| Katherine Pettus had been hoping to get justice from the processes of Chancery through her suit, while Margaret, in response, set out to exploit the many deficiencies of the Court of Chancery. Since in the 17th century the Chancery Court and the Common Law courts existed side-by-side, it is worth noting why the two court processes developed separately. |
| English Common Law was built over the centuries through a process of evolution, with it's main theme that the educated people - usually church officials - administered the law using Latin as the key language. When the Lord Chancellor became involved in civil disputes - in the 14th century - it was because the petitioners felt they were not able to get proper justice from the usual courts, of which there were many. Involvement of the Lord Chancellor's office gradually gave rise to the Court of Chancery which attempted to provide 'equable' judgement - fair, reasonable and just decisions. It was different, in particular, because the plaintiff could ask for redress in everyday English, while the common law process required the plaintiff to purchase a writ in Latin to start the proceedings. The Chancery Courts gradually became the most important in the country. Litigants however, as litigants often do, complained of the same delays, lack of justice, lack of specific results and the same concerns as their forefathers. |
| When Charles Dickens began his career he will have known of such Chancery Court cases as the Pettus/Bancroft affair, although he probably had more and worse nearer to hand to develop his stories, since his father was 'banged up' in the Marshelsea prison for debt for a short time. That experience probably gave rise to 'Little Dorrit' and his vigorous attack on the legal scandals in 'Bleak House'. The 19th century Court of Chancery was again under pressure for the incredible delays and opportunities for the legal profession to milk money out of the processes. But even as Dickens wrote 'Bleak House' the reforming acts were underway and the Civil and Criminal Courts changed to the sort of structure we now find. We still complain about the processes of law. |