ABSTRACT
The Court of Chancery originated in the later Middle Ages as the administrator of equity, a system of jurisprudence designed to provide remedies where the common law failed to do so. Cases-largely concerning contracts, trusts, and disputes to which no specific body of law could be applied-were traditionally decided on principles that had their origin in conscience or the law of nature. In practice, the system became burdened by heavy reliance on precedents, and in Victorian Britain Chancery had acquired among the general public a reputation that illustrated popular dissatisfaction with the legal system as a whole. There were repeated complaints about the length and cost of the legal process.
