New York State Supreme Court of Judicature (New York) Writs of Error

Arranged in two sub-series, the first writs of error alone, and the second writs of error with transcript of proceedings, then chronological by year.

The writ of error was a document sent by the Supreme Court of Judicature, functioning as an appellate court, to an inferior court asking that court to provide information on one of its cases that had been appealed. The series also includes the "transcripts of records," which are the copies of the court papers sent to the superior court for review based on these writs. This document type is alternatively identified as a "transcript" or "record." Bundles of such records filed in later years are identified as "writ of error and transcript of record." In such cases, the writ of error is typically folded within the transcript. About two-thirds of the series consists of writs of error unaccompanied by transcripts, while the remainder of the series includes both the writ and the transcript of the judgment and proceedings in the trial court.

A writ of error outlined the alleged error in the original judgment made by the judges of the trial court and ordered a response. The trial court responded with a transcript of the record of the case, which included a review of the case and the signed judgment.

Courts to which the writs of error in this series were sent include, but are not limited to, the Mayor's Court of New York and the Dutchess and Orange Courts of Common Pleas. These writs originated in both the New York and Albany offices of the Supreme Court of Judicature.

Until 1815, the Court of Chancery submitted these sealed orders on behalf of the Supreme Court of Judicature. Most of the writs of error in this series were witnessed and signed by Robert R. Livingston, the Esquire Chancellor of the Court of Chancery, but they were marked returnable to the Supreme Court of Judicature.

These records were transferred by the New York State Unified Court System, Office of Court Administration in 2017.

This series was assembled from several locations in the New York County Clerk's Office by staff of the Unified Court System.

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