Court of Requests, City of London

Item

Country: GB
Name of institution (official language of the state): London Metropolitan Archives
Language of name of institution: eng
Contact information: postal address: 40 Northampton Road, London EC1R 0HB
Contact information: phone number: 0044 20 7332 3820
Contact information: web address: https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/london-metropolitan-archives/Pages/default.aspx
Contact information: email: ask.lma@cityoflondon.gov.uk
Reference number: CLA/038
Type of reference number: Archival reference number
Title (official language of the state): Court of Requests, City of London
Language of title: eng
Creator / accumulator: Court of Requests
Date(s): 1595/1853
Language(s): eng
Extent: 4.3 linear metres
Type of material: Textual Material
Physical condition: Good
Scope and content: This fonds is comprised of records of the Court of Requests, City of London, from 1595 to 1853. It includes committee reports, petitions, regulations, appointments of Commissioners, accounts ledgers, cash books, records of fees, summons books, warrant books, bonds and promissory notes, and other administrative papers.
Although the disputes between members of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Congregation of London should be presented to the Mahamad or the Beit Din, the religious court, in some cases, the Mahamad allowed the litigants to proceed to external courts, including the Court of Requests. Disputes on business matters involving small sums were submitted to this court, while the Chancery Court was chosen for other litigations of higher importance. The Court of Requests used to have four to six Jewish brokers, both Sephardim and Ashkenazim, registered as facilitators to assist members of the community. Therefore, this fonds contains records on litigations between Sephardim, in particular, the ledger books (LMA/CLA/038/02/001-LMA/CLA/038/02/010) and summons books (LMA/CLA/038/03/001-LMA/CLA/038/03/014). See Kerner (2019) for some examples.
Administrative / Biographical history: The Court of Requests was constituted by an Act of Common Council of 1518, under which Commissioners were appointed to hear cases for the recovery of small debts. Its jurisdiction was confirmed by Acts of Parliament until it was transferred to the Sheriffs' Courts in 1847.; (source: Court of Requests, City of London)
Access points: locations: London (UK)
Access points: subject terms: Sephardim in Great Britain; Financial matters; Legal matters; Trade and commerce; 18th century; 19th century
Access points: document types: Legal records
System of arrangement: The fonds is arranged in three sections: Administration; Accounts; and Court Books.
Access, restrictions: The records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 2018
Links to finding aids: London Metropolitan Archives: Court of Requests, City of London
Author of the description: Joana Rodrigues, 2022
Bibliography: Kerner, A. 2019. "The «Livro de Pleitos»: The Leadership of the Spanish and Portuguese Community of London in the Eighteenth Century as a Court of Requests." In Religious changes and cultural transformations in the early modern western Sephardic communities (pp. 258–289). Boston; Leiden: Brill.

Item sets: WSD Roadmap; WSD Roadmap finais; WSD Roadmap UK

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Items with "Collections (official language of the state): Court of Requests, City of London"
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London Metropolitan Archives, City of London