Who Do You Think You Are? Encyclopedia of Genealogy (77 page)

Like the official enrolments, Calendars of State Papers provide name and subject indexes to the documents, which are largely available on microfilm at The National Archives. These are fantastic resources, literally crammed full of information about your ancestors. For example, during the mid-seventeenth century there was a real problem with piracy on the south coast from Barbary slavers raiding villages and carrying off women and children to be sold in Africa. The State Papers are full of petitions from angered menfolk seeking permission to mount private expeditions to rescue their families, which provide personal accounts of the trauma and loss as well as detailed genealogical information.

Before 1875, there were four main common law courts – King's Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer of Pleas and Chancery (Plea Side) – with two principal equity courts, Chancery and Exchequer, with at various times other courts applying equity methods of settling suits, such as Star Chamber, Court of Requests, and Court of Wards and Liveries. In 1875 all these courts were abolished and a Supreme Court of Judicature established with five divisions, with either common law or equity applied where necessary. A further change in 1881 reduced the Supreme Court to three divisions – King's (Queen's) Bench; Chancery; and Probate, Admiralty and Divorce.

The system employed by Equity Courts such as Chancery was called ‘bill pleading', whereby a plaintiff would bring a written ‘bill of complaint' before the court, outlining their grievance against the defendant and justifying the recourse to an equity court rather than under common law. The defendant would then provide a written ‘answer' explaining why the bill of complaint was unjust, to which the plaintiff would
respond with a ‘replication'. This would be contested by a ‘rejoinder', and the process would continue until the limits of the case were clearly defined. Together, this material is known as court ‘proceedings'.

At this stage, the Masters of Chancery, who were in charge of each case, would step in and request evidence to assist with the task of reaching a verdict in the case. Depositions from witnesses on both sides were required, in response to a series of questions known as interrogatories. Sometimes, voluntary statements made under oath called affidavits were brought before the court. Other forms of evidence was brought in, such as title deeds, pedigrees or family trees. Usually this was sufficient information to reach a final verdict, issued in the form of a decree, though during long cases the court might issue an order of judgment to one party or another. All of these processes generated records, which can be viewed at The National Archives.

Similar practices were adopted in the courts of Exchequer, Requests, Star Chamber and Wards and Liveries, though Chancery was the most popular court and handled the bulk of business. Exchequer was meant to be reserved for cases where the plaintiff was a Crown debtor or, at a stretch, a tenant, but other material was heard too. It conducted business from 1558 until 1841, when it was superseded by Chancery. The Court of Requests was established in 1483 and was intended as a court for the poor, given the rising costs of hearing cases in Chancery; it was shut down after the Civil War in 1649. It was formerly an offshoot of the King's Council, as was Star Chamber, established two years later in 1485 and named after the patterned ceiling of the room in which the court sat; it was abolished during Charles I's turbulent reign. Finally, the Court of Wards and Liveries was set up in 1540 and dealt with cases relating to disputed rights to control profits of wardship, but also failed to survive the Civil War.

Aside from Chancery, for which many records are searchable by name online, searches in the other equity courts can be speculative and somewhat tricky, as there are few online name indexes available and therefore you are required to plough through index books in the hope of tracking down an ancestor. Even more frustrating is the fact that litigants often moved between equity courts, starting proceedings in one and then transferring them to another. Another annoying trend was for cases to be brought to court simply to force the other party into an out-of-court settlement, so there may not even be a complete set of records, judgment or overall conclusion. However, the good news is that, unlike most common law material, the records generated by equity cases were predominantly written in English.

Some other points to remember:

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Most records are indexed or arranged alphabetically by the name of the plaintiff.

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Multi-party cases could be brought to court, and it may be the case that only the first-named plaintiff appears in the index.

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Court cases could rumble on for years, often after the death of the original litigants; so you may have to search a long time span to gather all the necessary paperwork.

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If this was the case, you may find new names appearing, or a single-party case turning into a multi-party case as sons and daughters took over from a deceased parent.

‘
Unlike common law material, the records generated by equity cases were usually written in English
.'

Records for Chancery are now largely searchable by name online via the catalogue at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk, with some series also containing detailed descriptions of the subject matter of the case that can be searched too. The earliest records, from about 1358 up to 1558, are in series C 1, with later material running to the middle of the seventeenth century in series C 2–4. By this stage, the business of the court had expanded to the extent that records from the seventeenth century to the court's abolition in 1875 were divided into six divisions, known as Six Clerks after the staff who originally worked on behalf of the various Masters of Chancery. These records are in series C 5–10 prior to 1714 and C 11–18 up to 1875. It may be necessary to search all six divisions, as cases could move between them – and frequently did. Contemporary index books are also available on the shelves in the reading rooms, and there is a microfilm index (known at Bernau's index after its compiler) of litigants in the Six Clerks series, and witnesses who prepared depositions, at the Society of Genealogists London.

It is less easy to search for Exchequer equity proceedings as the records are not searchable by name online. They are in series E 112, with some material (that is searchable) in E 111 and strays in E 193. To access them, you need to consult a series of index volumes in series IND 1; a full list is available via a research guide online at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Proceedings for the other courts can be found in:

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Court of Requests – series REQ 2

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Star Chamber – series STAC 1–9

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Wards and Liveries – series WARD 13

In contrast with equity court records, Common Law courts generated different records since they used a different system, whereby pleas were entered into court and judgments were made on the basis of the plea and precedence. As with equity pleadings, cases could move between courts, making it trickier to research one particular dispute in full, and once again, many cases were dropped or private agreement reached so that a final judgment is never recorded. The records prior to 1732 are also in Latin, making it harder to understand the full legal nuances of a case given the technical language sometimes employed – although you may find recitals from English documents are kept in the original language. Sadly, it is not possible to search many of the records by name online, since this information is contained within the main body of the documents listed below.

The material contained on the plea rolls is similar for all courts, and records the formal processes conducted during the course of a case. Normally, they contain details of the action brought before the court, including the names of the litigants and a description of the cause of dispute; how the case proceeded within the court; and (if one was actually made) a final judgment. The records are at The National Archives in the following series:

•  King's Bench – early cases in series KB 26 (1194–1276) with the remainder in KB 27 (1273–1702) and KB 122 (1702–1875); there are printed calendars for KB 26, with indexes in IND 1 for the remainder.

•  Common Pleas – series CP 40 (1273–1874), with some material in CP 43 (1583–1837) for pleas relating to land; there are some docket books which serve as indexes to CP 40 in series CP 60, with indexes to CP 43 in IND 1.

•  Exchequer of Pleas – series E 13, with a partial calendar index in IND 1 and repertory rolls in E 14.

•  Chancery Pleas – records from 1272 to 1625 in series C 43–44, which are searchable online; and 1558–1901 in C 206.

Although judgments were usually recorded on the plea rolls, many cases were simply not filed by the eighteenth century given the volume of business. In these instances, the only records that survive are the separate records for court judgments. These are also in The National Archives in the following series:

•  King's Bench – series KB 168 (1699–1875), Entry Books of Judgments, with some indexes within this series that have to be ordered.

•  Common Pleas – series CP 64 (1859–74), Entry Books of Judgments, with some indexes within this series that have to be ordered.

•  Exchequer of Pleas – series E 45 (1830–75), Entry Books of Judgments.

•  Chancery Pleas – series C 221 (1565–1785) and C 222 (1638–1729), Remembrance Rolls.

Aside from the common law courts, there was also the possibility of holding a civil court at one of the itinerant assizes, described in
Chapter 27
, if a writ of
nisi prius
(literally ‘unless before' or ‘unless sooner') had been served in one of the common law courts, allowing the case to be heard by the claimants' local assize circuit judges before the date set in the writ for a hearing in the London common law court. A list of the various series at The National Archives where the records are stored for England, and Wales after 1831, is available on their website www.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Records for Wales prior to 1831 can be found in the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. Further information can be found on the library's website at www.llgc.org.uk.

When the legal system was reorganized in 1875, a Supreme Court of Judicature was created. Although any one of the five divisions, later reduced to three in 1881, could hear cases and apply the principles of common law or equity when required, most common law suits tended to end up in King's (Queen's) Bench. Many of the records have been destroyed, and the best place to look for information about the names of parties, and a brief description of the case brought before court, is in the cause books, in The National Archives in series J 87 and J 168, with some indexes from 1935 in J 88.

These are very useful records, because they contain personal accounts relating to salient points concerning the case – often from friends and family of the litigants. Chancery depositions are split into ‘town' (meaning London and a few surrounding counties) and ‘country' (meaning everywhere else), as well as chronologically, and can be found in a variety of series – C 1 and C 4 (prior to 1534), C 11–16, C 21–22 and C 24; related interrogatories are in series C 25. Indexes are available in series IND 1, most of which are on the shelves in the reading rooms, whilst names of witnesses have been transcribed and form part of Bernau's index, now available on microfilm at the Society of Genealogists, London. Some of the material is now searchable online via The National Archives' website. Affidavits are in series C 31 and C 41, again with indexes available in series IND 1.

Exchequer depositions for London are in E 133, whilst material for
the remainder of the country is in E 134, with interrogatories in E 178. The country depositions are available to search online and can be very detailed, based on indexes that are still available in the reading rooms. Special commissions, interrogatories and depositions are also in E 111, another area searchable online. Affidavits survive in series E 103, for which there are partial indexes, and E 128, for which there are not.

Depositions for the Court of Requests can be located in series REQ 1, along with affidavits. Only depositions survive for the Court of Wards and Liveries in WARD 3, and there are no records for Star Chamber.

Perhaps the richest source of information, but also one of the least used by researchers, is pieces of evidence brought before the courts but never reclaimed by the relevant parties. Chancery masters exhibits are fully searchable online, and are contained in series C 103–114,
where you can find a wealth of genealogical information about the litigants and their families in the documentation that was brought to court. Deeds have been separated into C 115, whilst manorial court rolls are in C 116. Chancery masters documents are similar in terms of content and are in series C 117–129, though they are not as well indexed. Plans are ongoing to list the records more thoroughly, however, and put them online.

Similar records exist for the Exchequer, but far fewer survive compared to Chancery. The majority can be found in E 140, but there are a variety of miscellaneous series in which you are likely to find strays. No material survives for the courts of Request, Star Chamber or Wards and Liveries.

Chancery decrees and orders are a useful way to track the progress of a case, and entry books – the main means of reference – can be found in C 33. Confusingly, there are ‘A' and ‘B' books for each year, kept annually and arranged by the name of each plaintiff. Indexes are available on open access in the reading room. Similar material exists for the Exchequer, in a wide range of series – entry books, decrees and orders are in E 123–128, with material for the reign of Philip of Spain and Mary in document E 111/56; original decrees are in E 130–131. There are some decree and order books for the Court of Requests in REQ 1 and Wards and Liveries in WARD 2, but nothing survives for Star Chamber.