The Court of Chancery in England and Wales originated after the Norman Conquest of 1066, in the King’s Council. It split from this in the 1300s and developed into an administrative and later judicial body upholding equity in application of common law (that is, its role was to find fair solutions to cases where there was no obvious common law resolution). It was formally led by the Lord Chancellor. In 1873 and 1875 the Supreme Court of Judicature Acts dissolved the Chancery; from 1873 it became the Chancery Division of the Supreme Court of Judicature. The Court of Chancery had a far greater remit than the common law courts, whose decisions it had the jurisdiction to overrule, and was also far more flexible.

Equity suits
During its existence the Court of Chancery heard many thousands of civil disputes – equity suits – usually concerning everyday matters such as inheritance and wills, land, property, trusts, marriage settlements, debts, guardianship of children and administration of estates. Its way of working involved a suit being brought via a bill of complaint from the plaintiff, followed by the gathering of pleadings and evidence (written, not oral, testaments, and in English, not Latin).

When the records of the Court of Chancery are consulted, it is often these pleadings that are most useful. They are sometimes followed by further answers, replications and rejoinders, although often the court dealt with cases quickly and there may not have been reams of paperwork involved. In some instances, however, there can be many notes relating to the case and additional papers that were submitted as evidence but never returned to or collected by the submitter.

Because many Court of Chancery documents are still in plentiful existence and generally provide more detailed information than common law records, they can be a major resource for social and economic history, not to mention for genealogists and family historians. A large proportion of those involved in Chancery cases were ordinary folk, not those of the upper echelons of society, and we can gain detailed insights into their lives across four centuries. A wealth of interesting and unique information can be garnered, including details of property, possessions and family members as well as where they lived and for how long, their ages and often their occupations and employers.

However, although the records of Chancery suits can be rich sources of genealogical evidence, bear in mind that these are records of court cases, so there will by definition be bias and exaggeration (there is often stress on the plaintiff’s poverty and lack of political and social connections), and that genealogy is not the focus! Also remember that there were at times local courts of equity, such as those of the ‘counties palatine’ of Chester, Lancaster and Durham.

Online records
The records of the Court of Chancery are now held at the National Archives, but many indexes or court rolls dating from the 14th to the 18th centuries can be read and searched (by forename, surname, date and key words) at TheGenealogist’s website, www.thegenealogist.co.uk in the site’s court and criminal records section. Information given on the rolls includes the name(s) of the plaintiff(s), the defendant(s), a brief description of the charges and the county to which the case related. Some indexes contain more description about the actual cases than others – usually the earlier ones are more detailed than the later.

Some simply state that ‘money matters’ are the concern; many cases concern purchase of land, ‘messuages’ (a dwelling house with outbuildings and land), trespass or false imprisonment.