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While Equity Slumbered: Creditor Advantage, A Capitalist Land Market, And Upper Canada's Missing Court, John C. Weaver

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Until 1837, Upper Canada had no Court of Chancery. This omission forced stop-gap measures which in the area of mortgages produced a muddle. The confusion introduced into the land market led to protracted controversies among politicians and jurists during the 1820s and 1830s. The many complex principles and motives raised by the lack of an equitable jurisdiction generated much legislative controversy and experimentation. John Beverley Robinson often was central to vital discussions where he revealed both his intelligence and social biases favouring gentlemen of capital. Extremely complicated issues have deflected attention from the central issue: whether the colony needed equity, …