Catalogue description Palatinate of Lancaster: Chancery Court: Pleadings, Answers

Apart from the small number of surviving 15th century examples, answers were normally signed in the bottom right hand corner by the legal counsel involved in drafting them. From the reign of James I answers were often annotated by the officer of the court who received them with the date they were filed with the court. This is helpful, since the formulaic wording of the answer did not include the date at any point. Answers are also often annotated with the names of the counsel representing one or both parties in court. The names of the parties themselves are sometimes noted on the dorse or the front of the answer. By the 19th century defendants usually signed their answers or made a mark if they could not write. Occasionally this occurs on earlier answers. When copies of the answer were made for the use of the parties in the dispute, this was noted on the original.

From the reign of Elizabeth I it was possible for defendants to make their answers before commissioners sent to their locality for that purpose. This practice became more common from the 17th century. Commissioners were leading local men authorised by the court to act in each specific instance. Sometimes the commission issued by the court in the monarch's name has survived, attached to the answer made by the defendant. These are in Latin until 1733 and in English after that date. During the Commonwealth period they are also in English. Commissions were normally signed on the reverse by the commissioners and returned to the Chancery with the answer.

Commissioners usually also signed answers taken before them, often with a statement to the effect that the answer was made on oath by the defendant. Perhaps as a result of this practice, from the middle of the 17th century at least, defendants who presented their answers directly to the court were also required to do so on oath before an official of the court, usually the Registrar or Vice-Chancellor.

It was also possible to reply to a bill of complaint by way of a demurrer, a plea or a disclaimer. A demurrer challenged the jurisdiction of the court to properly hear the case, or argued that the plaintiff's bill was technically insufficient and therefore that the defendant was not required to make further answer. A plea raised an objection based on a point of law which was not apparent from the contents of the bill itself but which, if established by the court nevertheless made an answer to the bill unnecessary. A disclaimer was a statement by the defendant that he or she had no legal interest in the matter raised in the bill and was thus being wrongfully pursued.

In the early years of the court, answers were usually short documents. However, as the jurisdiction developed answers tended to become longer and more detailed, often including evidence in support of the claims advanced in the answer. This was often in the form of financial accounts appended as schedules.