Legal Form Book of Peter Tinsley, Clerk of the High Court of Chancery

Tinsley Form Book Summary

Peter Tinsley served as George Wythe’s clerk while Wythe presided over the High Court of Chancery. As clerk, Tinsley compiled a collection of forms for the various documents that the court would need to issue. This collection is referred to as Tinsley’s “form book.” This book was intended to save time and labor by providing a repository of model language so that the clerk would not have to start from scratch every time the court needed to issue a document. This book may also have served a related (whether intentional or incidental) purpose of standardizing the language of documents issued by the court so that court documents were consistent.

The form book is divided into eight sections, plus an index.

1. Forms of Injunctions (pages 1-10): An injunction is an order by the court for a party to do or not to do something. These form injunctions generally address situations in which the court needed to stop a party “from further proceeding on a judgment.”
   For example, one form in this section is the plain “Injunction to a Judgment on a forthcoming bond.” Many of the forms appear to be derivative of this one, with subtle differences. They differ in length, the location of the court, the parties involved, the amount of bond required, and probably other respects more readily apparent to the careful eye of Tinsley. There are forms for situations involving “part of a judgment” or “8 years interest [on a judgment]” or “[a] Judg[ment] [that] was affirmed on an appeal” or “a Judg[ment] [o]btained by assignee,” or “Judgments obtained in different ~ Courts.” It is clear that Tinsley wanted to have several examples to choose from. He must have appreciated the subtle differences in the seemingly similar cases that came before the court.
   Other highlights from this section include a form to direct a trustee to refrain from selling certain property and another to direct an official (“the Sergeant of the City of Richmond”) not to seize or liquidate certain property. No matter the details of the next injunction that the court needed to issue, Tinsley probably had a form that was at least close to it.
2. Forms of Orders (pages 11-50): Court orders often involve decisions on motions. One such motion is a “demurrer,” which is a motion asking the court to dismiss the case because it is fatally flawed in that the facts alleged provide no legal basis for relief. Tinsey had three forms dealing with demurrers. All three of them were for overruling demurrers, which would be used when the court decided that there was a legal basis for relief. Also, all three forms direct the defendant (the party who brought the motion and lost) to pay for the plaintiff’s costs related to the demurrer.
   Perhaps more interesting are the multiple orders dealing with parties who were out of the country, referred to as “absentees.” In at least three of these forms, it appears that the plaintiff was awarded land belonging to a defendant who had left the young nation, perhaps because the defendant had been a British loyalists. The revolutionary war fighting lingered in the south. As the fighting came to an end and the British were leaving the former colonies, “up to tens of thousands of loyalists sometimes went with the retreating army to Britain and other parts of the British Empire.” So, these forms may indicate that the George Wythe heard cases (perhaps even regularly) where British Loyalists lost their land by default.
   Some forms in the second section contain probably unfamiliar terms like “fieri facias.” According to the Cornell LII, “This is a court document that instructs a sheriff to seize and sell a defendant's property in order to satisfy a monetary judgment against the defendant.” Then there is the “Scire Facias,” which is “a writ, founded on a record, requiring the person against whom it is issued to appear and show cause why the record should not be enforced or annulled.”
3. Certificates (pages 51-52): This section contains three forms. The first two were for dismissing a case and the last one was for verifying that the plaintiff obtained a bond.
4. Process (pages 53-70): The first few forms in this section are called “supersedeas[es].” These forms are directed to the sheriff and appear to have something to do with holding off on collections while an appeal is pending. According to Jones day, a “supersedeas bond” is “the bond a losing defendant must pay to secure its right to appeal and stay the judgment.”
   Other forms in this section are used to bring someone before the court (“attachment”). There are several forms labelled with the previously-mentioned term “Scire facias.” These forms are also directed to the sheriff and most of them involve the situation where a party has “departed this life,” apparently while the case was pending. The forms “command” the sheriff to “summon” someone to come before the court. There are also forms of “Certiorari,” in a few different variations, each of which is directed to the justices of a particular county, apparetly used to request records from those justices of the proceedings in cases that had been appealed to the High Court of Chancery. The labels of other forms in this section contain terms such as “Writ,” “Mandamus,” “Commission,” “Habeus Corpus,” and “Subpoena.”
5. Executions (pages 71-76): Each of the executions is directed to the sheriff, requesting that the sheriff procure money from the sheriff’s “bailiwick” to be paid on a court award. This section also contains a form titled a “Writ of Elegit,” which directs the sheriff to take one person’s property and give it to another person “saving only the oxen and beasts of his plough, and also a moiety of all [the judgment debtor’s] lands and tenements.”
6. Rules of Court (pages 77-80): This section lists procedural rules in the High Court of Chancery that deal with issues such as timing for motions, examination of witnesses, examination of accounts, dismissal of cases, and reinstatement of cases. One rule seems to have been directed at clearing the court’s docket; it stated that all cases “depending at the rules” would be dismissed unless the plaintiffs took action to move them along “on the first rule day after the next term.”
7. Bonds (pages 81-88): These forms generally seem to have been used to verify that someone (probably the appealing party in most cases) has posted security (a bond) in case one of the other parties suffers damages. The bond would protect the appellee and provide him with a source of recovery for his costs litigating the appeal “in case the said decree be affirmed.”
8. Appeal (pages 89-90): There is only one form in this section. It was taken from a proceeding that took place before Judge George Wythe on September 1, 1799. It appears to be a recitation of several procedural events that took place. Perhaps Tinsley used this form as a model for other instances when Wythe ordered, “Be it remembered...” as he did here.

Document Text

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Forms of Injunctions The Commonwealth of Virginia to the Sheriff of County Greeting: You are hereby commanded to summon James Ritchie, to appear before the Judge of the High Court of Chancery of the Capitol in the City of Richmond on the 17th day of the next term to answer a bill in Chancery exhibited against him by Edward Digges: and this he shall in no wise omit under the penalty of £100 and have then there this writ: Witness George Wythe judge of our said Court of Richmond this 10th Day of June 1802, and in the 26th year of the Commonwealth. P. Tinsley C,C

Subpoena

To injoin the defendants their agents, attornies and all others concerned from further proceeding on a judgment obtained by the defendant James Dunlop exor of Thomas Montgomery who was assignee of William Ransdell against the plaintiff in the district court of Dumfries as to the sum now appearing by the said judgment to be due, until the further order of this Court. But the effect of this injunction is to be suspended until the plaintiff enters into bond with sufficient security in the Clerks office of the said district Court in a penalty equal to double the money hereby injoined and until he also files with the said Clerk, or with the Clerk of this Court, a release of all errors at law in the said judgment proceedings P. Tinsley C,C Memo If the release of errors be filed with the Clerk of the district aforesaid a copy thereof is to be certified to this court P. Tinsley C,C

Injunction to part of a judgment obta. by assignees

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Injunction to a Judgt. Deputy Shff and his securities	To injoin &c. from proceeding on a judgment obtained by the defendant W.C. against the plaintiff and the Securities for the faithful execution of his office as deputy Sheriff as to £10 until &c.
Injunction to a judgment on forthcoming bond	To injoin &c. from proceeding on a judgment obtained by the defendant J.M against the plaintiff C.D. in the district court of Dumfries on a bond given for the forthcoming of property at the day of sale on an execution sued out of the Clerks Office of the said district court on a judgment obtained therein by the said defendant J.M against the plaintiff J.S until &c.
Injunction to a Judgt. on a forthcoming bond [???] Plt and the securities for the delivery of the property at the day of sale.	To injoin &c. from proceeding on a judgment obtained by the deft against the plaintiffs J.C and S.C in the district court of Dumfries on a bond given for the forthcoming of property at the day of sale on an execution sued out of the Clerks office of the said district court on a judgment thereon obtained by the deft [???]the plt H.T until the further order of this Court. P.T. C,C
Injunction to a Judgt. on a forthcoming bond as to 8 years interest	To injoin &c. from further proceeding on a judgment obtained by the deft against the plaintiff on a bond given for the forthcoming of property at the day of sale, upon an execution sued out of the Clerks office of the district court of Dumfries on a judgment obtained thereon by the defendant against the plaintiff as to so much of said first mentioned judgment as is equal to eight years interest on the principal money recovered by the last mentioned Judgt. until &c. P.T. C,C
Injunction to a Judgt. on a forthcoming bond which Judgt. was affirmed on an appeal to the Dt. Ct. of C.	To injoin &c. from further proceeding on a judgment obtained by the defendant against the plaintiff and others in the district Court of

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of Charlottesville affirming a judgment of the County Court of Albemarle rendered on a bond given for the forthcoming of property at the day of sale upon an execution sued out of the Clerks Office of the said County Court on a judgment obtained therein by the defendant as assignee of S.C against the admons of C.S. deceased until the further order of this court: But the effect of this injunction is to be suspended until the plaintiff enters into bond with sufficient security in the Clerks Office of the said district court in a penalty equal to double the money recovered by the judgment first mentioned with such condition as the law requires; and until he and the said W.S.H. also file with the said Clerk of the district Court or with the Clerk of this Court a release of all errors at law in the said judgment and proceedings P.T. C,C
To injoin &c. from further proceeding on the execution now in the Sheriffs hands of Fluvanna in favor of William Adams and others against Richard Cocke until the further order of this court: But the effect of this injunction is to be suspended until the plt: B.R enters into bond with sufficient security in the Clerks office of the respective Courts in which the judgments on which the said executions were rendered in penalties equal to double &c. P.T. C,C	Injunction to executions now in the Shffs hands.
To injoin the defendant his agents attornies and all others concerned from further proceeding on a judgment obtained by the defendant against the plaintiff in the county Court of Goochland also on a bond	Injunction to a Judgt. and to a bond given in virtue of an exon sued out on the said Judgment.

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of Charlottesville affirming a judgment of the County Court of Albemarle rendered on a bond given for the forthcoming of property at the day of sale upon an execution sued out of the Clerks Office of the said County Court on a judgment obtained therein by the defendant as assignee of S.C against the admons of C.S. deceased until the further order of this court: But the effect of this injunction is to be suspended until the plaintiff enters into bond with sufficient security in the Clerks Office of the said district court in a penalty equal to double the money recovered by the judgment first mentioned with such condition as the law requires; and until he and the said W.S.H. also file with the said Clerk of the district Court or with the Clerk of this Court a release of all errors at law in the said judgment and proceedings	margin small column
To injoin &c. from further proceeding on the execution now in the Sheriffs hands of Fluvanna in favor of William Adams and others against Richard Cocke until the further order of this court: But the effect of this injunction is to be suspended until the plt: B.R enters into bond with sufficient security in the Clerks office of the respective Courts in which the judgments on which the said executions were rendered in penalties equal to double &c.	Injunction to executions now in the Shffs hands.
To injoin the defendant his agents attornies and all others concerned from further proceeding on a judgment obtained by the defendant against the plaintiff in the county Court of Goochland also on a bond	Injunction to a Judgt. and to a bond given in virtue of an exon sued out on the said Judgment.

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See also

• Peter Tinsley
• Wythe's Judicial Career
• Commission to Take Depositions, 9 November 1796

External links

• Read this book in Google Books.