JCAVOK. 



MANOR <J 



I. Orfcw i/ aYaawr*. At UM time of the Norman conquest mane- 

 riu* or icanriiitm (from mmmm, to dwell) denoted a Urge mansion or 

 dwelling The " manerium " of too Exchequer Douicaday it the 

 " mansto " of the Exeter Domesday, each being therefore the equivalent 

 of the Anglo 8*000 or French term u*ed by the officer* who made the 

 urrer. [Exjrrn DOMMIUY.] In Franco the corresponding wur4 

 * maooir " has never acquired any other signification than that of a 

 manaion ; and aa eaUte poeaewing the peculiar incident* uf ao KnglUli 

 manor never became ao common in Franco a* to require a (pacific 



The modern Engliah manor derive* ita origin from aubinfeudatiun 

 [FIT DAL SYSTEM], a* it existed before the modinuation* of the system uf 

 tenure* introduced in 1'J-J.i by Magni Charts, and the (till more import- 

 ant alteration* made in 120 by " The King'* Statute of buying and 

 wiling Lands," commencing with the word* " Quia Emptores Terra- 

 rum," and in 13.' 4 by the statute 'De Prerogative Kegis,' by which 

 (tatutea, the prooea* of tubinfeudation, or of granting land, &c. in fee- 

 simple, to be hcl i by the grantee an a tenant or vassal to the grantor, 

 wai stopped. 



\V,,<-re a subiufeudation made by A to B extended to the whole of 

 A'a land, nothing remained in A but a seigniory with the ordinary 

 feud*! incident* of tenure, together with such rents or other services 

 a* might have been reserved upon the creation of the aubtenure. 

 Thi* interest in A was a seigniory in gross, that is, a seigniory hnld 

 by lUelf, unattached to any land, an incorporeal seigniory, termed 

 by the French feudisU " un fief en fair." But in the case of niib- 

 iufeudation of purl of the land, the ordinary mode of proceeding was 

 Uu: A, a large proprietor, having a mansion and land at Dole, 

 created a tubtenure in a portion of hi* kind by granting such portion 

 to B and hi* heirs, to hold of A and his heirs, as of A'* moneriuin 

 (manaion) of Dale, which word* created an implied condition that 

 B should perform the service of attending, with the other tenants 

 of A holding by viitue of similar subinfeudations, at A's halmote of 

 Dole, that is, at A* court meeting in the boll of A'a mansion at Dale 

 (afterwards called A's court-baron of his manor of Dole), for the 

 e of deciding judicially all disputes among A's free tenant* 

 O f him by the same tenure as B, in respect of their lauds so 

 and also all action* brought by persons claiming such lands. 



Upon this subinfeudation being effected, A would continue to be the 

 owner of the mansion of Dole and of that part of the laud of Dale, of 

 which he had made no subinfeudotion, in demesne (in domiuico suo), 

 - M his own immediate property ; and he would have the seigniory of 

 lands of which B and others hod been subinfeofled, as a seigniory 

 appendant or legally annexed to the mansion of Dale, and to the 

 demesnes of Dale, of which the manaion formed part. 



This conjoint or complex estate, taking its denomination from the 

 mansion (monerium), which was considered as it* head, and which, in 

 the language of the Year Book of It Edward II. (Moyiiard, 426), 

 ' drew to itself all the appendancies," by degrees acquired the name of 

 minerium or manor. 



A manor therefore oriffinaUg consisted of lands in demesne, upon 

 which the lord boil a manaion, and to which lands and m n-i<m, and 

 more especially to the latter, there was appendant a seigniory over 

 freeholders qualified in respect of quantity of estate (that is, by a 

 tenancy for life at the least, if not a tenancy in fee-simple), and suffi- 

 cient in point of number, to constitute a court-baron. These free- 

 holder* were called vavaswra [VAVABSOH], and their lands " tene- 

 mtti** 1 lands," that is, lands granted nut in tenure, to distinguish 

 them from the lord's demesnes. These tenenicntal lands, anciently 

 known by the denomination of vavaasories, though held of the manor 

 and within the seigniory (or. as it was usually termed, within the fee) 

 of the lord, were not considered a* part of the manor ; but the sen-ices 

 issuing from such tenements! land* were part of the manor and essen- 

 tial to it* existence. 



Afterwards it was sufficient if the site of *a mansion at which the 

 service* had been reserved, or as it was called, the site of the manor. 

 formed part of the demesne* ; and, at lost, this veatige of the origin of 

 toe name of the estate was dispensed with, and if the lord retained any 

 portion of the land, so that there would be some demesnes to which 

 UM seigniory over the freehold tenant* of the manor, and the services 

 rendered by them, might continue to be appendant, the compound 

 estate called a manor won not dissolved, whether it could be shown that 

 mansion bad ever (toed on the part of the demesne* or lands retained, 

 or not, and even if the lord had aliened and severed from hi* demesnes 

 Uw spot on which the mansion had once stood. 



1 1. \attirt tatd ixcideutt of Manor*. A manor is commonly said to 

 consist of demesne* and service*. It i* quaintly, but perhaps more 

 correctly stated by Fulbeck, that these " are the material causes of a 

 manor ; " for though there can be no manor unless there be both 

 demesnes and services, other things may also be members and parcel 

 of a manor. 



1. The demesne* are those lands within the manor, of which the 

 lord is *eied. that i, of which he ha* the freehold, whether they are in 

 his own occupation, or in that of hi* tenant* at will, or hi* tenant* 

 for year*. The tenant* at will have either a common-law estate, 

 holding at UM joint will of the lessor and of the leene, or a customary 

 e*Ute, holding at the will of the lord according to the custom of the 



manor. [CopraoLD.] The tenancy for yean of lands within a manor 

 is, in modem tiini-ii, usually a common-law estate, though in thu 

 oaMasionable manors, parcel of the duchy uf Cornwall, customary 

 estate* for yean (till *ubni*t (VI II.); and where a copyholder sur- 

 renden for yean, the surrenderee becomes a customary tenant for 

 years of the |H vrtion of the demesne* ao surrendered. 



2. The service* of a manor are, the rent*, and other service*, due 

 !rm freehold tenants holding of the manor. These services are 

 annexed or appendant to the seigniory over the lands holden by such 

 freehold tenant*. The lands holdeu by the freeholder* of the manor 

 are holden o/the manor, but are not in'Mi'n, or parcel of, the manor, 

 though within the lord's fee, or manerial seigniory. 



Copyholds, being part of the demesne*, are not held of the manor, 

 but ore within and parcel of the manor. 



The demesne lands were formerly called the inland, and the tene- 

 mental lands, the //</, of the manor. 



3. But though a perfect legal manor cannot exist without demesne* 

 and services, other incorporeal hereditaments, which are not services, 

 may be parcel of the manor, at advowsous, rights of common, rights of 

 way, &e., and, under peculiar circumstances, even rents-seek and rents- 

 charge. 



In general, the power of holding court** of justice, whether for the 

 decision of criminal matters or for the determination of civil : 

 can be exercised only under authority derived from the crown, either 

 by actual grantor l,y pre.-< ription; and iu onler to prevent usurpa- 

 tions of such a power, the crown may at any time issue process fur the 

 purpose of instituting an inquiry by what authority [Quo WARRAXTO] 

 a subject holds a court of justice. But it is a distinguishing feat 

 the feudal system, to moke civil jurisdiction necessarily, and criminal 

 jurisdiction ordinarily, coextensive with tenure. Upon this principle 

 there is inseparably incident to every manor a court I 

 num), being a court in which the freeholders of the manor are the 

 sole judges, but in which the lord, by himself, or more commonly bv 

 his steward, presides. The jurisdiction of the court-boron extends 

 over all personal actions in which the debt or damages sought to bo 

 recovered are under 40. ; and real actions in respect of lands held of 

 thu manor could not have been brought in any other court, except 

 upon an allegation that the lord of the manor had in the particular 

 instance granted or abandoned his court to the king (.| 

 remisit curiam). To a quo warrunto therefore for holding . 

 baron, it is a sufficient answer that the defendant has a manor. As 

 this court wosctuential to the due administration of justice in questions 

 ing the right of property held of the manor arising amongst the 

 lord's tenants, there could never have been a perfect manor without a 

 sutticieut number of freeholders to constitute the court-baron, which 

 number must consist of three, or two at the least ; three being neces- 

 sary where the litigation was between two of the freeholders. 



4. Some things are popularly supposed to be incident to a i. 

 which have no necessary connection with it. Thus the ownership of 

 wastes within the district over which the manor extends, is fiv ,u<.-ntly 

 called a manorial right, though the right and interest of the lord in 

 wastes, over which no acts of ownership can be shown to have been 

 exercised by him, rests entirely upon the presumption in favour of 

 the lord, arising out of the circumstance of his being the present 

 owner of the demesne lands, and the former owner of the U-nernental 

 lands which adjoin such waste*. The same presumption would arise 

 in favour of any other owner of an extensive district. It is however true 

 that lords of manors in their original grants, both to their freehold 

 and to their copyhold tenant*, usually reserved the waste lands, giving 

 to the freeholders and copyholders merely right* of common over the 

 waste*. Hence it arises that, in point of fact, manor*, in proportion to 

 their extent, frequently contain a much larger portion of wastes than 

 other estates. 



Copyholds are a common incident to the demesnes of a manor, but 

 there ore many manors in which this species of tenure does not appear 

 to have ever existed, and many more iu which it has been long oxti net ; 

 and though there are now no copyholds unconnected with a manor, 

 the custom of demising by the lord's rolls appears to have formerly 

 been common to every lord or freeholder who had demesnes which 

 were held in villennge. 80 the right to have a court leet i* a royal 

 franchise [LEET], under which the grantee holds a .mt of criminal 

 jurisdiction in the king's name, over the r< siants (resident*) within a 

 particular district. Thin privilege may be granted to persons who are 

 not lords of manors ; and where the grantee has a manor, the limits of 

 the manor and of the leet are not always co-extensive. 



III. Mnnnn, luno created. Hince the statutes of Quia Emptore* and 

 De Pncrogativa RegU no manors have probably been created : nnd it 

 has been commonly said that no new manor timid afterwards be 

 created. But as a proposition of law this appears to be vtated too 

 broadly. The former statute has been held not to apply to the 

 immediate tenants of the king, who is not one of the " magnates ;.nrt 

 other (that i, inferior) lords." The Utter statute speaks only oi 

 held by knight's-service, and therefore, like the clause in the statute 

 of wills imposing a restriction upon the duviaing of lands of that!' 

 appears to be inapplicable since the abolition of military t< 

 Besides, the rtatute of Quia Emptores Ten-arum has been held to con- 

 tain an implied exception in respect of alienation* made with tin- 

 licence of all lord*, mediate or immediate; and in the statute De 



