Copyhold

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Copyhold was a form of customary land ownership common from the Late Middle Ages into modern times in England. The name for this type of land tenure is derived from the act of giving a copy of the relevant title deed that is recorded in the manorial court roll to the tenant, rather than the actual land deed itself. The legal owner of the manor land remained the mesne lord, who was legally the copyholder, according to the titles and customs written down in the manorial roll. [1] [2] In return for being given land, a copyhold tenant was required to carry out specific manorial duties or services. The specific rights and duties of copyhold tenants varied greatly from one manor to another and many were established by custom. By the 19th century, many customary duties had been replaced with the payment of rent.

Contents

Copyhold was directly descended from the feudal system of villeinage which involved giving service and produce to the local lord in return for land. Although feudalism in England had ended by the early 1500s, [3] forms of copyhold tenure continued in England until being completely abolished by the Law of Property Act 1925.

Principles

The privileges granted to each tenant, and the exact services he was to render to the lord of the manor and/or lord paramount in return for them, were described in the roll or book kept by the steward, who gave a copy of the relevant entry to the tenant. Consequently, these tenants were afterwards called copyholders, in contrast to freeholders. [4] The actual term "copyhold" is first recorded in 1483, and "copyholder" in 1511–1512. [5] The specific rights and duties of copyholders varied greatly from one manor to another and many were established by custom. Initially, some works and services to the lord were required of copyholders (four days' work per year for example), but these were commuted later to a rent equivalent. Each manor custom laid out rights to use various resources of the land such as wood and pasture, and numbers of animals allowed on the common. Copyholds very commonly required the payment of a type of death duty called a heriot to the lord of the manor upon the decease of the copyholder.

Inheritance

Two main kinds of copyhold tenure developed:

Copyhold land often did not appear in a will. This is because its inheritance was already pre-determined by custom, as just described. It could not therefore be given or devised in a will to any other person. In some instances, the executor of the estate held the copyhold for the term of one year after the decease of the testator, which was called the "executor's year", in parallel with the same concept in common law. Language regarding the disposal of the profits of the executor's year or of a heriot often indicates a copyhold.

Abolition

Copyhold Act 1841 [a]
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1837).svg
Long title An Act for the Commutation of certain Manorial Rights in respect of Lands of Copyhold and Customary Tenure, and in respect of other Lands subject to such Rights, and for facilitating the Enfranchisement of such Lands, and for the Improvement of such Tenure.
Citation 4 & 5 Vict. c. 35
Territorial extent  United Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent 21 June 1841
Commencement 21 June 1841 [b]
Repealed25 August 1894
Other legislation
Amended by
Repealed by Copyhold Act 1894
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
Copyhold Act 1843 [a]
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1837).svg
Long title An Act to amend and explain an Act for the Commutation of certain Manorial Rights in respect of Lands of Copyhold and Customary Tenure, and in respect of other Lands subject to such Rights and for facilitating the Enfranchisement of such Lands, and for the Improvement of such Tenure.
Citation 6 & 7 Vict. c. 23
Territorial extent  United Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent 27 June 1843
Commencement 27 June 1843 [b]
Repealed25 August 1894
Other legislation
Amends Copyhold Act 1841
Amended by
Repealed by Copyhold Act 1894
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
Copyhold Act 1844 [a]
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1837).svg
Long title An Act to amend and explain the Acts for the Commutation of certain Manorial Rights in respect of Lands of Copyhold and Customary Tenure, and in respect of other Lands subject to such Rights; and for facilitating the Enfranchisement of such Lands, and for the Improvement of such Tenure.
Citation 7 & 8 Vict. c. 55
Territorial extent  United Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent 29 July 1844
Commencement 29 July 1844 [b]
Repealed25 August 1894
Other legislation
Amends
Amended by
Repealed by Copyhold Act 1894
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
Copyhold Act 1852 [c]
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1837).svg
Long title An Act to extend the Provisions of the Acts for the Commutation of Manorial Rights, and for the gradual Enfranchisement of Lands of Copyhold and Customary Tenure.
Citation 15 & 16 Vict. c. 51
Territorial extent  United Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent 30 June 1852
Commencement 30 June 1852 [b]
Repealed25 August 1894
Other legislation
Amends
Amended by
Repealed by Copyhold Act 1894
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
Copyhold Act 1858 [d]
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1837).svg
Long title An Act to amend the Copyhold Acts.
Citation 21 & 22 Vict. c. 94
Territorial extent  United Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent 2 August 1858
Commencement 1 October 1858 [e]
Repealed25 August 1894
Other legislation
Amends
Amended by Copyhold Act 1887
Repealed by Copyhold Act 1894
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
Copyhold Act 1887 [f]
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1837).svg
Long title An Act to amend the Copyhold Acts, and for the Enfranchisement of Copyhold and Customary Lands.
Citation 50 & 51 Vict. c. 73
Territorial extent  United Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent 16 September 1887
Commencement 16 September 1887 [b]
Repealed25 August 1894
Other legislation
Amends
Repealed by Copyhold Act 1894
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
Copyhold Act 1894 [g]
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1837).svg
Long title An Act to consolidate the Copyhold Acts.
Citation 57 & 58 Vict. c. 46
Territorial extent  England and Wales [h]
Dates
Royal assent 25 August 1894
Commencement 25 August 1894 [b]
Repealed22 October 1969
Other legislation
Amends Universities and College Estates Act Extension 1860
Repeals/revokes
Repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969
Relates to
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

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". The Copyhold Act 1841 (4 & 5 Vict. c. 35), Copyhold Act 1843 (6 & 7 Vict. c. 23), Copyhold Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. 55), Copyhold Act 1852 (15 & 16 Vict. c. 51), Copyhold Act 1858 (21 & 22 Vict. c. 94) and Copyhold Act 1887 (50 & 51 Vict. c. 73) were consolidated in the Copyhold Act 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. c. 46). [7]

Part V of the Law of Property Act 1925 (15 & 16 Geo. 5. c. 20) finally abolished all remaining statutes.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Section 54 of the Copyhold Act 1852 (15 & 16 Vict. c. 51).
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793.
  3. Section 54.
  4. Section 52.
  5. Section 1.
  6. Section 50.
  7. Section 101.
  8. Section 99.

References

  1. Wilkes, J. (1815). "Lord". Encyclopaedia Londinensis. Vol. 13. J. Wilkes, 1815. p. 661. Retrieved 15 January 2019. Lord is also a title ... Lord mesne is he that is owner of a manor, and by virtue thereof hath tenants holding of him in fee, and by copy of court-roll; and yet holds himself of a superior lord called lord paramount.
  2. "Reports of cases: House of Lords". The Jurist. 10 (1). S. Sweet: 893–895. 1865. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  3. Salmon, J. H. M. (1979). "The End of Feudalism". Society in Crisis: France in the Sixteenth Century. pp. 19–26.
  4. Bland, W., Enclosure of Commons and Waste Lands, formerly in the townships of Belper, Duffield, Hazelwood, Heage, Holbrooke, Turnditch, and elsewhere in the old Parish of Duffield, jjb.uk.com [ usurped ]
  5. "copyhold, copyholder" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)(subscription required)
  6. Blackstone, William (1753). "Book 2, Chapter VI: Of the Modern English Tenures". Commentaries on the Laws of England.
  7. Copyhold Act 1894 Archived 25 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading