Copyhold
Encyclopedia
At its origin in medieval England, copyhold tenure
was tenure of land
according to the custom of the manor
, the "title deeds" being a copy of the record of the manorial court.
The privileges granted to each tenant, and the exact services he was to render to the Lord of the Manor
in return for them, were described in a book kept by the Steward
, who gave a copy of the same to the tenant; consequently these tenants were afterwards called copyholders in contrast to freeholders.
Two main kinds of copyhold tenure developed:
Genealogists may find it helpful to note that copyhold land often did not appear in a will. This is because its inheritance was already pre-determined, as just described. It could not therefore be given or devised in a will to any other person.
Copyholds were gradually enfranchised (turned into ordinary holdings of land – either freehold or 999-year leasehold) as a result of the Copyhold Acts during the 19th century. By this time, servitude to the Lord of the Manor was merely token, discharged on purchasing the copyhold by payment of a "fine in respite of fealty". Part V of the Law of Property Act 1922 finally extinguished the last of them.
Land tenure
Land tenure is the name given, particularly in common law systems, to the legal regime in which land is owned by an individual, who is said to "hold" the land . The sovereign monarch, known as The Crown, held land in its own right. All private owners are either its tenants or sub-tenants...
was tenure of land
Real property
In English Common Law, real property, real estate, realty, or immovable property is any subset of land that has been legally defined and the improvements to it made by human efforts: any buildings, machinery, wells, dams, ponds, mines, canals, roads, various property rights, and so forth...
according to the custom of the manor
Manor
-Land tenure:*Manor, an estate in land of the mediaeval era in England*Manorialism, a system of land tenure and organization of the rural economy and society in parts of medieval Europe based on the manor*Manor house, the principal house of a manor...
, the "title deeds" being a copy of the record of the manorial court.
The privileges granted to each tenant, and the exact services he was to render to the Lord of the Manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
in return for them, were described in a book kept by the Steward
Steward (office)
A steward is an official who is appointed by the legal ruling monarch to represent him or her in a country, and may have a mandate to govern it in his or her name; in the latter case, it roughly corresponds with the position of governor or deputy...
, who gave a copy of the same to the tenant; consequently these tenants were afterwards called copyholders in contrast to freeholders.
Two main kinds of copyhold tenure developed:
- Copyhold of Inheritance: with one main tenant landholder who paid rentRentingRenting is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property owned by another. A gross lease is when the tenant pays a flat rental amount and the landlord pays for all property charges regularly incurred by the ownership from landowners...
and undertook duties to the Lord. When they died, the holding normally passed to their next heir - who might be the eldest son/daughter (primogeniturePrimogeniturePrimogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
); or youngest son/daughter (Borough English or ultimogenitureUltimogenitureUltimogeniture, also known as postremogeniture or junior right, is the tradition of inheritance by the last-born of the entirety of, or a privileged position in, a parent's wealth, estate or office...
); or a division between children (partible inheritance), depending upon the custom of that particular manor. During their life the tenant could usually 'sell' the holding to another person by formally surrendering it to the Lord to be regranted to them. This was recorded in the court rollCourt rollThe Manorial Roll or Court Roll is the roll or record kept in connection with a manorial court, in particular containing entries relating to the rents and holdings, deaths, alienations, and successions of the customary tenants or copyholders. A copy of the court roll constitutes the tenant's title...
and formed the new 'copyhold' for the purchaser. - Copyhold for Lives: three named persons were nominated, the first-named was the holder tenant and held for the duration of their life. The other two were said to be 'in reversion and remainder' and effectively formed a queue. When the first life died, the second-named inherited the property and nominated a new third life for the end of the new queue. These were recorded in the court rolls as the 'copyhold' for this type of tenant. It was not usually possible for these holdings to be sold, as there were three lives with an entitlementPur autre vieThe French translation of pur autre vie is "for another's life." It is also spelled "pour autre vie" in modern French.- Property Law :Pur autre vie is a phrase used to describe the duration of a property interest in property law in the United States and some Canadian provinces...
. Copyhold for Lives is therefore regarded as a less secure tenancy than Copyhold for Inheritance.
Genealogists may find it helpful to note that copyhold land often did not appear in a will. This is because its inheritance was already pre-determined, as just described. It could not therefore be given or devised in a will to any other person.
Copyholds were gradually enfranchised (turned into ordinary holdings of land – either freehold or 999-year leasehold) as a result of the Copyhold Acts during the 19th century. By this time, servitude to the Lord of the Manor was merely token, discharged on purchasing the copyhold by payment of a "fine in respite of fealty". Part V of the Law of Property Act 1922 finally extinguished the last of them.
See also
- History of English land lawHistory of English land lawThe history of English land law derives from a mixture of Roman, Norman and modern legislative sources.Such terms as "fee" or "homage" carry us back into feudal times. Rights of common and distress are based upon still older institutions, forming the very basis of primitive law...
- Tenure in feu (the general name for the following)
-
-
- Tenure by grand sergeantySerjeantyUnder the feudal system in late and high medieval England, tenure by serjeanty was a form of land-holding in return for some specified service, ranking between tenure by knight-service and tenure in socage...
- Tenure by grand sergeanty
-
- Tenure by petty sergeantySerjeantyUnder the feudal system in late and high medieval England, tenure by serjeanty was a form of land-holding in return for some specified service, ranking between tenure by knight-service and tenure in socage...
- Tenure of Knight-serviceKnight-serviceKnight-service was a form of Feudal land tenure under which a knight held a fief or estate of land termed a knight's fee from an overlord conditional on him as tenant performing military service for his overlord....
- Tenure by frankalmoinFrankalmoinFrankalmoin or frankalmoigne was one of the feudal land tenures in feudal England. Its literal meaning is "free pity/mercy", from Norman French fraunch aumoyne, “free alms”, from Late Latin eleemosyna, from Greek ἐλεημοσύνη , "pity, alms", from ἐλεήμων "merciful", from ἔλεος , "pity"...
or free alms - Tenure by socageSoke (legal)The term soke ), at the time of the Norman Conquest of England generally denoted "jurisdiction", but due to vague usage probably lacks a single precise definition....
(including such forms as)- gavelkindGavelkindGavelkind was a system of land tenure associated chiefly with the county of Kent, but found also in other parts of England. Its inheritance pattern bears resemblance to Salic patrimony and as such might testify in favour of a wider, probably ancient Germanic tradition.It was legally abolished in...
- borough English
- burgageBurgageBurgage is a medieval land term used in England and Scotland, well established by the 13th century. A burgage was a town rental property , owned by a king or lord. The property usually, and distinctly, consisted of a house on a long and narrow plot of land, with the narrow end facing the street...
- gavelkind
-
- Tenure of villeinage (which preceded copyhold).
Further reading
- http://www.archive.org/details/atreatiseoncopy00scrigoogScriven, John, (Serjeant at law), A treatise on copyhold, customary freehold, and ancient demesne tenure: with the jurisdiction of Courts baron and Courts leet; also an appendix, containing rules for holding Customary courts, Courts baron and Courts leet, forms of court rolls, deputations, and copyhold assurances, and extracts from the relative acts of Parliament, 2 vols., 2nd. ed., London, 1823]
- Andrew Barsby (1996) Manorial Law
- Gray,C.M. (1963) Copyhold, Equity and the Common Law
- Tawney,R.H. (1912) The Agrarian Problem of the Sixteenth Century