Court of Chancery and Court of Exchequer

The Court of Chancery was the court of equity developed in the 15th century to provide remedies not available in the courts of common law. It was abolished by the Judicature Act of 1873, which formed the Chancery Division, one of the three Divisions of the High Court of Justice, in its place.

The Court of the Exchequer was formed to handle financial matters, but had begun to develop an equity jurisdiction by the mid-sixteenth century. In 1841 it lost this jurisdiction, and any outstanding work was transferred to the court of Chancery. The business of the court included disputes over titles of land, manorial rights, tithes, mineral rights, ex-monastic land, debts, wills, etc.