Samuel Romilly
Videos
Page
Sir Samuel Romilly, was a British lawyer, politician and legal reformer. From a background in the commercial world, he became well-connected, and rose to public office and a prominent position in Parliament. After an early interest in radical politics, he built a career in chancery cases, and then turned to amelioration of the British criminal law.
Portrait, oil on canvas, of Sir Samuel Romilly (1757–1818) by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769–1830)
Parish church of St Michael and All Angels, Knill, Herefordshire, where Ann and Samuel Romilly were buried
Court of Chancery
Videos
Page
The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the estates of lunatics and the guardianship of infants.
The Court of Chancery in the reign of King George I
Edward I, during whose reign the chancellor's jurisdiction was established
Westminster Hall, where the Court sat almost continuously from the reign of Edward III until its dissolution in 1875
Lord Ellesmere, who worked to maintain the Chancery's ability to override the common law courts as lord chancellor