jersey: Barnes &amp; Noble, 1895. Pages 65-8.<br>Garrett, R.E.F. ''Chancery and Other Legal Proceedings, 1714-1758''. Isle of Wight: Pinhorns, 1968. See especially introduction pages.<br>Gibbens, Lillian. "Researching English Ancestry," ''International Society for British Genealogy and Family History'', 14 (July-September 1992); 44.<br>''Guide to the Contents of the Public Record Office'' (HMSO 1963) vol. 1, pp 32-33. FHL British book 942 A2pg 1963.<br>Hill, Ronald A. “English Genealogical Research: Using Chancery Court Proceedings”. ''National Genealogical Society Quarterly''. Volume 91, No. 2, June 2007. pp. 111-138. FHL US/CAN book 973 B2ng<br>Hunter, Dean J. ''Chancery Court Records'', (manuscript, 1992), p. 2-16.<br>Lawton, Guy. "Using Bernau's Index." ''Family Tree Magazine'', December 1991, January-February 1992. One article in three parts. FHL British book 942 D25f<br>Staff. ''The Sherwood Research Collection: Register of Contents''. Salt Lake City: Family History Library, 1966-8. FHL Reg 942 D2sh.