Chancery Court, or the Court of Equity and Conscience, was the
highest of several courts-Admiralty, Chancery, Claims, Palatine,
and General Court-that originated in the Grand Council of early
North Carolina  as part of a general grant of juridical powers
made by the English Crown to the Lords Proprietors  in the
Carolina charters of 1663 and 1665 . The court was composed of
the governor , at least five deputies (including a chancery
clerk, originally the provincial clerk of court), and sheriffs
of the adjacent counties, who were responsible for enforcing all
decrees. The Chancery Court, which did not possess an
independent identity prior to the 1690s, held final jurisdiction
over lands, wills, administrations, guardianships, and
misconduct in high office. These matters were handled on a day-
to-day basis by the clerks and justices of the county courts,
but-especially in the case of suspected fraud, a complicated
trust, or an accidental death-a caveat, or legal protest, might
be issued by one party, and for the