1827 Bankruptcy of Samuel Churchill (1773-1840)

 David French

under construction

Samuel Churchill's bankruptcy, 1827

In the early 1820s Samuel Churchill, the senior partner of Messrs. Churchill and Field, solicitors, was one of the most prominent personalities in Deddington.

He had begun to run up large debts, however, and was declared bankrupt in March 1827. His total unsatisfied liabilities were subsequently found to amount to £58,232 18s. 8d. His bankruptcy was not finally wound up until 1867, 27 years after his death in 1840, aged 67. Creditors ultimately received in total 4s. 11⅛d. in the pound.

His bankruptcy court records survive at The National Archives in Kew, and run to 539 pages.

For more information, please see the below links:

•  Summary of proceedings by Bankruptcy Commissioners 1827-1867

•  Article discussing Samuel Churchill's bankruptcy (link to Topic 8 to be inserted)

•  Details of Deddington and Clifton creditors

The case file includes the minutes of the examinations of witnesses by the Bankruptcy Commissioners:

The above numbers in parenthesis denote the folio number in the Summary. It should be noted that the case file lacks certain exhibits and accounts, and items are not necessarily in date order.