Catalogue description Palatinate of Lancaster: Files of Writs from the Central Courts of Common Law to the Chancellor

This series consists of files of writs issued from the courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas and Exchequer at Westminster commanding the Chancellor of the county palatine of Lancashire to direct the sheriff to cause parties to appear in those courts or, if the case had already taken place, to execute judgment. Most of them relate to actions for debt or damages against persons living in the county palatine, and are endorsed with the sheriff's return of action taken.

The files appear to have no title written on their cover. Most of the files cover a single regnal year, and they form almost a complete series between 1723 and 1814; the only significant gap is that between 1801 and 1808. No others from the same series are known to have survived. The last item is a miscellaneous collection of palatinate instruments, for example the writ summoning the assizes for 27 George II, and a return to a writ of certiorari.