[1] The idea of introducing a court of equity in the province had been around since at least 1801, when Henry Allcock suggested it.
[2] On Allcock's model, Peter Hunter—then the province's lieutenant governor—would be the chancellor and a master of the rolls would also be named.
[5][6] The statute provided the court would "have jurisdiction, and possess the like power and authority as by the laws of England are possessed by the Court of Chancery in England, in respect of the matters hereinafter enumerated".
[9] A commission, comprised in part of James Christie Palmer Esten, William Hume Blake, and Robert Easton Burns, studied the court's operations from 1843 to 1845.
Its recommendations, which suggested simplifying the court's procedures, were largely adopted by a statute passed on June 10, 1857.