Court of Chancery
Preserved but no longer current.
The office where the Chancellor carried on his business — the Exchequer, or a branch thereof— thus came to be known as the Hanaper, and its officials as Comptrollers, Clerks, etc., of the Hanaper. In England these were abolished in 1842, but for many years in Ireland the official title of the Permanent Secretary to the Chancery Division and to the Lord Chancellor remained "Qerfc of the Crown and Hanaper.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Court of Chancery” mean?
The office where the Chancellor carried on his business — the Exchequer, or a branch thereof— thus came to be known as the Hanaper, and its officials as Comptrollers, Clerks, etc., of the Hanaper. In England these were abolished in 1842, but for many years in Ireland the official title of the Permanent Secretary to the Chancery Division and to the Lord Chancellor remained "Qerfc of the Crown and Hanaper.
Is “Court of Chancery” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.