G A V 
!!jrAVE,y. A term ufcd in the (foUtli-weft part of 
France, 'to exprefs a river or brook; as, lire Gave of 
Oleron, th.c Gave of Pan, &c. 
GAV'EL,y! [jape-l, Sax.] Tribute, toll, cuftom, 
<9r yearly revenue ; of whicii wc had in old time feveral 
kinds. 
GAV''ELCESTER, y. [Sax. fextarius v^Bigalis, Lat.] 
A certain meafure of rent-ale; and among the, articles 
to be charged on the feewards and bailiffs of the manors 
belonging to the churcli of Canterbury in Kent, accord¬ 
ing to tvhich they were to be accountable, this of old 
was one ; de gavelccfter ciijii/lihel bradni braciati infra lihcr- 
tatcin mancriorvm, viz. undm lagenam & diinidiam ccrvifice. 
This duty elfewhere occurs under the name of tolajlcr^ 
in lieu whereof the abbot of Abingdon was wont of cuf- 
tom to receive the penny mentioned by Selden in his 
Dilfertation ar.nexed to Fleta, cap. S. Nor does it differ 
from wltat is calle'l oakgavcl in the Glollary at the end 
of Ken. I. Law's Sax. Di£l. 
GAV'ELEl',yi {_gaveletur,!, Lat.] An ancient and fpe- 
cial kind of njfavit ufed in Kent, where tlie ciiftom of 
gavelkind coiuiimes, whereby a tenant, if he wirhliolds 
his rents and fervices due to the lord, fliall forfeit his 
land : it was intended where no diftrefs could be found 
on the premifes, fo that the lord might feize the land 
itfelf in the nature of a diftrefs, and keep it a year and 
a day ; within which time, if tlie tenant came and paid 
his rent, he was admitted to his tenement to hold it as 
before; but if not, the lord n-kight enter and enjoy the 
fame. The lord was to feek by the award of his court, 
from tliree weeks to three weeks, to find fome diftrefs 
tipon the land or tenement, until the fourth court; and 
if in that time he could find none, at the fourth court 
it was awarded that the tenement fhould be feized as a 
diftrefs, and kept in the lord’s hands a year and a day 
without manuring ; and if the tenant did not in that time 
redeem it, by paying the rent and making amends to the 
lord, the lord, having pronounced his procefs by witnefles 
at the next county court, was awarded by his court to 
•enter and manure the land as his own: and if the tenant 
•would afterwards have it again, he was to make agree¬ 
ment with the lord. Fitz. Cejf. 6o. 
The sNOY^ gavelet in its original fignification imported 
rent ; but it means alfo a procefs for the recovery of rent 
..peculiar to Kent, and London.—The gavelet thus pre¬ 
vailing by the cuftom of Kent may be ufed whether there 
is a fufficient diftrefs on the land or not; but is reftridfed 
to gavelkind tenure. Robins, on Gavelk. To London 
this writ w'as given for rent-fervice generally by flat. lo 
Edw. II. which is therefore called the ftatute of gavelet. 
But by the words of the ftatute it only lies where the 
lord cannot obtain payment by diftrefs. Wright'sTen. 197. 
This remedy of gavelet, as well as that of celfavit, is 
now fallen into dilufe; nor, whilft they continued in ufc, 
were they applicable, except where the tenure was in 
fee. I Injl. 142. n. 2. 
Gavelct in London, breve de gavcleto in London, pro 
redditu ibidem, quia tenementa fuerent indijiringibilia. The 
writ tiled in the huftings of London, where the parties, 
tenant and demandant, appear by fare facias, to ftiew 
caufe why the one ftiould not have his tenement again 
on payment of his rent, or the other recover the lands, 
on default thereof. 
GAV'ELKIND,/I inlaw, a peculiar tenure or cuf¬ 
tom, annexed and belonging to lands in Kent, whereby 
the lands of the father are equally divided at his death 
among all his fons ; or the land of the brother among all 
the brethren, if he have no ilTue of his own. Lit. 210. 
Sec the article Tenure. All the lands in England, it 
js faid, were of the nature of gavelkind before the year 
jo66, and defeended to all the ilfue equallj^; but after 
the Norman conqueft, when knight fervice was intro¬ 
duced, the defeent was reftrained to the eldeft fon for 
the prefervation of the tenure. Lamb. 167. 3 Salk. 139. 
Except in Kent, for the fuppofed reafon recorded in 
Blount, who relates that the Ksntilh men furrounding 
VOL. VIII. Wo, joa. 
G A V 
Vv’'iliiavn the Conqueror with a moving wood of boughs, 
thus obtained a confirmation of their ancient rights. 
Ih the reign of Henry VI. tlicre were not above forty 
pcvfons in all Kent that held by any oth.er tenure than 
this ot gavelkind; which was afterwards altered upon 
the petition of divers Kentifli gentlemen, in much of the 
land of that county, fo as to be defcendiblc to the eldeft 
fon, according to the courfc of the common-law, by ft it* 
31 Hen. VIII. c. 3 ; though the ctiftom to device gavel¬ 
kind land, and tlie other qualities and cuftoms, remain. 
Co, Lit. 140. By ftat. 3.4 and 35 Hen. VIII. c. 26, all 
gavelkind lands in Wales were made defcendible to tlie 
heir, according to the common-law ; whereby it appears, 
that the tenure of gavelkind was likewife in that prin¬ 
cipality. 
Blackftone relies on the nature of tenure in gavelkind, 
as a pregnant proof tiiat tenure in free focage-was a rem¬ 
nant of Saxon liberty. It is univerfally known v/hat 
ftruggles the Kentilh men made to preferve their ancient 
liberties, and the fuccefs with which thofe ftruggles were 
attended. And as it is principally here that we meet 
with the cuftom of gavelkind, we may fairly conphide that 
this was a part of thofe liberties; agreeable to Mr. Sel- 
den’s opinion that gavelkind, before the Norman con¬ 
queft, was the general cuftom of the realm. Yet tenure 
in gavelkind is laid to be only a fpecies of a focage te^ 
nure, modified by the cuftom of tlie country; the lands 
being holden by fuit of court and fealty, v/hich is a fer¬ 
vice in its nature certain. Wright, 211. Wherefore, by 
a-charter of king John, Hubert archbiftiop of Canter¬ 
bury was authorifed to exchange the gavelkind tenures 
holden of the fee of Canterbury into tenures by knight’s 
fervice: and by the ftatute of 21 Hen.VIII. c. 3, for dif- 
gavelling lands in Kent, they are directed to be defeend. 
ible, for the future, like other lands which were never 
holden by fervice of focage. Now the immunities which 
the tenants in gavelkind enjoyed w'ere fuch as cannot 
be conceived ftiould be conferred on mere ploughmen 
and peafants : from all which the learned commentator 
conceives it to be fufliciently clear that tenures in free 
focage are in general of a nobler original than is aftigned 
by Littleton, or after him by the bulk of common l,aw« 
yers. 2 Comm. 84, 5. c. 6. 
A father having gavelkind lands, had three fons, one 
of whom died in the life-time of his father, leaving iflue 
a daughter; and it was held that the daughter ftiall in¬ 
herit the part of her father jure reprafeatationis; and yet 
Ihe is not within the words of the cuftom of dividing th» 
land between the heirs male, for ftie is the daughter of a 
male and heir by reprefentation. i Salh. 243. The heir 
at the age of fifteen years, it is faid, may give and fell 
his lands in gavelkind, and fliall inherit. Co. Lit. iii„ 
The cuftom of gavelkind is not altered, though a fin« 
be levied of the lands at common law ; becaule it is a 
cuftom that runs with the land. 6 Edzo. VI. 
Land in gavelkind was deviled to the hufband and wife 
for life, remainder to the next heir male of their bodies, 
&c. They had three fons, and it was adjudged that the 
eldeft fon ftiould not have the whole. Djer, 133. A donee 
in tail of gavelkind lands had ift'ue four fons ; and it was 
held, that all fhould inherit: but if a leafe for life is 
made of gavelkind, remainder to the right heirs of A.B. 
who hath ilfue four fons, in this cafe the eldeft fon ftial-1 
inherit the remainder, becaule, in cafe of purchafe, there 
can be but one right heir. 1 Rep. 102. If gavelkind lands 
come to the crown, and are regranted to hold in capite, 
&c. the land lhall defeend to all the heirs nf.ile as gavel¬ 
kind. Nelf. Abr. 895. 
A wife lhall be endowed of gavelkind land, of a moiety 
of the land whereof her hufband died feifed, during her 
widowhood. Co. Lit. 111. And it has been adjudged, that 
the widow cannot have elebtion to demand her thirds or 
dower at common law, fo as to avoid the cuftom, by 
which ftie lhall lofe her dower if fhe marry a fecond hul- 
band. Moor, 260. Tlie hufband fhall be tenant by the 
ciHTtely of half the .gavelkind lands of the wife, during 
4 B t lxe 
