Law, Debt, and Merchant Power: The Civil Courts of Eighteenth-Century Halifax

by James Muir (Editor)

Overview

In the early history of Halifax (1749-1766), debt litigation was extremely common. People from all classes frequently used litigation and its use in private matters was higher than almost all places in the British Empire in the 18^th century.

In Law, Debt, and Merchant Power, James Muir offers an extensive analysis of the civil cases of the time as well as the reasons behind their frequency. Muir’s lively and detailed account of the individuals involved in litigation reveals a paradoxical society where debtors were also debt-collectors. Law, Debt, and Merchant Power demonstrates how important the law was for people in their business affairs and how they shaped it for their own ends.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781487512316
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	10/27/2016
Series:	Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

James Muir is an associate professor in the Department of History and Classics as well as the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Halifax, a community of litigants

Chapter 3: Initiating Actions

Chapter 4: Avoiding Trial

Chapter 5: Going to Trial

Chapter 6: Ending the Action

Chapter 7: Appeals and Other Courts

Chapter 8: Conclusion

Appendix 1: Sources and Methods

Appendix 2: Interpreting Occupational and Status Data

Bibliography

What People are Saying About This

Elizabeth Mancke

"Law, Debt, and Merchant Power is a path breaking analysis of how civil law was used in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Muir's meticulous analysis of civil suits illustrates how important the law was and how bourgeois merchants shaped the administration of law to their needs."

Jerry Bannister

"This book is admirably accurate about the ways the law actually worked in practice, and refreshingly careful to avoid anachronism and over-reach. Muir demonstrates an impressive knowledge of eighteenth-century judicial procedures, and he offers a persuasive analysis of colonial legal culture."

Editorial Reviews

'At the higher methodological level, the work both fascinates and provokes Muir's book is an interesting, original, and important work, part of the new wave of regional scholarship that integrates greater Nova Scotia into the history of the eighteenth-century British Atlantic.'—Barry Cahill, Acadiensis February 2017
'James Muir presents an articulate, nuanced approach to the development of civil procedure in Canada He has collected an impressive amount of historical data in order to reconstruct patterns of litigation in eighteenth-century Halifax.'—Ashton Butler, Saskatchewan Law Review vol 80:2017
"This is the 103^rd book published by the Osgoode Society for Legal History since 1981, part of a sustained effort to understand the law, the courts, and practitioners over the whole of Canadian history from many perspectives."—Douglas McCalla, University of Guelph, Canadian Business History Association Newlsetter, July 2018
"This book is admirably accurate about the ways the law actually worked in practice, and refreshingly careful to avoid anachronism and over-reach. Muir demonstrates an impressive knowledge of eighteenth-century judicial procedures, and he offers a persuasive analysis of colonial legal culture."—Jerry Bannister, Department of History, Dalhousie University
"Law, Debt, and Merchant Power is a path breaking analysis of how civil law was used in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Muir's meticulous analysis of civil suits illustrates how important the law was and how bourgeois merchants shaped the administration of law to their needs."—Elizabeth Mancke, Department of History, University of New Brunswick

From the Publisher

'James Muir presents an articulate, nuanced approach to the development of civil procedure in Canada... He has collected an impressive amount of historical data in order to reconstruct patterns of litigation in eighteenth-century Halifax.'

Saskatchewan Law Review vol 80:2017 - Ashton Butler

'At the higher methodological level, the work both fascinates and provokes... Muir's book is an interesting, original, and important work, part of the new wave of regional scholarship that integrates greater Nova Scotia into the history of the eighteenth-century British Atlantic.'

Acadiensis February 2017 - Barry Cahill

"This is the 103^rd book published by the Osgoode Society for Legal History since 1981, part of a sustained effort to understand the law, the courts, and practitioners over the whole of Canadian history from many perspectives."

Canadian Business History Association Newlsetter, July 2018 - Douglas McCalla