L EASE. 
4S® 
eftate in fee-fimplc in right ef thcif churches, which ex¬ 
tends not to parfons and vicars, may (without the con¬ 
currence of any other perfon) bind their i'uccefTbrs. But 
then many requifites mull be obferved, which the ftatute 
i'pecincs; otherwife fuch leafes are not binding. Co. Litt. 44. 
1 ft. The leafe muft be by indenture, and not by deed- 
poll or parol. 2d, It muft begin from the making, or day 
of the making, and not at any greater diftance of time. 
3d, If there be any old leafe in being, it muft be firft ab¬ 
solutely furrendered, or be within a year of expiring. 4th, 
It muft be either for twenty-one years, or three lives; and 
not for both. 5th, It muft not exceed the term of three 
lives, or twenty-one years, but may be for a fliorter time. 
6th, Under this flat. 3a lien. VIII. it muft have been of 
corporeal hereditaments, and net of fuch things as lie 
merely in grants ; for no rent can be referred thereout by 
rhe common law, as the lelTor cannot refort to them to 
*iftrain. But now, b)’ the ftat. 5 Geo. III. c. 17, a leafe 
of tithes or other incorporeal hereditaments alone may be 
granted by any bishop, or any fuch eccleliaftical or elee- 
mofynary corporation, and the fuccefTor lhail be entitled 
to recover the rent by an action of debt; which (in cafe of 
a freehold leafe) he could not have brought at the common 
law. 7th, It muft be of lands and tenements mod commonly 
ietten for twenty years paft 5 fo that, if they had been let 
for above half the time, (or eleven years out of the twen¬ 
ty,) either for life, for years, at will, or by copy of court- 
roll, it is fufficient. 8th, 'The moll ufual and cultomary 
feornit, or rent, for twenty years paft, muft be referved 
yearly on fuch leafe. 9th, Such leafe muft not be made 
without impeachment of waite. Thefe are the guards im- 
inofed by the ftatute (which was avowedly made for the 
■fecurity of farmers, and the consequent improvement of 
tillage) to prevent unreafonable abufes (in prejudice of 
the iffue, the wife, or the fuccefTor) of the realonable in¬ 
dulgence here given. 
The dij'abling or refrraining jlatute , 1 Eliz. c. 19, (made 
entirely for the benefit of the fuccefTor,) enafls, that all 
grants by archbifhops and bifliops, (which include even 
xhofe confirmed by the dean and chapter, the which, how¬ 
ever long and unreaTonable, were good at common law,) 
other than for the term of twenty-one years, or three lives, 
from the making, or without referving the ulual rent, 
jfcal! be void. Concurrent leafes, if confirmed by the dean 
and chapter, are held to be within the exception of this 
ftatute, and therefore valid; provided they do not'ex¬ 
ceed, together with the leafe in being, the term permitted 
by the ad. Co. Litt. 45. But, by a faving exprefsly made, 
this ftatute of 1 Eliz. did not extend to grants made by 
any bilhop to the crown; by which means queen Eliza¬ 
beth procured many fair polTeftions to be made over to 
her by the prelates, either for her own ufe, or with intent 
to be granted out again to her favourites, whom fne thus 
gratified without any expenfe to lierfelf. To prevent 
■which for the future, the flat. 1 Jac. c. 3, extends the pro¬ 
hibitions to grants and leafes made to the king, as well as 
to any of liis fubjeds. n Rep. 71. 
The ftatute 13 Eliz. c. 10, explained and enforced by 
34 Eliz. cc. 11, 14 ; 18 Eliz. c. 11; and 43 Eliz. c. 29; ex¬ 
tend the reftriftions laid by the 1 Eliz. c. 19, on bifhops, 
to certain other inferior corporations, both foie and ag¬ 
gregate. The refult of all thefe ftatutes is, that all col¬ 
leges, cathedrals, and other ecclefiaftical or eleemofynary 
corporations, and all parfons and vicars, are reftrained 
from making any leafes of their lands, unlefs under the 
following regulations: 1. They muft not exceed twenty- 
one years, or three lives, from the making. 2. The ac- 
cuftomed rent, or more, mult be yearly referved thereon. 
3. Houles in corporations or market-towns may be let for 
forty years, provided they be r.ot the manfion-houfes of 
the lefTors, nor have above ten acres of ground belonging 
to them; and provided the lelTee be bound to keep them 
in repair; and they may alfo be aliened in fee-limple for 
lands of equal value in recompence. 4. Where there is 
an old leafe in being, no concurrent leafe fhall be made, 
unlefs where the old one will expire within three year 
5. No leafe, by the equity of the ftatute, fliall be made 
without impeachment of wafte. Co. Litt. 45. 6. All bonds 
and covenants tending to fruftrate the provifions of the 
ftats. 13 &18 Eliz. fhall be void. 
Concerning thefe reftriCtive ftatutes, two general obfer- 
vations are to be made. Firft, That they do not, by any 
conftrinftion, enable any perfons to make luch leafes as 
they were by common-law difabled to make: therefore a 
parfon or vicar, though he is reftrained from making 
longer leafes than for twenty-one years or three lives, even 
with the confent of the patron and ordinary, yet is not 
enabled to make any leafe at all, fo as to bind his fuccel- 
for, without obtaining fuch confent. Co. Lit. 44. Secondly, 
That, though leafes contrary to thefe ftatutes are declared 
void, yet they are good againft the lelfor, during his life, 
if he be a foie corporation ; and are alfo good againft an 
aggregate corporation, fo long as the head of it lives, who 
is prefumed to be the moil concerned in intereft. For the 
ftatute was intended for the benefit of the fuccefTor only; 
and no man fliall make an advantage of his own wrong. 
Co. Lit. 45. 2 Comm. c. 20. 
Where a new thing is demifed with lands accuflomably 
let, though there be great increafe of rent, the leafe is 
void ; but more rent than the accuftomed rent may be re¬ 
ferved. 5 Rep. 5. 6 Rep. 37. The leafes according to the 
ftatute 32 Hen. VIII. bind the iffue in tail, but not thofe 
in reverfion or remainder; for, if tenant in tail makes a 
leafe warranted by the ftatute, and dies without iffue, the 
leafe as to him in reverfion or remainder is void ; though, 
by a common recovery, leafes may be made to bind him 
in remainder, &c. Wood's Injl. 267. 
The ftat. 18 Eliz, c. 6, directs that one-third of the 
old rent on all coliege-leafes then paid fhould for the fu¬ 
ture be referved in wheat or malt, referving a quarter of 
w heat for each 6s. 8d. or a quarter of malt for every 5s. 
or that the leffees fhould pay for the fame according to 
the price that wheat and malt fhould be fold for, in the 
market next adjoining to the refpeftive colleges, on the 
market-day before the rent becomes due. 
The leafes of beneficed clergymen are farther reftrained 
in cafe of their non-refidence, by ftats. 13 Eliz. c. 20. 
14 Eliz. c. 11. 18 Eliz. c. 11. 43 Eliz. c. 9. which direil, 
that, if any beneficed clergyman be abfent from his cure 
above fourfeore days in any one year, he fhall not only 
forfeit one year’s profit of his benefice, to be diftributed 
among the poor of the parifh, but that all leafes made by 
him of the profits of fuch benefice, and all covenants and 
agreements of a like nature, fnall ceafe and be void; ex¬ 
cept in the cafe of licenfed pluralifts, who are allowed to 
demife the living on which they are non-refident to their 
curates only, provided fuch curates do not ablent them- 
felves above forty days in any one year. 
Leases of the King. Leafes made by the king, of 
part of the duchy of Cornwall, are to be for three lives, 
or thirty-one years, and not be made difpunifliable of 
wafte, whereon the ancient rent is to be referved ; and 
eftates in reverfion, with thofe in pofleffion, are not to ex¬ 
ceed three lives, See. 13 Car. II. c. 4. 
All leafes and grants made by letters patent, or inden¬ 
tures under the great f’eal of England, or feal of the court 
of Exchequer, or by copy of court-roll, according to the 
cuftom of the manors of the duchy of Cornwall, not ex¬ 
ceeding one, two, or three lives, or Tome term determina¬ 
ble thereon, &c. are confirmed ; and covenants, condi¬ 
tions, &c. in leafes for lives or years, fliall be good in law, 
as if the king were feifed in fee-fimple. 1 Jac. II c. 9. 
5 & 6 W. & M. c. 18. 12 Ann. c. 22. Leafes from the 
crown of lands in England and Wales, and under the feals 
of the duchy of Lancafter, &c. for one, two, or three, 
lives, or terms not exceeding fifty years, are allowed time 
for inrolment, See. by ftat. 10 Ann. c. 18. Leafes made 
by the prince of Wales of lands, &c, in the duchy of 
Cornwall, for three lives, or thirty-one years, on which 
is referved the nioft ufual rent paid for the greateft .part 
