Narratives of Bankruptcy, Failure, and Decline in the Court of Chancery, 1678-1750

This article engages with the contentious and ongoing debate surrounding the usefulness of witness testimony for historical evidence. By utilising Chancery depositions, the article illuminates social and cultural attitudes to bankruptcy, failure, and personal decline, demonstrating how the public nature of status and reputation dictated a person’s ability to function–both economically and socially–within the wider community. Focusing on the collaborative nature of witness testimony will show that the court of Chancery not only acted as a debt-recovery mechanism. It was also an institution which inflected social narratives of credit, debt, and personal failure.