Over the years, Emily’s great-grandfather found himself in the Court of Chancery in Dublin. The court was set up for plaintiffs and defendants from all over Ireland to settle disputes with debtors and creditors. All members of the public could find themselves as either plaintiffs or defendants in court, depending on whether they owed or were owed money. As a printer and businessman, Daniel Graisberry had a better than average chance of having to attend the chancery court. In June 1817, his name appeared in the Book of Chancery for that year. It is not clear whether he was a plaintiff or a defendant, but it is possible he could have been either. Other than his name, there were no other details. His name appeared the previous year too, because he could not pay his creditors. At that time, the book and print business was not nearly as lucrative as it had been during the previous century.

Below is an example from the Saunders’s News-Letter from June 1817 of a case in the Chancery Court.

Below is a ‘lighter’ example of a Chancery Court case from 1911.

Sources

“Ireland, Court of Chancery Bill Books, 1627-1884”, database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6J3N-VKPZ : 23 September 2022), Daniel Graisberry, 1817.

https://search.findmypast.ie/record?id=IRE%2FCOURT%2FCHANCERY%2F007635216%2F00192&parentid=IRE%2FCOURT%2FCHANCERY%2F0001173024

Birmingham Mail 29 November 1911

Saunders’s News-Letter 27 June 1817