The Court of Chancery of the County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge was a

court of chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equ ...

that exercised jurisdiction within the

County Palatine of Durham The County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge, commonly referred to as County Durham or simply Durham, is a historic county in Northern England. Until 1889, it was controlled by powers granted under the Bishopric of Durham. The county and Northum ...

(including the wapentake of Sadberge) until it was merged into the High Court in 1972.

Constitution

Even before the Norman Conquest the Bishops of Durham appear to have claimed palatinate or quasi-palatinate rights and jurisdiction. This prescriptive franchise was confirmed by charters of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

William Rufus William II ( xno, Williame; – 2 August 1100) was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. The third so ...

, Henry I and Henry II. In the reign of Edward I, Anthony Bek, the then Bishop was summoned to appear before the King's Justices under the Statute of "Quo Warranto" (18 Edw 1) to show how he held his franchise, and on his refusal to appear his franchise was seized into the King's hands in the name of distress. The Bishop appealed to the King and his council in Parliament, who held that he was entitled to jura regalia between Tyne and Tees, and in Norhamshire and Bedlington. In 1836 the jura regalia of the Bishop of Durham were transferred to the Crown., The last one surviving was the Court of Chancery of the County Palatine of Durham, the exercise of the jurisdiction being assimilated to that of the High Court of Justice from 1889.

Jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of the court was unlimited in amount, but limited in area to the county palatine which, as of 1909, certainly included the whole of what was then the county of Durham, and possibly other districts. The

Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836 The Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836 (6 & 7 Will 4 c 19) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It abolished the temporal authority of the Bishop of Durham within the County Palatine of Durham, placing the county under lay administ ...

(6 & 7 Will 4 c 19), defined "county of Durham" as "including the detached parts of

Craikshire Crayke is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England, about east of Easingwold. Etymology The name ''Crayke'' is of Brittonic origin, derived from the neo-Brittonic Cumbric ''crẹ:g'', meaning "a crag" ...

, Bedlingtonshire,

Norhamshire Norhamshire was an exclave of County Durham in England. It was first mentioned in 995, when it formed part of the lands of the priory at Lindisfarne. When the lands north of the River Tees were partitioned into Northumberland and County Durham it ...

Allertonshire Allertonshire or Allerton was a wapentake and liberty in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England. Northallerton, current name of Allerton, was historically associated with the Bishopric of Durham, being an ecclesiastical peculiar and exclave u ...

, and

Islandshire Islandshire was an area of Northumberland, England, comprising Lindisfarne or Holy Island, plus five parishes on the mainland. It is historically associated with the Bishop of Durham, and was administratively an exclave of County Palatinate of ...

, and all other places heretofore within the jurisdiction of the

Bishop of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...

, in right of the said county palatine." By 1909 it had not been decided what the effect upon this was of the enactment of the

Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 The Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. 61), which came into effect on 20 October 1844, was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which eliminated many outliers or exclaves of counties in England and Wales for civil purposes. ...

(7 & 8 Vict c 61), annexing detached parts of counties to the county of which it formed part for the purposes of parliamentary elections. The First Edition of Halsbury's Laws of England, however, suggested that an Act of this nature would not affect the

jura regalia ''Jura regalia'' is a medieval legal term which denoted rights that belonged exclusively to the king, either as essential to his sovereignty (''jura majora'', ''jura essentialia''), such as royal authority; or accidental (''jura minora'', ''jura a ...

without express enactment. The

Palatine Court of Durham Act 1889 The Palatine Court of Durham Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict c 47) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was one of the Durham County Palatine Acts 1836 to 1889. The Bill for this Act was the Palatine Court of Durham Bill. Lely said tha ...

(52 & 53 Vict c 47) did not define the area over which the court had jurisdiction. The jurisdiction apart from statute was the old jurisdiction of the

High Court of Chancery High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...

within the county palatine. This was a jurisdiction

in personam ''In personam'' is a Latin phrase meaning "against a particular person". In a lawsuit in which the case is against a specific individual, that person must be served with a summons and complaint (E&W known as Particulars of Claim (CPR 1999) to give ...

over the person within the area of jurisdiction, extending, in effect, to property wherever situate, but enforceable only, apart from statute, against the person, and not the property. This jurisdiction was supplemented by statutes enabling orders of the Palatine Court to be enforced by making them orders of the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC ( Engl ...

, empowering the court to deal with the property of infants and other persons under disability, the administration of assets, giving to it the summary jurisdiction of the High Court, and the High Court jurisdiction under the Charitable Trusts Acts 1853 to 1869, and also the jurisdiction under the Partition Acts 1868 and 1876, the Settled Estates Act 1877 (40 & 41 Vict c 18), the

Conveyancing Act 1881 In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contracts ...

(44 & 45 Vict c 41), and the Settled Land Acts 1882 and 1884. There was also jurisdiction under section 46 of the Trustee Act 1893 (56 & 57 Vict c 53), and section 2 of the Judicial Trustee Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict c 35). The jurisdiction was concurrent with that of the High Court of Justice. Transfer of jurisdiction Nothing contained in section 1 of the

prejudiced or affected the jurisdiction of this court.

Judge

The Chancellor of the County Palatine of Durham was the sole judge of the court. He was appointed by warrant under the royal sign manual.

Procedure

The Chancellor had a prescriptive power to regulate the procedure of his court, and further, with the concurrence of the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

, power to adapt and modify the

Rules of the Supreme Court The Rules of the Supreme Court (RSC) were the rules which governed civil procedure in the Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales from its formation in 1883 until 1999. The RSC applied to all civil cases in the Supreme Court in England ...

to the Palatine Court. The Chancellor had jurisdiction to hear

interlocutory Interlocutory is a legal term which can refer to an order, sentence, decree, or judgment, given in an intermediate stage between the commencement and conclusion of a cause of action, used to provide a temporary or provisional decision on an iss ...

matters out of the jurisdiction. In case of any person who had entered an appearance, or come in, or otherwise submitted to the jurisdiction of the court, the Chancellor could, upon special application, make an order for

service of process Service of process is the procedure by which a party to a lawsuit gives an appropriate notice of initial legal action to another party (such as a defendant), court, or administrative body in an effort to exercise jurisdiction over that person s ...

on him out of the jurisdiction. The service of

subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...

s on witnesses out of the jurisdiction was valid. Rules (A) "Orders to be observed in the Chancery at Durham" were General Orders dated 8 October 1596 (38 Eliz 1). (B) "Orders for the better expedition, and more perfect and exact proceedings in the Suits in the Chancery, at Durham" were General Orders dated 1610, signed by W Duresme and Richard Hutton, and done at the Chancery of Durham "Fra. Goodrick, Canc". (C) "Orders revived, and established in the Court of Chancery, at Durham, in open Court" were General Orders dated 29 August 1676 (28 Car 2) and signed by Jo Otway. (D) "Orders relating to the Practice not, or but few of them, in the preceding Tables, but ordered by the Court to be observed" were General Orders dated 22 October 1684 (36 Car 2). General Orders and Rules of the Court of Chancery at Durham were made by the Chancellor on 15 June 1853. He also made an order appointing George Walker to print an publish these Rules and Orders, whereupon they were printed and published by Walker. The Chancery of Durham Rules 1889 were made by the Chancellor on 1 February 1889, and were amended by rules made on 6 July 1889. An order as to court fees and another as to solicitor's costs were also made by the Chancellor on 1 February 1889. These rules, which were adapted from the Rules of the Supreme Court, were printed and put on sale. They were made under the Chancellor's prescriptive power, and not under the powers conferred by section 1 of the Palatine Court of Durham Act 1889. In 1952, the Chancery of Durham Rules 1889 were accused by a working party of the Committee on Supreme Court Practice and Procedure of being archaic and difficult, if not impossible, for practitioners to obtain for use in their own offices. Appeal There was an appeal to the Court of Appeal, and thence to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

Officers

Up to at least 1909, there was an

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, a Solicitor General, a conveyancing counsel, and a registrar of the court, who was appointed by the Chancellor and exercised the functions of a Master of the Supreme Court (Chancery Division and Taxing Office) and of a Chancery Registrar etc. He also had the custody of documents etc. There was an appeal from the Registrar to the Chancellor. Cursitor The office of cursitor of chancery in the palatine of Durham was abolished by section 1 of the Durham Chancery Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict c 84), which transferred the duties of that office to the registrar of the court.

Other relevant legislation

The court was regulated by, in particular, the

(52 & 53 Vict c 47). That Act was repealed by section 56 of, and Schedule 11 to, the

Courts Act 1971 The Courts Act 1971 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the purpose of which was to reform and modernise the courts system of England and Wales. It established the Crown Court, introduced the posts of circuit judge and recorder ...

. Evidence of foreign law See sections 4(2) and 4(4)(a) and (b) of the

Civil Evidence Act 1972 Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience * Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a memb ...

. Reciprocal enforcement of foreign judgments See article 2(1)(a) of the Convention set out in th
Schedule
to the Reciprocal Enforcement of Foreign Judgments (Israel) Order 1971 (S.I. 1971/1039). See article 2(1)(a) of the Convention set out in th
Schedule
to the

Reciprocal Enforcement of Foreign Judgments (the Netherlands) Order 1969 Reciprocal may refer to: In mathematics * Multiplicative inverse, in mathematics, the number 1/''x'', which multiplied by ''x'' gives the product 1, also known as a ''reciprocal'' * Reciprocal polynomial, a polynomial obtained from another pol ...

(S.I. 1969/1063) See article 2(1)(a) of the Convention set out in th
Schedule
to the

Reciprocal Enforcement of Foreign Judgments (Norway) Order 1962 Reciprocal may refer to: In mathematics * Multiplicative inverse, in mathematics, the number 1/''x'', which multiplied by ''x'' gives the product 1, also known as a ''reciprocal'' * Reciprocal polynomial, a polynomial obtained from another pol ...

(S.I. 1962/636) Power to authorise superior landlord to enter and execute works Se
section 30(3)
of the Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919. Power of court to authorise examination of works on unfit premises or for improvement Se
section 164(3)
of the

Housing Act 1957 Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether ...

. Land Charges Act 1925 Se
section 20(2)
of that Act.

Merger with the High Court

On the appointed day the Court of Chancery of the County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge was merged with the High Court. Accordingly on and after that day no jurisdiction, whether conferred by statute or otherwise, could be exercised, or can now be exercised, by the Court of Chancery of the County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge as such. The Court of Chancery of the County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge was abolished on merger with the High Court.The

, section 57(3)(b)

Transitional provisions

Transitional provisions were contained in Part I of Schedule 5 to the

Offices

Any judicial or other office in the Court of Chancery of the County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge was abolished by section 44(1)(b) of the

. Section 44(2) conferred a power to make regulations to provide for the compensation of persons who suffered loss of employment or loss or diminution of emoluments attributable to the effect of section 44(1)(b) or to the merger of the Court of Chancery of the County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge.

References

Halsbury's Laws of England ''Halsbury's Laws of England'' is a uniquely comprehensive encyclopaedia of law, and provides the only complete narrative statement of law in England and Wales. It has an alphabetised title scheme covering all areas of law, drawing on authoriti ...

, First Edition, Butterworth & Co, London, (Agents for Canada: Canada Law Book Company, Toronto), 1909, Volume 9, paragraphs 263 to 269, at pages 124 to 127. *The Practice of the Court of Chancery of the County Palatine of Durham. James Graham. Sunderland. 1807
Google Books
*Thomas Colpitts Granger. The Practice and Procedure of the Court of Chancery at Durham, with the Orders and Rules, etc. C Thwaites. 1882
WorldCat
*General Orders and Rules of the Court of Chancery at Durham. George Walker. Sadler Street, Durham. 1853. rders of 15 June 1853br>Google Books
*O Hood Phillips. "2. The Chancery Courts of Lancaster and Durham". A First Book of English Law. Fourth Edition. Sweet and Maxwell. 1960. Pages 74 and 75. *Renton. "Durham, County Palatine of". Encyclopædia of the Laws of England with Forms and Precedents by the Most Eminent Legal Authorities. Sweet & Maxwell. 1907. Volume 5. Pag
29
et seq
Google Books
{{reflist Former courts and tribunals in England and Wales Legal history of England Courts of equity History of County Durham 1872 disestablishments in England Courts and tribunals disestablished in 1972