Muir Hunter Museum

The Muir Hunter Museum of Bankruptcy at CILP holds, amongst other items, the following exhibits:

• A 1792 bankruptcy indenture.
• An Insolvency Act 2000 signed by the writer, actor and comedian Stephen Fry.
• A Copy of the Dr. Hook album ’Bankrupt’.
• An ‘Enron House’ thermos flask.
• An original ‘Bankrupted by Beanies’ t-shirt.
• A 1912 Punch Magazine solicitor/bankrupt conversation illustration.
• An original Railtrack Group Third Liquidation Payment cheque.
• A large collection of 19th century bankruptcy papers relating to four different bankruptcies, including over 300 pages of material.
• An original letter from the first Accountant–General in Bankruptcy, Basil Montagu.
• An original copy of the 1813 Act for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors.
• An original copy of the Cork Report signed by two members of the Committee.
• Various other items of bankruptcy ephemera, including papers from bankruptcies in 1911 and 1952.
• A miniature set of pillories and a plastic human ear. Two exhibits that represent the punishments that could befall a debtor pursuant to the 1604 Act for the Better Relief of the Creditors Against Such As Shall Become Bankrupts 1.Jac, c.15.
•  A very rare copy (no copies are extant in any of the Inns of Court libraries) of Basil Montagu’s treatise on composition: Montagu, B. Summary of the Law of Composition with Creditors, London, 1823.

The Museum’s collection is growing apace. If you have any items that you think will sit well in the collection please contact the Curator who would be very pleased to discuss any possible donations. The Trustees of the Museum are particularly keen to obtain an auto-icon of a bankruptcy.

Insolvency Quotes

Bankruptcy 'The state of things which exists when, a man being unable to pay his debts, his solicitor and an accountant divide all his property between them'"
From: Blake Odgers, W & Poland, H (Eds). A Century of Law Reform. Macmillan and Co Ltd, London. 1901, at page 14.

'Insolvency is not a very thrilling or amusing subject'
Lord Mischon, Hansard , 15 January 1985

'One must have some sort of occupation nowadays. If I hadn't my debts I shouldn't have anything to think about'
Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance. 1893

'Our professional duties consist, not merely in activity and in publication upon some practical part of professional knowledge, which repay themselves; but in availing ourselves of every opportunity to visit and strengthen the route and foundation of the science itself'.
Montagu, B. Some Observations upon the Bill for the Improvement of the Bankrupt Laws. Butterworths, London, 1822, at page 73.

'Commercial morality, and respect for the rule of law, may be said to constitute the very bedrock upon which the law of bankruptcy is founded'
Fletcher, IF. The Law of Insolvency. 3rd Edition. Sweet & Maxwell Ltd, London, 2003, at paragraph 6-031.

'I like not lawes written in bloud'
Sir Edward Coke in the House of Commons on May 24, 1621, in response to a suggestion that bankrupts should be whipped to death.

'Know, there are found, on whose dilated breasts The heav'n-descended dove of pity rests, Souls that delight with fostering smiles to cheer The broken heart, and dry affliction's tear; Pluck the wan debtor from his noisome den, And launch him on the cheerful walks of men'
CUMB, Epilogue.

'The statement in paragraph 35 of the Cork Report that the Act was passed in 1542 (and repeated elsewhere) must now be regarded as erroneous'
Professor David Graham Q.C. in Graham, D. The formative years of English Insolvency Law - 1543 to 1603 (1995) Phoenix, December 1995, Issue 21, pages 23 to 25.

'Finally, a few words must be said about the uninteresting but important subject of bankruptcy jurisdiction……..'
Jenks, E. A Short History of English Law: From the Earliest Times to the End of the Year 1911. Metheun & Co. Ltd. 1912.

'Bankrupt [banqueroute, Fr. Bancorotto, Ital] In debt beyond the power of payment'
Johnson, S. A Dictionary of the English Language; in which the words are deduced from their originals; and illustrated in their different significations, by examples from the best writers; together with a history of language, and English grammar. 2nd Edition. Volume I. Longman, London, 1827

'Sir, if you spend word for word with me, I shall make your wit bankrupt'
Shakespeare

'The King's grown bankrupt like a broken man'
Shakespeare

'I do not think I am being unfair to Mr. Blair and his colleagues if I surmise that this is the only government in the world that could entitle bankruptcy legislation as an Enterprise Act'
Jack Maurice in 'Hurrah for Insolvency' Practical Audit and Accounting, 15 PAA 9, 103-104.