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The Court of Chancery, 1820–1875

Patrick Polden

in The Oxford History of the Laws of England: Volume XI: 1820–1914 English Legal System

This chapter begins with a discussion of the problems faced by the Chancery after 20 years of Lord Eldon's stewardship. It then discusses the appointment of the Chancery Commission, the cumbersome ... More

This chapter begins with a discussion of the problems faced by the Chancery after 20 years of Lord Eldon's stewardship. It then discusses the appointment of the Chancery Commission, the cumbersome and elaborate procedure imposed by the Chancery upon cases of every sort, the role played by masters in the Chancery as a fact-finding agency, fees and offices, and the Chancery in the 1860s.Less

The Chancery Division

Patrick Polden

in The Oxford History of the Laws of England: Volume XI: 1820–1914 English Legal System

This chapter discusses the Chancery division in the 19th century, covering its business, judges, offices, practices, and procedure.

The Institutions and Governance of the Bar

Patrick Polden

in The Oxford History of the Laws of England: Volume XI: 1820–1914 English Legal System

This chapter on the institutions and governance of the bar in the 19th century covers law officers, the inns of court and Chancery, the Bar Committee and Bar Council, circuits and bar messes, and the ... More

This chapter on the institutions and governance of the bar in the 19th century covers law officers, the inns of court and Chancery, the Bar Committee and Bar Council, circuits and bar messes, and the etiquette of the bar.Less

Gold from Dirt (1737–1742)

Paul Baines and Pat Rogers

in Edmund Curll, Bookseller

This chapter discusses the continued fight between Curll and Pope. It mentions several published materials of Curll which are his own versions of earlier published works of other writers. It presents ... More

This chapter discusses the continued fight between Curll and Pope. It mentions several published materials of Curll which are his own versions of earlier published works of other writers. It presents letters containing Curll's thefts. It explains that the Chancery suit of Pope versus Curll holds great significance on a number of different levels. It remains a leading case in English law as the first important test regarding copyright in personal letters. The chapter evaluates the main contentions on Pope's and on Curll's side, and also discusses the satisfaction that was obtained by Pope from his legal battles with Curll, and associates Curll with four of the works on Merryland.Less

Birth

Christopher Tyerman

in A History of Harrow School 1324–1991

When John Lyon's wife Joan died on August 27, 1608, the governors entered into full possession and control of the Lyon trusts and endowments. Their behaviour over the following few years would ... More

When John Lyon's wife Joan died on August 27, 1608, the governors entered into full possession and control of the Lyon trusts and endowments. Their behaviour over the following few years would determine more surely than any written instruction whether or not John Lyon's benefaction would survive. Implementing founders' wishes could be risky. At Harrow School, the discharge of their obligations led the governors into court in 1611 as defendants in a Chancery lawsuit brought against them for misuse of funds and neglect of the terms of the trusts they managed. The case and the judgment of Lord Chancellor Ellesmere revealed the problems faced by, as well as the diligence of, the governors while at the same time determining the parameters within which they could administer the proceeds from Lyon's bequest. From the evidence and arguments presented in Chancery and the governors' own records, it is possible to piece together with some precision the construction of the schoolhouse and the opening of the Free Grammar School itself.Less

Decadence and Change, 1805–1844

Christopher Tyerman

in A History of Harrow School 1324–1991

Early 19th-century Harrow witnessed the school's descent from the second most popular and, for its meagre endowment, easily the most successful public school in England to one facing closure. In ... More

Early 19th-century Harrow witnessed the school's descent from the second most popular and, for its meagre endowment, easily the most successful public school in England to one facing closure. In 1805, George Butler inherited over 250 pupils and an established reputation. In December 1844, Christopher Wordsworth left with just sixty-nine on the roll, with probably fewer in residence, the governors, in June of that year having acknowledged ‘the probable Dissolution of the School’. The reasons for Harrow School's apparent collapse are not as obvious as a bare recital of the elements of decline might suggest. There were external challenges common to all public schools, notably prolonged agricultural depression, the great financial crash of the autumn of 1825, and the economic crises of 1837 and 1842. However, the consequences of industrialization had some direct benefits. More insidious than the vagaries of the new industrial cycles or the malaise in agriculture following the end of the French wars were the vociferous attacks on the public school system of education.Less

Victorian Literature, Utility, Political Economy: The Case of

Kathleen Blake

in Pleasures of Benthamism: Victorian Literature, Utility, Political Economy

Chapter 1 introduces stakes for Victorian literary‐cultural studies of attention to Utilitarianism and political economy, locating reasons for their widespread neglect and repudiation. Reading ... More

Chapter 1 introduces stakes for Victorian literary‐cultural studies of attention to Utilitarianism and political economy, locating reasons for their widespread neglect and repudiation. Reading literary alongside theoretic texts reveals shared ground. Literature does not appear so much to challenge bourgeois philistinism; writings on the ‘philistine’ side appear less like an anti‐literature. Dickens has been cast as an anti‐Benthamite in attacking Chancery in Bleak House, but Bentham attacks Chancery as well. Dickens's further alignments with Benthamism and political economy include: critique of landlord‐class status by inheritance; affirmation of individual betterment over time through work, saving, and ‘moral restraint’; positive symbolism of rebellion by class and gender; commitment to pleasure versus pain and critique of asceticism. This reading introduces principles of Utilitarian political economy explored in subsequent chapters as related to historical specifics and expressed in theoretic and literary texts: a principle of pleasure; of pain connected to work, capital saving, and sexual restraint; a principle of liberty; and time.Less

11. Foundations of the Modern Law of Contract

D. J. IBBETSON

in A Historical Introduction to the Law of Obligations

This chapter shows how the 17th and 18th centuries marked a period of consolidation of the law of contract, the fleshing out of the skeletal structure that had been locked in place at the end of the ... More

This chapter shows how the 17th and 18th centuries marked a period of consolidation of the law of contract, the fleshing out of the skeletal structure that had been locked in place at the end of the 16th century. The most important developments occurred in the Chancery, which had begun to operate along clearly defined, rule-based lines by the time of the Chancellorship of Nottingham (1673-81). The 18th century saw the first attempts to articulate a theory of contractual liability, largely based on the writings of non-lawyers, at least non-Common lawyers. Although these attempts were neither sophisticated nor successful, they did begin the work of accustoming English lawyers to the fact that there were not several sets of rules applicable to different forms of action in Common law and Chancery, but a single body of definable rules that could be called the ‘law of contract’.Less

A Comparison of the Influence of Roman Law in England and Scotland☼

William M Gordon

in Roman Law, Scots Law and Legal History: Selected Essays

Scots and English law have common roots evidenced in the connection between Glanvill and Regiam Majestatem but their paths diverged. Scotland followed the Civilian tradition while the English Common ... More

Scots and English law have common roots evidenced in the connection between Glanvill and Regiam Majestatem but their paths diverged. Scotland followed the Civilian tradition while the English Common law took its own path in terms of legal terminology, legal training and ideas. However the Canon law and through it Roman law was important in Chancery and other specialised jurisdictions in England and when treatise literature developed there is Roman influence especially through Pothier. English law is therefore not as completely isolated from the Civilian tradition as is often suggested by concentrating on the work of the Common lawyers and their desire to claim independence of that tradition.Less

The king of clubs

Warren Oakley

in Thomas 'Jupiter' Harris: Spinning dark intrigue at Covent Garden theatre, 1767-1820

This chapter announces Harris’s arrival at Covent Garden theatre. It recounts the ill-fated purchase of the theatre by four speculators in 1767 — Harris, Colman, Powell, and Rutherford — and the ... More

This chapter announces Harris’s arrival at Covent Garden theatre. It recounts the ill-fated purchase of the theatre by four speculators in 1767 — Harris, Colman, Powell, and Rutherford — and the violent fight for control that eventually led to Harris’s triumph. This chapter explores the culmination of their dispute at the trial in the Court of Chancery, along with the factors and prejudices which influenced its outcome. Newly uncovered manuscripts are employed to recreate the arguments offered by the opposing advocates — Wedderburn and Dunning — as they focused upon the art of theatre management and the motivations of the youthfully impetuous Harris. This trial before the Lords Commissioners of the Great Seal was one staging post in Harris’s course towards Pitt’s ministry, as it forced him to confront the nature of public opinion as well as Colman’s ability to marshal it.Less

Borrowing from English Equity and Minority Shareholders’ Actions

Niall R Whitty

in A Mixed Legal System in Transition: T. B. Smith and the Progress of Scots Law

In Anderson v Hogg a shareholder in a company presented a petition under section 459 of the Companies Act 1985 for relief against unfair prejudice. The petitioner sought to have the respondent ... More

In Anderson v Hogg a shareholder in a company presented a petition under section 459 of the Companies Act 1985 for relief against unfair prejudice. The petitioner sought to have the respondent ordained to repay to the company sums which the company had paid to the respondent by way of allegedly unauthorised salary bonus, redundancy payments, and the like. In the Outer House, Lord Reed found that the various payments did not result in unfair prejudice to the petitioning shareholder and refused the petition. This chapter argues that the traditional Scottish scepticism about equity as a source is well justified. In particular, it is justified by among other things the very policy against unwise anglicisation which Sir Thomas normally preached. More specifically, the chapter contends that it is misleading to say that the Court of Session has an equitable jurisdiction comparable to that of the English Court of Chancery; that we do not need such a jurisdiction; and what is more we are better off without it.Less

Persistent Fragments

Peter Birks

in Unjust Enrichment

The everyday work of the law of unjust enrichment was never left entirely undone. It was picked up under a variety of heads, principally, on the common-law side, under money had and received, money ... More

The everyday work of the law of unjust enrichment was never left entirely undone. It was picked up under a variety of heads, principally, on the common-law side, under money had and received, money paid, quantum meruit, and quantum valebat, and, on the Chancery side, under constructive trust, resulting trust, and equitable lien. At least three more figures had a foot in both law and equity, namely account, rescission, and subrogation. These ten terms are explained in the present chapter. The metaphor of fragments is convenient but slightly misleading. The modern law of unjust enrichment has not been put together as a broken vase is re-assembled from its shattered pieces but rather by extracting that which belongs to it from a number of different sources. It has not taken over all the work of any one of the fragments. This chapter also discusses rights in personam and rights in rem.Less

The Court of Chancery

Sir John Baker

in The Oxford History of the Laws of England: Volume VI 1483–1558

This chapter examines the role of the Court of Chancery in the judicial system in England during the Tudor period. The Chancery was a superior royal court with ever increasing business and the power ... More

This chapter examines the role of the Court of Chancery in the judicial system in England during the Tudor period. The Chancery was a superior royal court with ever increasing business and the power even to inhibit proceedings in the Commons and King's benches. It was the original bureaucratic department of state and was one of the principal branches of the central bureaucracy in early modern times. The Chancery was also closely connected with the business of the common law through its responsibility for issuing original writs.Less

The Council and Conciliar Courts

Sir John Baker

in The Oxford History of the Laws of England: Volume VI 1483–1558

This chapter examines the role of the King's Council and conciliar courts in the judicial system in England during the Tudor period. The Council appeared to have shared a common origin with the ... More

This chapter examines the role of the King's Council and conciliar courts in the judicial system in England during the Tudor period. The Council appeared to have shared a common origin with the Chancery and it followed a legal procedure closely to that of the Chancery. It intervened to redress imbalances between litigants resulting from power, undue influence, or criminal misconduct, and in doing so could incidentally punish all forms of misbehaviour falling short of felony. However, it was not supposed to interfere in matters belonging solely to the common law.Less

Women and legal guardianship

Deborah Wilson

in Women, Marriage and Property in Wealthy Landed Families in Ireland, 1750-1850

Having established the boundaries within which women's experience of property operated, the remaining chapters of this book consider the property experience of women in relation to the family estate, ... More

Having established the boundaries within which women's experience of property operated, the remaining chapters of this book consider the property experience of women in relation to the family estate, how women related to the concept of the family interest and in what contexts their interests differed. This chapter considers instances, in this class, when the traditional structure of the family was suspended, such as when the heir to the estate was a minor, or insane. When the heir to a landed estate was a minor, or was declared insane, the management of her or his welfare and landed estate came within the remit of the Court of Chancery. The prevailing structure of the family, in which control over family property was exercised by the husband and father, was therefore suspended and there were increased opportunities for women to undertake an expanded role in the management of family property as guardians of minors, or as committees responsible for the affairs of the insane.Less

Children and the Violence of Racism: The Lafargue Clinic, Comic Books,and the Case against School Segregation

Gabriel N. Mendes

in Under the Strain of Color: Harlem's Lafargue Clinic and the Promise of an Antiracist Psychiatry

This chapter examines the crucial role of Lafargue Clinic in the school desegregation cases that culminated in Brown v. Board of Education. It discusses Wertham’s October 1951 testimony to the ... More

This chapter examines the crucial role of Lafargue Clinic in the school desegregation cases that culminated in Brown v. Board of Education. It discusses Wertham’s October 1951 testimony to the Delaware Court of Chancery in two similar cases, in conjunction with his infamous 1954 anti-comic book treatise, Seduction of the Innocent. Both his testimony as well as his Seduction of the Innocent were based on clinical psychiatric examinations of interracial groups of children conducted at Lafargue Clinic. The two cases reveal a provocative, singularly original set of arguments about racism as a public health threat to children of all races.Less

A Troubled Inheritance: The English Procedural Tradition and Its Lawyer-Driven Reconfiguration in Early Nineteenth-Century New York

Amalia D. Kessler

in Inventing American Exceptionalism: The Origins of American Adversarial Legal Culture, 1800-1877

Chapter 2 examines New York Chancery, the leading court of equity in the early United States. It argues that as of about 1800, chancery largely followed English equity’s model of quasi-inquisitorial ... More

Chapter 2 examines New York Chancery, the leading court of equity in the early United States. It argues that as of about 1800, chancery largely followed English equity’s model of quasi-inquisitorial procedure but that by the 1840s the court had embraced the oral, adversarial methods of the common law. New York Chancery’s turn against quasi-inquisitorial procedure was rooted in certain long-standing structural features of the court—most importantly, a disjunction between its quasi-inquisitorial logic (which called for a large, professional staff) and the choice to rely on a very minimal, part-time staff, assisted by lay individuals commissioned on a case-by-case basis. This disjunction created opportunities for lawyers to subvert equity’s quasi-inquisitorial logic by inserting themselves into proceedings that were supposed to be conducted entirely by judicial officers outside the presence of the parties and their counsel. Driven by lawyers’ eagerness to exercise more procedure control, a series of incremental changes occurred—first in proceedings before masters and then in those before examiners— resulting in the near-complete transformation of equity into an oral, adversarial system of procedure. The stage was thus set for the emergence of the Field Code of 1848 and its unified, oral and adversarial model of procedure.Less

The Non-Revolutionary Field Code: Democratization, Docket Pressures, and Codification

Amalia D. Kessler

in Inventing American Exceptionalism: The Origins of American Adversarial Legal Culture, 1800-1877

Chapter 3 shows how in the 1820s and 1830s, with the rise of the political party machine known as the Albany Regency and the democratization of politics that followed, many politicians sought to ... More

Chapter 3 shows how in the 1820s and 1830s, with the rise of the political party machine known as the Albany Regency and the democratization of politics that followed, many politicians sought to demonstrate their populist credentials by lambasting chancery and its quasi-inquisitorial procedure as elitist. While top-down legislation and constitutional law played a relatively minimal role in causing the turn toward oral adversarial procedure, policy makers’ critique of chancery and its quasi-inquisitorial procedure served to undermine the legitimacy of the institution and its procedural system. This, in turn, facilitated the process of change that lawyers litigating in chancery had themselves initiated. The precise arguments raised against chancery varied across the decades from the constitutional convention of 1821 to that of 1846, but—whether focused on chancery’s association with the spoils system, its troubling relationship to the market revolution, or the problem of mounting docket pressures—they were all framed as defenses of democratization. The end result was to smooth the way for lawyers’ embrace of oral, adversarial procedure. Thus, when the Field Code of Procedure was enacted in 1848, it was largely a fait accompli, reflecting changes that had already occurred, rather than, as long assumed, initiating a procedural revolution.Less

The Working Chambers of the College

John Finlay

in The Community of the College of Justice: Edinburgh and the Court of Session, 1687 –1808

This chapter examines the roles of some of the main office holders within the Court of Session who dominated the writing chambers which governed the functioning of the court. In particular, the role ... More

This chapter examines the roles of some of the main office holders within the Court of Session who dominated the writing chambers which governed the functioning of the court. In particular, the role and significance of the clerks of session is investigated. At a less exalted level, the practical significance of lesser clerks and extractors is discussed, along with those who collected fees, worked in the chancery and privy seal office, and held custody of records. The preservation of records within the College, and the wider significance of College members in preserving legal and historical records, is also investigated.Less