Palatinate of Lancaster: Chancery Court: Pleadings, Bills

This series consists of bills of complaint and informations addressed to the Chancellor of the Duchy and Palatinate of Lancaster and filed in the Palatinate Chancery Court. Some files in the series may contain other related items.

Although the series dates from 1473, it should be noted that only a small number of bills are earlier than the reign of James I. Of these, the first three relate to one case from the reign of Edward IV, while a number of others are from the reign of Henry VII. Two are from the reign of Elizabeth I (PL 6/1, nos 23, 24). The remaining 165 bills in PL 6/1 are from the first nine years of the reign of James I.

The early bills are not dated, but from the reign of James I are annotated with the dates on which they were delivered. Some of these early bills have been annotated by a modern editor with suggested dates.

The bills are now arranged in a chronological series of 136 files. Those from 1473 to 1800 are bound in 91 volumes which were arranged during the 19th century. In these volumes individual bills are chronologically arranged and in many volumes they are numbered in the top right hand corner. From 1801 the bills are in 45 bundles which are mainly annual although a small number towards the end of the series contain bills from more than one year. The bills in these bundles are not numbered.

Where it is indicated that a piece contains bills from a particular year, it is usual for that piece to also contain bills for the succeeding years until the next date; occasionally the full date range covered by a piece is indicated.

The volumes of bound bills were arranged without taking into account the style of dating which was in use until 1752, whereby the new year began on 25 March. Thus, bills which are dated between 1 January and 24 March in any given year up to 1752 are actually from the next year according to the modern calendar. These bills have been bound out of their correct chronological sequence, one year ahead of where they should appear.

There are no surviving bills from the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI or Mary.

Topics

Litigation

Apart from the small number of surviving 15th century examples, bills were normally signed by the legal counsel involved in drafting them. From the reign of James I bills were annotated by the Registrar or some other court official with the date they were delivered into the Chancery. This practice is useful as the formulaic wording used in bills did not include any form of dating clause. They are also often annotated with the names of the counsel appearing for one or both of the parties. The names of the parties themselves are sometimes noted on the back or the front of the bill. Bills were normally written in English and on parchment. In the early years of the court bills were usually short documents. However, as the jurisdiction developed they tended to become longer and more detailed.