Editing Exchequer of Pleas (section)

===Loss of equity jurisdiction and dissolution===
[[Image:English common law courts before judicature acts (exchequer highlighted).png|thumb|300px|[[English common law]] courts before the Judicature Acts|alt=A hierarchical chart of the English common law courts before judicature acts.  The lowest portion of the chart is the Common Pleas and Assizes at Nisi Prius with arrows pointing toward each other.  Common Pleas parent is King's Bench which is also the parent of equal level Local courts.  The Exchequer is the parent of the Assizies at Nisi Prius.  The parent of both the King's Bench and Exchequer is the Exchequer Chamber and top of the chart is the House of Lords.]]
By the beginning of the 18th century, the equity jurisdiction of the Exchequer of Pleas was firmly cemented, and it was considered a viable alternative to the [[Court of Chancery]]. As a result, each court cited the other's cases as precedent, and drew closely together. In addition, 18th-century Acts of Parliament treated them in the same way, merely referring to "courts of equity" rather than mentioning them individually. At the same time, the [[HM Treasury|Treasury]] became more and more important, leading to a reduction in the inferior Exchequer's influence. Despite these warning signs, the Exchequer continued to flourish, maintaining a large amount of business, and by 1810 was almost entirely an equity court, having little common law work.<ref>Bryson (2008) p.160</ref> 

The court's equity side became deeply unpopular during the 1830s because many cases were heard by a single judge with no real prospect of appeal; while cases could be taken to the House of Lords, it was highly expensive and time-consuming to do so.<ref>Bryson (2008) p.161</ref> The Court of Chancery, however, had long had an established method of appealing to the Lords,<ref>Kerly (1890) p.168</ref> and later introduced an intermediary appellate court – the [[Court of Appeal in Chancery]].<ref>Lobban (Spring 2004) p.390</ref> 

At the same time, many elements of the Exchequer's equity business had dried up, with the [[Tithe Commutation Act 1836]] ending their tithe cases and the Insolvent Debtors Act 1820 establishing the [[Bankruptcy|Court of Bankruptcy]], removing cases of insolvency from the Exchequer. The Exchequer's fees were also higher than those of the Court of Chancery, and with both courts now using almost identical precedent it was seen as unnecessary to maintain two equitable courts.<ref>Bryson (2008) p.163</ref> As a result, the Administration of Justice Act 1841 formally dissolved the equitable jurisdiction of the court.<ref>Bryson (2008) p.162</ref>

With the loss of its equitable jurisdiction, the Exchequer became a dedicated common law court, and thus fell prey to the same fate as the other two common law courts (the [[Court of King's Bench (England)|Court of Queen's Bench]] and the [[Court of Common Pleas (England)|Court of Common Pleas]]) during the late 19th century. There had long been calls for the merger of the courts, and in 1828 [[Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux|Henry Brougham]], a Member of Parliament, complained in Parliament that as long as there were three courts unevenness was inevitable, saying that "It is not in the power of the courts, even if all were monopolies and other restrictions done away, to distribute business equally, as long as suitors are left free to choose their own tribunal", and that there would always be a favourite court, which would therefore attract the best lawyers and judges and entrench its position.<ref>Brougham (1828) p.10</ref>

In 1867 a commission was created to look into issues with the central courts, and the outcome were the [[Judicature Acts]], under which all the central courts were made part of a single [[Senior Courts of England and Wales|Supreme Court of Judicature]], with the three central common law courts becoming three of the five divisions of the Supreme Court; this was not designed to be permanent, but rather to avoid having to retire or demote two of the three Chief Justices to allow a single head of the Supreme Court, as this would have violated the constitutional principle that senior justices were irremovable. By sheer chance [[Fitzroy Kelly]] and [[Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet|Alexander Cockburn]], [[Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer]] and [[Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales|Lord Chief Justice of England]], respectively, both died in 1880, allowing the merger of the common law divisions of the Supreme Court into a single division, the [[High Court of Justice#Queen.27s Bench Division|Queen's Bench Division]], under [[John Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge|John Coleridge]], who had been [[Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas]] and became Lord Chief Justice of England, by an [[Order in Council]] of 16 December 1880. At this point, the Exchequer of Pleas formally ceased to exist.<ref>Mackay (2002) p.603</ref>