Catalogue description Palatinate of Durham: Chancery Court: Registers' Letter Books

This series consists of bound volumes of copies of out-letters from the office of the register of the Durham Chancery Court. Each volume has its own index. Early books are in manuscript; later volumes are typed. All are written on commercial carbon paper. The indexes give the names of the recipients of the letters, which are not necessarily the names of defendants or plaintiffs in cases mentioned in the letters. Very often the letters are to other officials of the court, or to solicitors; the correspondence contains a wide range of detail concerning the business of the register.

A search of the correspondence for persons concerned in cases may be possible if the name of the instructing solicitor and the rough date of the case can be found in the cause books. The solicitor's name can then be up with the names in the indexes at the front of the letter books. The cause books are in DURH 22

Volumes 4 (1886-1889) and 6-13 (1891-1901) are held at by Durham University Library, Archives and Special Collections. The location of volumes 1-3 is unknown.

Durham Chancery Court, 1836-1971