Eighteenth-century equity lawsuits in the court of Exchequer as a source for historical research

Equity lawsuits in the court of Exchequer remain neglected by historical scholars. They present a treasure-trove for historians, literary scholars, musicologists and others: any suit that could be brought in Chancery between the mid seventeenth century and 1841 could equally well be brought in Exchequer. Relying largely on name searches, we have discovered more than fifty suits connected with our own interests in theatre and opera history. Organization (and hence the search process) differs significantly from Chancery, but we have provided a kind of beginner's guide to the records as well as illustrations of the sorts of discoveries we have made.