Chancery Equity cases

The Court of Chancery was an equity court, which heard disputes over inheritance, wills, lands, trusts, debts, marriage settlements etc. Cases were resolved as amicably as possible, without recourse to the strict rules and harsher penalties of the common law courts. Cases in Chancery involved written pleadings and evidence, and, unlike other courts, the documents were in English.

Chancery Proceedings

Records of an equity suit in Chancery are not kept together, but are arranged by type of document. The pleadings are the most useful, containing the Bill of Complaint of the plaintiff, and the Answer of the defendant, sometimes with additional documents, the Replication by the plaintiff and a Rejoinder by the defendant. These written pleadings from the late 14th century up to 1875 are in a number of series from C 1 to C 16 and later records of the Supreme Court in series J 54. The means of reference to these are a series of lists and indexes to plaintiffs, but there are no indexes arranged under names of defendants, except for series C 6. Some series are searchable online by name of first plaintiff and first defendant, but not all of the series can be searched.

If cases go on for several years, the original plaintiffs might be succeeded by their heirs or assigns who continue the case so the case title may change. Also, if there were several defendants, they would send in separate answers, which will be filed under their individual names but also indexed under the name of one plaintiff so they look like different cases when they relate to the same suit.

The Equity Pleadings database at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/equity covers suits in series C 6 from 1625 to 1714 and can be searched by name of the petitioner or plaintiff and by defendants.

Interrogatories and Depositions

As part of the process of the case, questions (interrogatories) were drawn up to be put to witnesses who had knowledge of the alleged events. Either party to a dispute might draw up questions and call upon witnesses to support their side of a dispute. Witnesses answered these questions under oath either in the court itself or before a local commissioner. Their answers were written down and signed. These depositions give you the witness´s (deponents) name, age, abode and occupation and will often give you more personal information as part of their responses to the questions. Up to 1557 and after 1715 the depositions are attached to the pleadings, but for the period in between they are filed separately by case title. The London or town depositions are in series C 24 and cover a date range from 1534 to 1867, the country depositions are in C 21 from 1558 to 1649, and after that in C 22 from 1649 to 1714.

The Bernau Index at the Society of Genealogists (copies are also held by the Latter-day Saints family history centres) includes the names of many defendants and deponents in the equity courts, including Chancery. It includes all the names of deponents in series C 24, London depositions and C 21 county depositions, and some eight per cent of those in C 22. It is not strictly alphabetical, and the references in the index need to be converted to The National Archives document references.

Affidavits and Exhibits

Sworn affidavits are in series C 31 from 1611 to 1875. Indexes are in IND 1/14545 and 14567 to 1800, and in IND 1/14575 and 14684 from 1801. Exhibits produced as evidence and deposited with the Masters in Chancery are in various series C 103 to C 115 and C 171. These exhibits are unclaimed items left in the court after a case ended. The items can include copies of manorial court rolls, title deeds, marriage settlements, wills, business ledgers, accounts, family and estate papers and other material which might not otherwise have survived.

Masters´ Reports and Pedigrees

Masters´ reports to the Lord Chancellor based on their examination of the exhibits are in series C 38 covering the period 1544 to 1875. Chancery Masters´ papers include a large number of pedigrees listed by the name of the first recorded ancestor on the pedigree and the date of their death. These are in various series from C 117 to C 126. Later series after 1852 will be found in J 46, J 63, J 64, J 66, J 67 and J 68 to which there is a union index in J 67.

Decrees

Enrolled copies of final decrees are in series C 78 from 1538 to 1903, with supplementary rolls in series C 79 for the same period. These records summarise the case and set out the final judgement. Only a very small proportion of cases went to final judgement or a court order. There may be a number of interim orders during the course of a case known as interlocutory orders but many cases were abandoned or settled out of court. Entry books of degrees and orders, known as A and B books are in the series C 33 from 1544 to 1875. These books relate to orders for court appearances by parties, disclosure of documents and other matters.