England Chancery Court Records

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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.

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)

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.

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.

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 Family History 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 Family History Library has the Bernau Collection and Sherwood Collection:

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

The information in the following chart was compiled from The National Archives Research Guides to Chancery Records, and Ronald A. Hill's 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).

Date/Range	Class/Bdle	Description		Indexes or Printed
1377-1558	C1/1	Chancery Proceedings		Calendar of Proceedings in Chancery, vol. 1, pp. i-cxlvii, FHL 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		Calendar of Proceedings in Chancery, vol. 2, pp. i-lxxvi, FHL 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.		Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings FHL British Q 942 B4pre no. 12; Harleian Society FHL British 942 B4h vols. 78 & 79 (FHL 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 www.hmc.gov.uk).  Most are available in The National Archives library.
1433-1485	C1/38-75	Chancery Proceedings		Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings FHL 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 www.hmc.gov.uk).  Most are available in The National Archives library.
1485-1500	C1/76-235	Chancery Proceedings		Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings FHL 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 www.hmc.gov.uk). Most are available in The National Archives library. Images of original records at AALT - free.
1500-1515	C1/236-377	Chancery Proceedings		Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings FHL 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		Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings FHL 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		Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings FHL 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		Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings FHL 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		Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings FHL 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		Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings FHL 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		Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings FHL 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		Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings FHL 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		Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings FHL 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		Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings FHL 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		Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings FHL 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.		Online in TNA Catalogue; Lists and Indexes, Early Chancery Proceedings FHL 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/Eli z/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.		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 FHL film 874093 item 1 or 1501916; prefaced by bundle 1.  Early Chancery Proceedings mentioned above.
1558-1603	C2/Eli z/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.		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 FHL film 874093 item 2 or 1501917; prefaced by bundle 2 Early Chancery Proceedings mentioned above.
1558-1603	C2/Eli z/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.		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 FHL film 874094 or 1501918.
1558-1603	C2/Eli z/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.		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 FHL 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.		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 FHL Q 942 B4pre no. 47    (FHL film 924081 item 2) L-M only FHL Q 942 B4pre no. 32    (FHL film 916576 item 2 or 1501921 item 1) N-R only FHL Q 942 B4pre no. 33    (FHL film 916576 item 3 or 1501921 2) S-Z only FHL Q 942 B4pre no. 34    (FHL 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.		Not all are searchable online.  Some but not all are included int he Bernau Index.  Partial index found in The Index Library, A Calendar of Chancery Proceedings, Bills & Answers, Charles I. A-D only FHL 942 B4b Vol 2 (FHL film 962742 item 1) E-L only FHL 942 B4b Vol 5 (FHL film 962742 item 2) M-R only FHL 942 B4b Vol 6 (FHL film 962742 item 3) S-Z only FHL 942 B4b Vol. 14 (FHL film 564344 item 1) Some in the Sherwood Slip Index.
1558-1579	C 3/1-202	Chancery Proceedings:  Series II.*		Searchable online for 1st plaintiff, 1st defendant and county.  Lists and Indexes, Index of Chancery Proceedings (Series II), FHL Q 942 B4pre no. 7 (FHL film 1696603 item 10).  Indexed in Bernau Index and Sherwood Slip Index.
1579-1621	C 3/203-329	Chancery Proceedings:  Series II.*		Searchable online for 1st plaintiff, 1st defendant and county. Lists and Indexes, Index of Chancery Proceedings (Series II), FHL Q 942 B4pre no. 24. Indexed in Bernau Index and Sherwood Slip Index.
1621-1660	C3/330-469	Chancery Proceedings:  Series II.*		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.		Searchable online for 1st plaintiff, 1st defendant and county. FHL film 1501919 item 3.
	C4	Miscellaneous proceedings that have likely been detached for C1-C3; Not very accessible.		Partially searchable online; nothing available at FHL; An unpublished descriptive list of part of the series available at the TNA.
1570-1714	C8	Six Clerks Series:  Mitford division**		Not searchable online.  TNA manuscript calendar Plaintiff A-C FHL film 824651 Plaintiff C-H FHL film 824652 Plaintiff H-N FHL film 824653 Plaintiff O-S  FHL film 824654 Plaintiff T-Z  FHL film 824655 Another Filming as follows: Plaintiff A-F FHL film 1501932 Plaintiff G-R  FHL film 1501933 Plaintiff S-Z  FHL film 1501934 Peter Coldham, Index to disputed estates in chancery, FHL fiche ______ has _____?
1613-1714	C 5	Six Clerks Series:  Bridges		Searchable online for 1st plaintiff, 1st defendant and county.  Lists and Indexes, Index of Chancery Proceedings, Bridges Division 1613-1714. A-C only FHL Q 942 B4pre no. 39 D-H only FHL Q 942 B4pre no. 42 I-Q only FHL Q 942 B4pre no. 44 R-Z only FHL Q 942 B4pre no. 45 Included in Bernau Index and Sherwood Slip Index
1620-1714	C 7	Six Clerks Series:  Hamilton**		Not searchable online. TNA manuscript calendars Plaintiff A-C FHL film 824644 Plaintiff D-G FHL film 824645 Plaintiff H-K FHL film 824646 Plaintiff L-O FHL film 824647 Plaintiff P-S FHL film 824648 Plaintiff S-V FHL film 8 24649 Plaintiff W-Z FHL film 824650 Another filming available: Plaintiff A-E FHL film 1501928 Plaintiff F-K FHL film 1501929 Plaintiff L-S FHL film 1501930 Plaintiff S-Z FHL film 1501931 Peter Coldham, Index to disputed estates in chancery, FHL ???????
1625-1714	C 6	Six Clerks Series:  Collins**		See the Equity Pleadings Database on the national archives website. TNA manuscript calendars Plaintiff A-F FHL film 824637 Plaintiff G-N FHL film 824638 Plaintiff M-V FHL film 824639 Plaintiff W-Z FHL film 824640 item 3 Plaintiff A-K FHL film 824640 item 2 Plaintiff L-Z FHL film 824641 Another filming available: Plaintiff A-F, bundles 1-268 FHL film 1501925 item 2 Plaintiff G-R, bundles 1-268 FHL film 1501926 Plaintiff S-Z, bundles 1-268 FHL film 1501927 item 1 Plaintiff A-Z, bundles 1-269-355 FHL film 1501927 item 2 Index to Personal estates for bundles 1-268 only FHL film 824640 item 2 or 1501925 item 1 Single Bills calendar to bundles 356-610 only FHL 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**		Searchable online for 1st plaintiff, 1st defendant and county for about half the series. TNA manuscript calendars: Plaintiff A-C FHL film 824657 Plaintiff D-K FHL film 824658 Plaintiff L-P FHL film 824659 Plaintiff Q-S FHL film 824660 Plaintiff T-Z FHL film 824661 Another filming available Plaintiff A-C FHL film 1501935 Plaintiff D-M FHL film 1501936 Plaintiff N-Z FHL film 1501937 Peter Coldham, Index to disputed estates in Chancery, FHL ?????
1649-1714	C9	Six Clerks Series:  Reynardson		Searchable online for 1st plaintiff and 1st defendant.  The Index Library, Index of Chancery Proceedings (Reynardson's Division, 1649-1714) A-K only FHL 942 B4b Vol 29 (FHL film 990401) L-Z only FHL 942 B4b Vol 32 (FHL film 526491  item 3) Manuscript calendar for bundles 1-41 (out of 491 bundles) FHL 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.

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

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  Town Depositions

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 FHL 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

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 FHL film 916583 item 2 Plaintiff K-S FHL film 916582 item 5 Plaintiff S-Z FHL film 916583 item 1 Another filming available: Plaintiff A-J FHL film 1501923 item 2 Plaintiff K-Z FHL 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 FHL film 916557 item 3 Hamilton Division bundles 220-307 FHL film 916577 item 3 Hamilton Division bundles 308-311 FHL film 916578 item 1 Bridges Division bundles 312-581 FHL film 916578 item 1 Mitford Division bundles 582-738  FHL film 916578 item 2 Whittington Division bundles 739-824 FHL film 916578 item 3 Whittington Division bundles 824-953 FHL 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