A Clerk of the Petty Bag was a clerk in the former Petty Bag office of the English Court of Chancery.
The Petty Bag office dealt with common-law issues in the Court of Chancery and dated from as early as the 14th century, declining in importance towards the end of the 17th century. Its responsibilities were various, including dealing with suits against solicitors or attorneys and officers of the court itself, issuing writs for Parliamentary elections and the elections of bishops, summonses to Parliament and the enrolling of solicitors of the court itself. It also concerned itself with patents for inventions. The name of the office stemmed from the practice of keeping records in small paper bags.
There were three Clerks of the Petty Bag (the senior, second and junior clerks) at any one time until the mid-19th century when the number was reduced to one. They were appointed by the
Master of the Rolls until the early 17th century, after which the appointments were made by the Crown. The single remaining clerk was transferred to the
Supreme Court of Judicature in 1875, and the post finally abolished in 1889.
Notable clerks
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William Ravenscroft
William Ravenscroft (1561 – 27 October 1628) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1586 and 1628.
Ravenscroft was the son of George Ravenscroft. He was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford in 1578, ...
1598–1628
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Edward Norreys by 1600–
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Ellis Wynn 1603
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Laurence Whitaker
Laurence Whitaker (c. 1578 – 15 April 1654) of Turnham Green, Chiswick was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and 1653.
Whitaker was born in Somerset, the son of Laurence Whitaker. He matriculat ...
1611–1614
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Thomas Coningsby II
Thomas Coningsby II (died 1616), of Hampton Wafer, Herefordshire was an English politician.
Coningsby was the 3rd son of Thomas Coningsby I of Leominster, Herefordshire.
Coningsby was a Clerk of the Petty Bag from 1607 to 1609.
Coningsby w ...
1616
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Robert Caesar
Robert Caesar (9 October 1602 – 27 October 1637) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1625 and 1626.
Caesar was the son of Sir Julius Caesar, privy councillor of James I and Charles I. He attended Eton from ...
1628–1636
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Lancelot Baugh Allen
Lancelot Baugh Allen (1 January 1774 – 28 October 1845) was Master of the College of God's Gift in Dulwich from 1811 to 1820.
He was the son of John Bartlett Allen, a local landowner and colliery owner in Cresselly, Pembrokeshire. Allen had on ...
1824
References
{{reflist
Legal history of England
Law clerks
English civil law
1889 disestablishments