Medway branch enjoyed a thoroughly entertaining talk by Michael Gandy, who started the afternoon giving us the benefit of his thoughts on what, in family history terms, to leave for those who come after us. Most importantly, and most likely to be treasured in the future, is an ancestry chart showing the direct line back down the generations. Secondly, family trees of people who matter most in our research. Thirdly, important documents about the most interesting characters in our trees. Other than those key items, he also suggested reminiscences about aspects of our lives.
Michael then moved on to the main body of his talk, which was not about criminal courts, but civil courts. These have, over time, produced a whole multitude of records. These are records relating to people being sued and counter-sued. All of this takes place, not during a single court case, but in a series of documents being submitted, first by the plaintive, then a response, and, along with the depositions of witnesses, continues over time until it finally comes to a conclusion… or doesn’t! Often cases were settled out of court, or if one party died, the case would die with them. It was for this reason that often several names were included in a case so that, if one person died, the case could continue against the rest.
Our ancestors may not have been the ones suing or being sued, but they may have been witnesses. The questions they were asked may add details to our research such as their job and the person they worked for, which we may not have been able to find out otherwise.
Michael also suggested looking at the correspondence of the gentry in places where our ancestors lived as sometimes a worker is mentioned in a letter or diary.
Michael talked us through legal terms that we may come across:
- In chancery - money that gets ‘stalled’ and cannot be distributed. This may happen if a person cannot be located.
- Vexatious counter suits - the defending side comes up with a counter suit to try to stop the original suit.
- Collusive suits - these are cases where both parties conspire for a desired outcome. One such example, given by Michael, would be where the ‘holder’ of a piece of land wanted to sell it but was not legally permitted to do so. They would go to court stating that the ‘buyer’ had thrown them off their land and that they wanted compensation (not the return of the land). The case would not be contested and would result in the ‘holder/seller’ getting compensation (payment) and the ‘buyer’ having a court record that he had compensated the land holder. Both sides were happy and had achieved their aim without an actual ‘sale’ taking place.
Michael finished his talk with information about how to access these Chancery Court records. The National Archive has an online catalogue which is increasing in size all the time. Input the parish, surname and a time frame and the results will give a brief synopsis of any corresponding cases. If the synopsis looks promising, then the record can be ordered in advance and a trip to Kew booked.
Reoport by Helen Stenhouse