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Introduction
The records of the equity courts of Chancery and Exchequer are a part of the mass of material which make up our holdings on 'civil litigation'; in other words legal disputes between two parties. The records can be difficult and time consuming to use; they can, however, provide the local historian with extremely valuable local information. Equity courts existed side by side with common law courts, and resolved sensitive disputes which could not be settled by the sometimes blunt instrument of common law. Equity courts witnessed countless disputes over inheritance, wrangles over land, arguments about debts and thorny issues such as marriage settlements. The main equity courts were those of Chancery and Exchequer. There were similar equity courts for the Palatinates of Chester, Durham and Lancaster. The Duchy of Lancaster had its own courts which could be used by the tenants of duchy lands. They functioned until 1875, when all equity jurisdiction passed to the Chancery Division of the Supreme Court of Judicature. For the record:
Equity records can be full and very informative for local historians. But they can be difficult and time consuming to use. The topics included in equity cases are varied and include disputes concerning
The number of cases in Chancery far exceeded the number to be found in the Exchequer. What to look forA plaintiff's bill or 'pleading' initiated the case and was followed by the 'answer' of the defendant. The plaintiff could respond by a 'replication' to challenge some or all of the of the defendant's answer which could itself be challenged by the defendant's 'rejoinder'. These are collectively referred to as Chancery proceedings. For the 18th and 19th centuries these can be found in record series C5-16. Statements of witnesses and further details can be found in C 22-25. Affidavits, or voluntary statements made on oath, are in C 31. Another major series of records linked to these cases are the 'masters' exhibits in C 103-116. These were private papers, such as deeds, diaries, business papers, accounts etc., which were never reclaimed at the end of the particular case. The cases in the Exchequer had originally tended to be those which claimed to have an impact on the revenue of the monarch. However, this quickly became a fiction. In 1841 the court was abolished and its work was transferred to Chancery. The Exchequer equity pleadings are in record series E 112. The depositions can be found in E 134 and the affidavits in E 103 and E 218. The major difficulty with equity cases is that they are normally indexed by surname. There are printed indexes for Chancery Proceedings up to 1714 which, although again indexed by surname, have a column which provides the name of the county referred to in each case. In most instances it is then possible to look across to a second column which will provide the name of the appropriate parish or manor. Masters' Exhibits are also usually indexed by name but some series lists also provide place names which will allow you to use the online catalogue to search for different localities. Once you have secured the names from these records you can begin to search the pleadings. The Exchequer equity pleadings are arranged by each monarch and then alphabetically by each county. Welsh counties are arranged alphabetically following each series of English counties. The best way to begin place name searches are by using the depositions, where they were created and have survived, in E 134. These are listed county by county in chronological order. The descriptions given are detailed enough to determine the place referred to in the deposition as well as the nature of the dispute. Depositions are written questions and answers and can provide: 
The example given here demonstrates how 'wordy' such documents can be and how much time you may need to spend looking through them. However, it also shows how useful to local historians these equity records are in providing extremely detailed local information. Useful links
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