GerryS on 1 Dec 2004  •  Link

Being in chancery presented a real threat to financial well-being. For an explanation of "in chancery" and its continuance into the 19th Century see this BBC link.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/be…

See also Charles Dickens's novel 'Bleak House' and John Galsworthy's 'In Chancery' (1920), part of the Forsyte Saga series, looking at the personal toll such legal action can take on the individual.

Another interesting reference is from dictionary.com, quoting Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary,

cumgranosalis on 18 Dec 2006  •  Link

As recorded by Samuel Johnson:
" chancery n.s. [from chancellor; probably chancellery; then shortened]

The court of equity and concience,moderating the vigour of other courts, that are tied to the letter of the law; whereof the lord chancellor of England is the chief judge, or the lord keeper of the great seal Cowel"
a quote: " The contumacy and contempt of the party must signified in the court of the chancery, by the bishops letters under the seal episcopal. "
Ayliffe's Parergon

Terry Foreman on 16 Jun 2010  •  Link

The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid the slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the administration of the estates of lunatics and the guardianship of infants. Its initial role was somewhat different though; as an extension of the Lord Chancellor's role as Keeper of the King's Conscience, the Court was an administrative body primarily concerned with conscientious law. Thus the Court of Chancery had a far greater remit than the common law courts, whose decisions it had the jurisdiction to overrule for much of its existence, and was far more flexible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cour…

Michael Robinson on 17 Jun 2010  •  Link

"The Court of Chancery ...to avoid the slow pace of change ...and was far more flexible."

Jarndyce and Jarndyce, etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarn…

Bill on 18 Nov 2014  •  Link

CHANCERY, a Court of Equity and Conscience, moderating the Severity of other Courts that are more strictly tied to the Rigour of the Law
---An Universal Etymological English Dictionary. N. Bailey, 1675.

San Diego Sarah on 9 Dec 2022  •  Link

In 2022 a new book was published: “Family Feuds: An Introduction to Chancery Proceedings”. Amongst historians, Chancery Proceedings has become a generic term that encompasses the records of all courts of equity.

For the purposes of this book, it is used to cover the records not just of the court of Chancery but of the other principal courts of equity.

The jurisdiction of the courts covered England and Wales only, although colonial disputes were sometimes brought to court as were cases relating to Scotland and Ireland.

The booklet is in two parts. The first describes why the records of Equity Courts are worth looking into and answering such questions as what sought of cases were brought to these courts, what sort of people brought them and how easy are they to read. The second part describes the records themselves, and the indexes and calendars that will enable you to look at them together with some guidelines on searching them effectively.

£5.95
Manufacturer/Publisher: FFHS Publications
Binding: Paperback
Author: Susan T Moore
SKU: 9781860061639
https://shop.nationalarchives.gov…

No, I haven’t read it, but from the confused reports I have read about their proceedings, should I need to become knowledgeable about such a proceeding, having a guide like this would come in very handy.

I did find it interesting that the publisher also described themselves firstly as the manufacturer. That might possibly indicate that no fact checking or proofreaders were involved, or am I just being overly cynical?