The
Exchequer was (and in some cases still is) a part
of the governments of England
(latterly to
include Wales
), Scotland
, and
Northern
Ireland
that was responsible for the management and
collection of revenues. The various
Exchequers have also developed judicial roles.
History of the Exchequer in England and Wales
At an
early stage in England (certainly
by 1176, the 23rd year of the Reign of Henry II which is the date of the
Dialogue
concerning the Exchequer), the Exchequer was split into
two components: the purely administrative Exchequer of
Receipt, which collected revenue, and the judicial
Exchequer of Pleas, a
court concerned with the King's revenue.
According to the
Dialogue concerning the
Exchequer, an early
medieval work
describing the practice of the Exchequer, the Exchequer itself
referred to the cloth laid over a large table, 10 feet by 5 feet,
with a lip on the edge of 4 'fingers', on which
counters were placed representing various values. The
name referred to the resemblance of the table to a
chess board.
The term "Exchequer" then came to refer to the twice yearly
meetings held at
Easter and
Michaelmas, at which government financial
business was transacted and an audit held of
sheriffs' returns.
Under
Henry I, the procedure
adopted for the
audit would involve the
Treasurer drawing up a
summons which would be sent to each
Sheriff, which they would be required to answer. The
Treasurer would call on each Sheriff to give account of royal
income in their
shire. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer
would then question them concerning debts owed by private
individuals. The results of the audit were recorded in a series of
records known as the
Pipe Rolls.
After the Union
The Exchequer became unnecessary as a revenue collecting department
as a result of
William
Pitt's reforms. It was abolished in 1834.
Those government
departments collecting revenue paid it directly to the Bank of England
.
By
extension, "exchequer" has come to mean the Treasury
and,
colloquially, pecuniary possessions in
general; as in "the company's exchequer is low".
History of the Exchequer in Scotland
The Scottish Exchequer dates back to around 1200 and had a similar
role of auditing and deciding on royal revenues as in England. The
Scottish exchequer was slower to develop a separate judicial role,
and it was not until 1584 that it became a court of law, separate
from the King's council. Even then, the judicial and administrative
roles never became completely separated into two bodies, as with
the English Exchequer.
The term
Court of the Exchequer was only used of
the Exchequer department during the Scottish administration of
Oliver Cromwell, between 1655 and
1659.
In 1707, the
Exchequer Court Act (6
Ann. c. 53) reconstituted the Exchequer into a court on the English
model with a Lord Chief Baron and 4 Barons. The court adopted
English forms of procedure and had further powers added to
it.
From 1832
no new Barons were appointed, and their role was increasingly taken
over by judges of the Court of Session
. By the
Exchequer Court Act 1856
(19 & 20 Vict. c. 56) the Exchequer became a part of the Court
of Session. One of the Lords Ordinary acts as a judge in Exchequer
causes. The English forms of process ceased to be used in
1947.
See also
References
- Dialogue concerning the Exchequer
- Warren Governance pp. 73–74
Further reading
- Keir, D. L., The Constitutional History of Modern Britain
1485-1937. Third Edition. A & C Black, 1946.
- Steel, Anthony The
Receipt of the Exchequer, 1377-1485. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1954.
- Warren, W. L., The Governance of Norman and Angevin England
1086-1272. Edward Arnold, 1987. ISBN 0-7131-6378-X
- Madox, Thomas (1711/1769),
History of the Exchequer
- Murray, Athol L, Burnett, Charles J., The seals
of the Exchequer of Scotland. Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. 123 (1993) 439-52
- National Archives of Scotland guide to Exchequer
Records.
- Dialogue concerning the Exchequer
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