The Six Clerks' Office was a public legal office that served the equitable jurisdiction of the English Court of Chancery in London, England, until the mid-19th century.
The Office
The Office was in
Chancery Lane, near the
Holborn end. The business of the office was to enrol
Letters patent,
,
, warrants,
etc., that had passed the Great Seal in addition to other business in Chancery. In the early history of the Court of Chancery, the Six Clerks and their under-clerks appear to have acted as the
Lawyer of the
. As business increased, these under-clerks became a distinct body, and were recognized by the court under the denomination of
sworn clerks, or
clerks in court. The advance of commerce, with its consequent accession of wealth, so multiplied the subjects requiring the judgment of a Court of Equity, that the limits of a public office were found wholly inadequate to supply a sufficient number of officers to conduct the business of the suitors. Hence originated the "
of the Court of Chancery".
[Wheatley (1893) fn to entry for 12 July 1660] The Office also facilitated Chancery claims by litigants
in forma pauperis (impoverished), including children and those suffering from
mental illness.
The "Six Clerks" were abolished by the Court of Chancery Act 1842 following the reforming work of Edwin Wilkins Field[5 & 6 Vict. c. 103] and Thomas Pemberton.
Bibliography
-
Smith, J. S. (1834) A Treatise on the Practice of the Court of Chancery, with an appendix of forms and precedents of costs, adapted to the last new orders, 3rd ed. p.62
External links
