The early courts of Pennsylvania by William Henry Lloyd
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"The early courts of Pennsylvania" by William Henry Lloyd is a historical account written in the early 20th century. It examines how Pennsylvania’s courts took shape, from their Swedish and Dutch origins through the Duke of York’s rule and William Penn’s proprietary government into early statehood, showing where practice diverged from English common law. Using statutes, court minutes, and surviving archives, it explains institutions, jurisdictions, procedures, and the everyday workings of justice
through concrete cases. The opening of this study explains its origin as law‑school lectures, its aim to trace the colony’s judicial foundations, and the difficulties posed by lost or scattered records, then outlines sources and the book’s chapter plan. It begins the narrative with Swedish and Dutch settlements on the Delaware, where magistrates (schout and schepens) blended executive and judicial roles and dispensed mild, pragmatic justice—often favoring arbitration, amicable settlements, and leniency. After the English conquest, the Duke of York’s Laws introduced a compact, New England–influenced code: county sessions and a general court of assizes, simple pleadings, compulsory references in small cases, liquor licensing by justices, and even small juries with majority verdicts in noncapital trials. The text illustrates practice with vivid cases (early set‑off, an unusual continuance over a wounded pig, beer quality “tested” by the court), the prosecution of the “Long Finne,” and the protracted Tinicum Island title dispute that shows land being reached for debt. With Penn’s arrival, the Frame of Government and “Laws agreed upon in England” enshrined trial by twelve, plain English records, and local peacemakers (arbitrators), while county courts handled wide civil, criminal, and administrative business. The narrative also notes confused statute rolls in the 1690s, the lay character of the bench, decorum problems, swift civil process, workhouse‑style prisons, and typical punishments of fines, stocks, and whippings. It closes this opening portion by introducing the orphans’ court, adapted from London practice, whose jurisdiction will be treated later. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Lloyd, William Henry, 1870-1936 |
|---|---|
| Title | The early courts of Pennsylvania |
| Original Publication | Boston: The Boston Book Co., 1910. |
| Credits | Carla Foust, Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | KF: Law in general, Comparative and uniform law, Jurisprudence: United States |
| Subject | Courts -- Pennsylvania -- History |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 78802 |
| Release Date | Jun 2, 2026 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 396 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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