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The quarter (lit. "one-fourth") was used as the name of several distinct English units based on ¼ sizes of some base unit.
The "quarter of London" mentioned by Magna Carta as the national standard measure for wine, ale, and grain [1] was ¼ ton or tun. It continued to be used, e.g. to regulate the prices of bread. [2] This quarter was a unit of 8 bushels of 8 gallons each, understood at the time as a measure of both weight and volume: the grain gallon or half-peck was composed of 76,800 (Tower) grains weight; the ale gallon was composed of the ale filling an equivalent container; and the wine gallon was composed of the wine weighing an equivalent amount to a full gallon of grain.
In measures of length, the quarter (qr.) was ¼ of a yard, formerly an important measure in the cloth trade. [3] [4] [5] 3 qr. was a Flemish ell, 4 quarters were a yard, 5 qr. was an (English) ell, and 6 qr. was an aune or French ell. [3] [4] Each quarter was made up of 4 nails. [3] [4] Its metric equivalent was formerly reckoned as about 0.228596 m, [5] but the International Yard and Pound Agreement set it as 0.2286 exactly in 1959. [a]
The modern statutory definition of Imperial units, the Weights and Measures Act 1985 as amended by The Units of Measurement Regulations 1994, defines the quarter as a unit of mass equal to 28 pounds. [6]
In measures of weight and mass at the time of Magna Carta , the quarter was 1⁄4 ton or (originally 500 pounds).[ citation needed ] By the time of the Norman French copies of the c. 1300 Assize of Weights and Measures, the quarter had changed to 512 lbs. [7] These copies describe the "London quarter" as notionally derived from eight "London bushels" of eight wine gallons of eight pounds of 15 ounces of 20 pennyweights of 32 grains of wheat, taken whole from the middle of an ear; [8] [9] the published Latin edition omits the quarter and describes corn gallons instead. [10]
The quarter (qr. av. or quartier) came to mean 1⁄4 of a hundredweight: 2 stone or 28 avoirdupois pounds [11] (about 12.7 kg): this is its (only) statutory definition since 1993. [6]
The Weights and Measures Act 1824 (5 Geo. 4. c. 74) declared that, for measures of liquids and unheaped dry volume, a 'quarter' equals eight bushels (64 imperial gallons (290.95 L), where a gallon is defined as a volume of water weight ten troy pounds). [12] The term pail is also used for this unit of dry volume. [13] The 1824 Act delegitimised all previous definitions.
The Weights and Measures Act 1985 (as amended) no longer shows the quarter as a unit of volume: an 1825 quarter of wheat would weigh about 494 lb (224 kg), [b] substantially more than the 1985 definition.
In measures of liquid volume at the time of Magna Carta , the quarter of wine was (originally) ¼ tun: 8 London bushels or 64 wine gallons (242.27 L) . [15] [16] The tun was subsequently redefined as 252 gallons, and the quarter was effectively ¼ pipe or butt. [15] The quarter of wine was a gallon larger than a hogshead: [15] since the wine gallon was considered to be 231 cubic inches, [17] the measure was 242.27 litres.
The ale gallon was 282 cubic inches, [18] meaning the quarter of ale was 295.75 litres.
Cardarelli also says it can vary from 17 to 30 imperial gallons for liquor. [19]
The gallon is a unit of volume in British imperial units and United States customary units. Three different versions are in current use:
The imperial system of units, imperial system or imperial units is the system of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act 1824 and continued to be developed through a series of Weights and Measures Acts and amendments.
United States customary units form a system of measurement units commonly used in the United States and most U.S. territories since being standardized and adopted in 1832. The United States customary system developed from English units that were in use in the British Empire before the U.S. became an independent country. The United Kingdom's system of measures evolved by 1824 to create the imperial system, which was officially adopted in 1826, changing the definitions of some of its units. Consequently, while many U.S. units are essentially similar to their imperial counterparts, there are noticeable differences between the systems.
The pint is a unit of volume or capacity in both the imperial and United States customary measurement systems. In both of those systems it is traditionally one eighth of a gallon. The British imperial pint is about 20% larger than the American pint because the two systems are defined differently. Almost all other countries have standardized on the metric system, so although some of them still also have traditional units called pints, the volume varies by regional custom.
A bushel is an imperial and US customary unit of volume based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel is equal to 2 kennings (obsolete), 4 pecks, or 8 dry gallons, and was used mostly for agricultural products, such as wheat. In modern usage, the volume is nominal, with bushels denoting a mass defined differently for each commodity.
The tun is an English unit of liquid volume, used for measuring wine, oil or honey. Typically a large vat or vessel, most often holding 252 wine gallons, but occasionally other sizes were also used. The modern tun is about 954 litres.
English units were the units of measurement used in England up to 1826, which evolved as a combination of the Anglo-Saxon and Roman systems of units. Various standards have applied to English units at different times, in different places, and for different applications.
The traditional Polish units of measurement included two uniform yet distinct systems of weights and measures, as well as a number of related systems borrowed from neighbouring states. The first attempt at standardisation came with the introduction of the Old Polish measurement [system], also dubbed the Warsaw system, introduced by a royal decree of December 6, 1764. The system was later replaced by the New Polish measurement [system] introduced on January 1, 1819.
Both the British imperial measurement system and United States customary systems of measurement derive from earlier English unit systems used prior to 1824 that were the result of a combination of the local Anglo-Saxon units inherited from Germanic tribes and Roman units.
The Assize of Bread and Ale was a 13th-century law in high medieval England, which regulated the price, weight and quality of the bread and beer manufactured and sold in towns, villages and hamlets. It was the first law in British history to regulate the production and sale of food. At the local level, this resulted in regulatory licensing systems, with arbitrary recurring fees, and fines and punishments for lawbreakers. In rural areas, the statute was enforced by manorial lords, who held tri-weekly court sessions.
Weights and Measures Acts are acts of the British Parliament determining the regulation of weights and measures. It also refers to similar royal and parliamentary acts of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland and the medieval Welsh states. The earliest of these were originally untitled but were given descriptive glosses or titles based upon the monarch under whose reign they were promulgated. Several omnibus modern acts have the short title "Weights and Measures Act" and are distinguished by the year of their enactment.
Winchester measure is a set of legal standards of volume instituted in the late 15th century (1495) by King Henry VII of England and in use, with some modifications, until the present day. It consists of the Winchester bushel and its dependent quantities, the peck, (dry) gallon and (dry) quart. They would later become known as the Winchester Standards, named because the examples were kept in the city of Winchester.
The last was a Dutch unit of mass, volume, and number, and a large English unit of weight, mass, volume, and number. It referred to standardized amounts of ships' lading and varied by commodity and over time.
The imperial and US customary measurement systems are both derived from an earlier English system of measurement which in turn can be traced back to Ancient Roman units of measurement, and Carolingian and Saxon units of measure.
A firkin is a unit of volume or mass used in several situations. Its etymology is likely to be from the Middle English ferdekyn, probably from the Middle Dutch diminutive of vierde 'fourth'. Firkin also describes a small wooden cask or tub for butter, lard, liquids, or fish.
A number of units of measurement were used in Cuba to measure quantities like mass, area, and capacity. In Cuba, Metric system has been compulsory since 1858.
A number of different units of measurement were historically used in Cyprus to measure quantities like length, mass, area and capacity. Before the Metric system, the Imperial system was used. In between 1986-1988, metric system was adopted in Cyprus.
A number of units of measurement were used in Iceland to measure length, mass, area, capacity, etc. Since 1907, the metric system has been compulsory in Iceland.
A number of units of measurement were used in South Africa to measure quantities like length, mass, capacity, etc. The Imperial system of measurements was made standard in 1922 and the metric system was adopted in 1961.
The Exchequer Standards may refer to the set of official English standards for weights and measures created by Queen Elizabeth I, and in effect from 1588 to 1825, when the Imperial units system took effect, or to the whole range of English unit standards maintained by the Court of the Exchequer from the 1200s, or to the physical reference standards physically kept at the Exchequer and used as the legal reference until the such responsibility was transferred in the 1860s, after the Imperial system had been established.
Two such Gallons shall be a Peck, and Eight such Gallons shall be a Bushel, and Eight such Bushels a Quarter of Corn or other dry Goods, not measured by Heaped Measure.. (The date of coming into effect was 1 May 1825).
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