COURT OF CHANCERY, or CHANCERY. A court formerly existing in England and still existing in several of the United States, which possesses an extensive equity jurisdic tion.
The name is said by some to be derived from that of the chief judge, who is called a chancellor; oth ers derive both names directly from the cancelli (bars) which in this court anciently separated the press of people from the officers. See 3 Bla. Com. 46, n.; Story, Eq. Jur. 40; CANCELLARIUS.
In American Law. A court of general eq uity jurisdiction.
The terms equity and chancery, court of equity and court of chancery, are constantly used as syn onymous in the United States. It is presumed that this custom arises from the circumstance that the equity jurisdiction is exercised by the courts of the various states is assimilated to that possessed by the English courts of chancery. Indeed, in some of the states it is rqade identical therewith by stat ute, so far as conformable to our institutions.
Separate courts of chancery or equity ex ist in a few of the states; in others, the courts of law sit also as courts of equity; in others, equitable relief is administered under the forms of the common law; and in others, the distinction between law and equity has been formally abolished or never existed. The federal courts exercise an equi ty jurisdiction as understood in the English courts at the time of the Revolution; Miller Const. 318 ; independent of local state law; id.; Gordon v. Hobart, 2 Sumn. 401, Fed. Cas. No. 5,609 ; and the remedies. are not according to state. practice but as distinguish ed and defined in that country from which we derive our knowledge of those principles; Robinson v. Campbell, 3 Wheat. (U. S.) 212, 4 L. Ed. 372; whether the state courts in the district are courts of equity or not; Lor: man v. Clarke, 2 McLean, 568, Fed. Cas. No. 8,516 ; Gables v. Reif, 15 Pet. (U. S.) 9, 10 L. Ed. 642 ; Bennett v. Butterworth, 11 How. (U. S.) 669, 13 L. Ed. 859.
In English Law. Formerly the highest court of judicature next to parliament. Pri or to the judicature acts it was the superior court of chancery, called distinctively "The High Court of Chancery," and consisted of six separate tribunals, viz.: the court of the lord high chancellor of Great Britain; the court of the master of the rolls, or keeper of the records in chancery ; the court of appeal in chancery, the three separate courts of the vice-chancellors.
The jurisdiction of this court was four fold.
The common-law or ordinary jurisdiction. By virtue of this the lord-chancellor was a privy councillor and prolocutor of the house of lords. The writs for a new parliament is sued from this department. The Petty Bag Office was in this jurisdiction. .It was a com mon-law court of record, in which pleas of scire facial to repeal letters-patent were ex hibited, and many other matters were deter mined, and whence all original writs issued. See 11 & 12 Vict. c. 94 ; 12 & 13 Vict. c. 109.
The statutory jurisdiction included the power which the lord-chancellor exercised under the habeas corpus act, and by which he inquired into charitable uses, but did not include the equitable jurisdiction.
The specially delegated jurisdiction includ ed the exclusive authority which the lord chancellor and lords justices of appeal had over the persons and property of idiots and lunatics.
The equity or, extraordinary jurisdiction was either assistant or auxiliary to the com mon law, including discovery for the promo tion of substantial justice at the common law, preservation of testimony of persons not litigants relating to suits or questions at law, removal of improper impediments and prevention of unconscientious defences at common law, giving effect to and relieving from the consequences of common-law judg ments ; concurrent with the common law, in cluding the remedial correction of fraud, the prevention of fraud by injunction, accident, mistake, account, dower, interpleader, the de liveryup of documents and specific chattels, the specific performance of agreements; or evclasive, relating to trusts, infancy, the equitable rights of wives, legal and equitable mortgages, the assignment .of choses in ac tion, partition, the appointment of receivers, charities, or public trusts. Whart. Law Diet. By the Judicature Acts (1873 and 1875) this court was merged in the High Court of Jus tice. See COURTS OF ENGLAND.
The inferior courts of chancery are the courts of the Palatine Counties (Lancaster and Durham), the courts of the Two Univer sities, the lord-mayor's courts in the city of London, and the court of chancery in the Isle of Man. See 18 & 19 Viet. c. 48, and the titles of these various courts. See Story, Eq. Jur.; Dan. Ch. Pr.; Spence, Eq. Jur. ; 1 Holdsw. Hist. E. L. 194 ; Spence, 2 Sel. Es says in Anglo-Amer. L. H. 219 ; COURTS or EQUITY; EQUITY; CANCELLARIUS.