Search an index of centuries of Surrey court cases. The records contain cases from four courts and will give you the necessary references for accessing the original records in The National Archives.
Search an index of centuries of Surrey court cases. The records contain cases from four courts and will give you the necessary references for accessing the original records in The National Archives.
Each record will provide a transcript with the following details:
Name
Year
Court
County
Country
Full text – comprises the names of others named in the court proceedings
Source
Archive and reference
The Surrey court cases 1391-1835 index was created by researcher and genealogist Cliff Webb using the original court documents found in The National Archives. Each transcript will give you the archival reference needed to request the documents. Webb indexed cases from four separate Surrey courts:
Surrey Court of Star Chamber, 1485-1649 – The court may have been given its name from the star decorations on the ceiling of the court chamber in the old Palace of Westminster. The court dealt primarily with criminal cases and alleged violence such as sedition, illegal hunting, assault, fraud, public disorder, murder, and witchcraft.
Surrey Exchequer Court, 1497-1835 – The Exchequer Court was responsible for cases of equity and revenue. You will find land disputes, titles of land, manorial rights, tithes, debts, and wills in these records.
Surrey Court of Requests, 1500-1624 – Due to the low cost and the speedy process of the Court of Requests, it was frequently used by the poor and servants of the king in matters of equity.
Surrey Court of Chancery, 1391-1758 – This court also dealt with cases of equity, trusts, and land laws, as well as the estates of lunatics and guardianship of infants.