BILL OF COMPLAINT AND ANSWER, 1595

Records of a case raised by Essex labourer James Chipperfield are held at The National Archives (C 2/Eliz/C1/29)

BILL OF COMPLAINT BY JAMES CHIPPERFIELD

Date

This will be in the top left-hand corner (in Latin before 1733).

Opening

Bills often start with “Humbly complaining sheweth...”

Background

The complainant named, “where” or “whereas” signifies the background to the case will follow, in which several family members may be named.

Name

The name of the complainant appears on the first line.

Details

After the background, “now” indicates the body of the complaint has begun.

Defendants

Their names then follow: here Nicholas, Edmond and Johan. Surnames are often given, too. In this case the defendants have already been described in the body of the complaint: “Nicholas Farnham of Duxford co Essex yeoman, Edmond Pakeman of Maldon co Essex yeoman and Johan his wife.”

ANSWER OF NICHOLAS FARNHAM

Names

The names of the defendants giving this answer, and the names of the complainants, are given on the top line.

Dismissal request

Having supplied their full answer, defendants will often ask for the case to be dismissed.

Opening

Defendants usually open by denying that there is any truth in the bill of complaint.

Answers

They then go on to answer each point that has been raised, acknowledging it to be true or untrue, adding in their own information.