Palatinate of Durham: Chancery Courts: Affidavits

DURH 1

1657-1812

This series contains affidavits sworn in equity proceedings in the Durham Chancery Court. It is not known when affidavits were first used in the court. The earliest in this series date from 1657. However, it is almost certain that affidavits were in use well before this time. In the earliest part of this series the affidavits relate mainly to the service (or delivery) of court process, such as the subpoenas by which defendants were called to appear before the court. From the eighteenth century the subject matter becomes increasingly varied. By the early nineteenth century the majority of affidavits contained matters of material substance to the cases before the court. During this period the files also contain a number of statements of costs for either party.

It should be noted that some of the earliest files also contain many other items apart from affidavits. Some of these items are: petitions addressed to the Chancellor of Durham requesting the right to sue in forma pauperis; petitions of complaint; a commission from the chancellor to a number of named men to administer the oath of allegiance and supremacy to John Brown, the newly appointed Examiner of the Durham Chancery Court; a notice by the Chancellor informing parties of the day on which he would hear a demurrer submitted by the defendant, followed by the formal rejection of the demurrer; a receipt by the registrar of the county for a sum of £50 delivered to the court as a bond by a plaintiff; and petitions addressed to the Durham Court of Common Pleas.

As the earliest files are no longer in their original covers it is impossible to determine whether the mixture of affidavits and other items reflects the original arrangement or not. Given the confusion of the Durham records when they were transferred to the Public Record Office it seems more likely that stray items have become included in what were originally files of affidavits alone. Many of the later files are still in their original arrangement and they contain mainly affidavits and occasional supporting documents; often a copy of the process or other document the delivery of which is attested in the affidavit. These files were formed by threading the affidavits on a leather or twine thong as they were made in court so that the earliest documents are at the bottom of the files. Where the original file has been broken individual affidavits are often out of date order. This may be the case even when the original files appears to be intact.

Public Record(s)

English

7 bundle(s)

Topics

Litigation