Massachusetts. Superior Court of Judicature

The Superior Court of Judicature, Court of Assize, and General Gaol Delivery, was created by the General Court of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay (as Massachusetts was designated by the Charter of 1691), initially by St 1692-3, c 33 (disallowed by the English Privy Council) and then by St 1699-1700, c 3. The court had cognizance of all pleas involving real or personal property, pleas to which the English Crown was a party, and all matters relating to conservation of the peace and punishment of offenders. The governor and council retained only a few of the judicial powers of the colonial Court of Assistants to which the new court corresponded, the most significant being their designation as Supreme Ordinary of Probate. Under the Constitution of the Commonwealth, 1780, the court was succeeded by the Supreme Judicial Court.

NAME AUTHORITY NOTE. Series relating to the agency described above can be found by searching the following access point for the time period stated: 1692-1780--Massachusetts. Superior Court of Judicature.

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