Catalogue description WARRINGTON COUNTY COURT

Warrington County Court, Warrington, Cheshire

Access to the records is closed for a period of 30 years from date of final entry, as specified in the Public Records Act, 1967.

Acc 5777

Records of County Courts are public records within the meaning of the Public Records Acts. The Lord Chancellor has ruled that those records selected for permanent preservation are appropriate for deposit in local record offices under Section 4(1) of the Public Records Act, 1958.

The Lord Chancellor's Department has laid down guidelines for Court Clerks to select those records which are deemed worthy of preservation.

They are as follows:

All records earlier than 1850

Workmen's Compensation registers (sample)

Workmen's Compensation Acts awards or agreements (sample)

Registers of Petitions and Receiving Orders in Bankruptcy

Files relating to Admiralty actions of special legal or other significance

Documents relating to Trust and equity proceedings of special legal or other significance

Ordinary and Default Summons Minute books (sample). In the Cheshire Record Office, this sample will cover every census year, whenever possible

Files of proceedings under specified Acts of special legal or other significance

Summons files of special interest

Judges' and Registrars' notebooks (sample one for each judge and registrar)

• Cheshire

Although County Courts have mediaeval origins, their present form and function were established by Act of Parliament in 1846 : An Act for the more easy Recovery of Small Debts and Demands in England, 9 & 10 Vic Cap XCV. The preamble to this Act recited that the "County Court is a Court of ancient Jurisdiction", but that "Proceedings in the County Court are dilatory and expensive". The object of the Act was to standardise and simplify the procedures of County Courts specifically for the purposes of the recovery of debts of not more than £20; proceedings were to be "determined in a summary way", without a jury. Although the specified sums of money involved have risen with inflation, the Court's main jurisdiction remains, essentially, concerned with cases involving relatively small sums.

The Act also divided the County into Districts, in each of which a County Court was to be held. In Cheshire there are now (1988) the following Districts : Chester, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Macclesfield, Northwich, Runcorn, Warrington and Widnes.

Subsequent legislation added to the Courts' jurisdiction. In particular, the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1925 referred the determining of questions and settlement of compensation to the judges of County Courts; this function was largely removed by the National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Act, 1946.

Some County Courts exercise admiralty and divorce jurisdiction; some also act as District Registries of the High Court.

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