By and large, the Irish Court of Chancery mirrored its counterpart in England and Wales. It was the king and his government’s secretariat, presided over by the lord chancellor. Originally only administrative, during the 16th century it developed a judicial jurisdiction as a court of equity.
Sometimes known as the king’s conscience, equity was a form of law based upon precedent that evolved over time and involved pleas to the lord chancellor to find equitable solutions in cases where none existed in statute or common law. This developed into the civil Court of Chancery, hearing cases brought between citizens.
The common-law courts were limited to awarding plaintiffs damages, but Chancery’s equity jurisdiction was much broader, providing remedies through injunctions. These were ‘orders of specific performance’ compelling parties to undertake (or refrain from) a particular course of action. Many of its cases involved contracts, property of married women, mortgages, trusts, estate matters dealing with personal property, or litigants who were seeking the discovery of information for further legal proceedings.
Chancery proceedings took the form of written submissions and were initiated by way of a bill of complaint, often referred to as an ‘English Bill’ because it was written in English. These were filed by the plaintiff, and the defendant was obliged to reply in the form of a sworn answer. This might be followed by further statements by the parties, a ‘replication’ by the plaintiff and a ‘rejoinder’ by the defendant – and even a ‘sur-rejoinder’ from the plaintiff in response. Collectively, all such documents comprised the ‘pleadings’.
Additional evidence required by the court was requested by way of written questions (‘interrogatories’) and replied to in writing (‘depositions’). Assets brought into the custody of the court (‘placing money in Chancery’) were overseen by the Masters’ Office. When the judge came to consider the case, any interim directions made would be entered into the series of order books. Final decisions were issued in the form of decrees.
All this being said, the original records of Chancery were virtually all destroyed in the fire that consumed the Public Record Office of Ireland in Dublin in June 1922 during the Irish Civil War. However, in addition to a small number of original bills dating from the 16th to 18th centuries (which are now too fragile to handle), and about 40 order books from the 18th century, the one series of records that survived in its entirety was the Chancery bill books.
The bill books were the original finding aids used to identify the now destroyed papers relating to a particular suit, and they date from 1561–1877. While the information they record is sparse, they do at least provide evidence of a bill having been lodged.
In addition to noting the dates that the bill was filed and when answers and other submissions were made, the parties to each bill are named. These names can be quite extensive and can hint at family relationships and alliances, by making references to wives, children and other forms of kinship.
The bill books are held at the National Archives of Ireland (NAI) in Dublin, but indexed scanned images are available online in Ancestry’s collection ‘Ireland, Court of Chancery Records, 1633–1851’ and Findmypast’s collection ‘Ireland, Court Of Chancery Bill Books 1627–1884’. Neither covers the series back to 1561, because prior to 1635 the books do not record parties’ names. Technically the series ends in 1877 with the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland), which set up the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal. Findmypast’s collection continues until 1884, when the series became known as the cause books, although the number of entries is minimal.
A series of abstracts of Chancery decrees covering 1536–1827 were compiled by the Irish Record Commission in the early 19th century and are now available on the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland.
Since the original records have largely been destroyed, if you find a reference to a bill that may involve your family, you can search local and national newspapers where details of Chancery decrees were often published. Many old newspapers are online at the Irish Newspaper Archives and British Newspaper Archive. In addition, a happy hunting ground for details about Chancery decrees is Ireland’s Registry of Deeds, which has records dating from 1708. FamilySearch has scans of the original memorials – copies of the deeds – to 1929.