S20 
-FEOFF 
fometimes called homagers ; and in fome writings are term¬ 
ed vaJJ'ah, feuds t and feodatarics. See Tenures. 
FEO'DUM LAI'CUM,./'. [Latin.] A lay fee, or land 
held in fee of a lay lord. 
FEO'DUM MILI'TJS, a knigln’s fee. 
To FEOFF, v. a. \_fiejf\ fiejfer, Fr. feeffare , low Lat.] 
To put in poffedion ; to ihveft with right. 
FEOFFE'E,/! \_feojfatus, . fiejj'e', Yr.~] One put in 
poflTelTion.—The late earl of Defmond, before his break¬ 
ing forth into reb 1 lion, conveyed fecrelly all his lands to 
fjfces in truft, in hope to have cut off her majefty from 
the efeheat of his lands.. Spenfer. 
FE'OFFER, f. [feoffator , low Lat.] One who gives 
pofTefTion of any thing.—He that enfeoffs, or makes a 
feoffment to another of lands or tenements in fee fimple. 
Terms de la Ley. 
FE'OFFMENT, f. [_/ eoffi.amentum, Lat. from the verb 
feojfare ; donatio feudi.~\ In law, a gift or grant of any ma¬ 
nors, meffuages, lands 1 , or tenements, to another in fee, 
to him and his heirs for ever, by the delivery of feifin and 
polFeflion of the thing given or granted. In every feoff¬ 
ment, the giver or grantor is called the feoffor; and he 
that receives by virtue thereof is the feoffee. Littleton 
fays, the proper difference between a feoffor and a donor 
is, that the one gives in fee-limple, the other in fee-tail. 
Lift. 1 . i. c. 6, Blackftone (z Comm. 399.) defines feoff¬ 
ment to be the gift of any corporeal hereditament to an¬ 
other. The deed of feoffment is our mod ancient con¬ 
veyance of lands ; and in records we often find fees given 
to knights under the phrafes of de veterifecjfamcnto , and de 
novo fecjfamcnto ; the fir ft whereof were fuch lands as were 
given or granted by Henry I. And the others, fuch as 
were granted after the death of the faid king, lince the 
beginning of the reign of Henry II. At common law, the 
ufual conveyance was by feoffment, to which delivery 
(fnortly called livery ) and feifin were neceffary, the pof- 
feffion being thereby given to the feoffee ; but if livery 
and feifin could not be made, by reafon there was a te¬ 
nant in poffeffion, the reverfion was granted, and the 
particular tenant attorned. Co. Lit. 9. 49. A feoffment 
is faid, in Lome refpefts, to excel the conveyance by fine 
and recovery ; it clearing all diffeifins, abatements, in- 
trufions, and other wrongful eftafes, which no other con¬ 
veyance doth. Ye^this conveyance is but little ufed, 
■except where no confideration palfes, as in cafe of truf- 
tees of lands for a corporation, &c. It is (till, however, 
a formal, valid, and effectual, mode of conveyance; but 
has been of late years almoft entirely fuperfeded.by the 
.conveyance by Lease and Release, which fee ; as alfo 
Conveyance, and Deed. 
A feoffment may not be of fuch things whereof livery 
and feifin may not be made ; for no deed of feoffment is 
good to pafs an eftate without livery of feifin; and if 
either of the parties die before livery, the feoffment 
is void. Plowd. 219. A man may either give or re¬ 
ceive livery in deed by letter of attorney; for fince a 
contradt is no more than the confent of a man’s ftiind to 
a thing, where that confent or concurrence appears, it 
were unreafonable to oblige each perfon to be prefent at 
the execution of the contract, fince it may as well be 
performed by any other perfon delegated for that purpofe 
by the parties to the contradf. Co.Litt. 52. A feoffment 
in fee is trffide to the life of fuch perfons, and-for fuch 
eftates, as the feoffor fliall appoint by his will, or to the 
tile of his laft Will; by operation of law the life veils in 
the feoffor, and he is feifed of a qualified fee, viz. until 
he makes his will, and declares the ufes; and "after the 
will is made, it is only diredtory ; for nothing paffes by 
Jt, but all by the feoffment. 6 Rep. 18. Moor 56 7. Every 
gift or feoffment of lands made by fraud or maintenance, 
fhall be void ; and the diffeifee; notivithftanding fuch ali¬ 
enation, (hall recover againft the firft dilfeifor his land 
and double damages ; provided he commence his fuit in 
■a year after the dilfeifin, and that the feoffor be pernor 
of the profits. 1 Rich. II. c. 9. 
Livery may be by deed, or in law 5 which latter is alfo 
M ENT. 
call livery within view. The livery in deed is the adtual 
tradition of the land, and is made either by the delivery 
of a branch of a tree, ora turf of the land, or fome other 
thing, in the name of all the lands and tenements con- 
tained in the deed ; and it may be made by words only 
without the delivery of anything; as if the feoffor be¬ 
ing upon the land, or at the door of the houfe, fays to 
the feoffee, “ I am content that you fh o'til'd 1 enjoy this 
land according to the deed ;” or “ enter into this houfe or 
land, and enjoy it according to the deed ;” this is a good 
livery to pafs the freehold, becaufe in all thefe cafes the 
charter of feoffment makes the limitation of the eftate, 
and then the words fpoken by the feoffor on the land are 
a fufficient indicium to the people prefent, to determine 
in whom the freehold refides during the extent of the 
limitation ; befides, the words, being relative to-the char¬ 
ter of feoffment, plainly denote an intention to enfeoff. 
Co. Litt-. 48. a. But if a man without any charter, being 
in his houfe, fays, “ I here demife you this houfe, as long 
as I ’five, paying twenty pounds per annum,” this pafles 
no freehold, but only an eftate at will ; becaufe the 
word deniife denotes only the extent of the limitation of 
the eftate intended to be conveyed ; but bare words of 
limitation, without fome a£ts or words to difeover tpe 
intention of the feoffor to deliver over the poffedion, are 
not fufficient to convey the freehold ; for if a charter of 
feoffment be made to a man and his heirs, this, without 
fome other a£f, or word to give the pofiedion, only paffes 
an eftate at will, becaufe the a£t of delivery is requifite 
to the perfection of the charter ; but, befides th~e charter 
of feoffment, there muft be fome adt or words to deliver 
over the poffedion, before the feoffee can enjoy it pur- 
fuant to the charter. Co. Iitt. 48. Cro. E/iz. 482. 
Livery in deed is thus performed: the feoffor, leffor, 
or his attorney, (for this may be as effectually done by 
deputy or attorney as by the principals themfelves in per¬ 
fon,) come to the land, or to the houfe ; and there, in the 
prefence of witneffes, declare the contents of the feoff¬ 
ment or leafe on which livery is to be made ; and then the 
feoffor, if it be of land, delivers to the feoffee (all other 
perfons being out of the ground) a clod or turf, or a twig 
or bough there growdng, with words to this effeCt^ “ I 
deliver thefe to you in the name of feifin of all the lands 
and tenements contained in this deed.” But if it be of a 
houfe, the feoffor muft take the latch off the door, the 
houfe being quite empty of all perfons, and deliver it to 
the feoffee in the fame form ; and then the feoffee muft 
enter alone and fliut the door, and then open it, and let 
in the others. 1 Injl. 48. If the conveyance or feoffment 
be of divers lands, lying fcattered in one and the fame 
county, then in the feoffor’s poffeflion, livery of feifin of 
any parcel, in the name of the reft, fufficeth for all; but 
if they be in feveral.counties, there nuift be as many live¬ 
ries as there are counties. L.itl. 414. Alfo if the lands be 
out on leafe, though all be in the fame county, there 
muft be as many liveries as there are tenants ; becaufe no 
livery can be made in this cafe but by the confent of the 
particular tenant; and the confent of one will not bind 
the reft. Dyer iS. In all thefe cafes it is prudent to in- 
dorfe the livery of feifin on the back of the deed ; fpeci- 
fying the manner, place, and time, of making.it, together 
'with the names of the witneffes. Co. Lilt. 48. 
The livery within view, or the livery in law, is when 
the feoffor is not ;aCtual!y on the land, or in the houfe, 
but being in fight of it fays to the feoffes, “ I give you 
yonder houfe, or land, go and enter into the fame, and 
take poffeflion of it accordingly ;” this fort of livery feems 
to have been made at firft only at the court-barons, which 
were anciently held Jub dio (in the open air) in fome open 
part of the manor, from whence a general furvey or view 
might have been taken of the whole manor, and the pares 
curio: eafily diftinguilhed that parr which was then to be 
transferred. Pollex. 47. This' livery in law cannot be 
given or received by attorney, but only by the parties 
themfelves. 1 Injl. 48. This fort of livery alfo is not 
perfect to carry the freehold till an actual entry made by 
the 
