Copyhold was a form of customary land ownership common from the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Ren ...

into modern times in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The name for this type of

land tenure In common law systems, land tenure, from the French verb "tenir" means "to hold", is the legal regime in which land owned by an individual is possessed by someone else who is said to "hold" the land, based on an agreement between both individua ...

is derived from the act of giving a copy of the relevant title deed that is recorded in the manorial court roll to the tenant; not the actual land deed itself. The legal owner of the manor land remained the mesne lord, who was legally the ''copyholder'', according to the titles and customs written down in the manorial roll. In return for being given land, a copyhold tenant was required to carry out specific manorial duties or services. The specific rights and duties of copyhold tenants varied greatly from one manor to another and many were established by custom. By the 19th century, many customary duties had been replaced with the payment of rent. Copyhold was directly descended from the feudal system of

villeinage A villein, otherwise known as '' cottar'' or '' crofter'', is a serf tied to the land in the feudal system. Villeins had more rights and social status than those in slavery, but were under a number of legal restrictions which differentiated th ...

which involved giving service and produce to the local lord in return for land. Although feudalism in England had ended by the early 1500s, forms of copyhold tenure continued in England until being completely abolished by the Law of Property Act in 1925.

Principles

The privileges granted to each tenant, and the exact services he was to render to the

lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as s ...

and/or lord paramount in return for them, were described in the roll or book kept by the

steward Steward may refer to: Positions or roles * Steward (office), a representative of a monarch * Steward (Methodism), a leader in a congregation and/or district * Steward, a person responsible for supplies of food to a college, club, or other ins ...

, who gave a copy of the relevant entry to the tenant. Consequently, these tenants were afterwards called copyholders, in contrast to freeholders. The actual term "copyhold" is first recorded in 1483, and "copyholder" in 1511–1512. The specific rights and duties of copyholders varied greatly from one manor to another and many were established by custom. Initially, some works and services to the lord were required of copyholders (four days' work per year for example), but these were commuted later to a rent equivalent. Each manor custom laid out rights to use various resources of the land such as wood and pasture, and numbers of animals allowed on the common. Copyholds very commonly required the payment of a type of death duty called an heriot to the lord of the manor upon the decease of the copyholder.

Inheritance

Two main kinds of copyhold tenure developed: * Copyhold of inheritance: with one main tenant landholder who paid rent and undertook duties to the lord. When he died, the holding normally passed to his next heir(s) – who might be the eldest son or, if no son existed, the eldest daughter ( primogeniture); the youngest son or, if no son existed, the youngest daughter ("Borough English" or

ultimogeniture Ultimogeniture, also known as postremogeniture or junior right, is the tradition of inheritance by the last-born of a privileged position in a parent's wealth or office. The tradition has been far rarer historically than primogeniture (sole inh ...

); or all sons or all children in equal or otherwise prescribed shares (partible inheritance or " gavelkind"), depending upon the custom of that particular manor. In practice, local rules of inheritance were often applied with considerable flexibility. During their life the tenant could usually 'sell' the holding to another person by formally surrendering it to the lord of the manor on the condition that the lord regrant it to the 'buyer'. This three-party transaction was recorded in the manorial roll and formed the new 'copyhold' for the purchaser. * Copyhold for lives: where several (usually three) named persons held the premises for the duration of their lives. The first-named life tenant acted as tenant and paid rent and heriots; while the other two were said to be "in reversion and remainder" and effectively formed a queue. When the first life died, the second-named inherited the property and nominated a new third life for the end of the new queue. These were recorded in the court rolls as the "copyhold" for this type of tenant. It was possible to exchange the reversion and remainder lives with different ones during a lifetime upon payment of a fine to the lord. However, it was not usually possible for these holdings to be sold, as there were three lives with an entitlement. Copyhold for lives is therefore regarded as a less secure tenancy than copyhold of inheritance. Copyhold land often did not appear in a will. This is because its inheritance was already pre-determined by custom, as just described. It could not therefore be given or devised in a will to any other person. In some instances, the executor of the estate held the copyhold for the term of one year after the decease of the testator, which was called the "executor's year", in parallel with the same concept in

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

. Language regarding the disposal of the profits of the executor's year or of a heriot often indicates a copyhold.

Abolition

Copyholds were gradually enfranchised (turned into ordinary holdings of land – either freehold or 999-year leasehold) as a result of the Copyhold Acts during the 19th century. By this time, servitude to the lord of the manor was merely token, discharged on purchasing the copyhold by payment of a "fine in respite of fealty". The Copyhold Acts of 1841, 1843, 1844, 1852, 1858 and 1887 were consolidated in the Copyhold Act 1894.Copyhold Act 1894
/ref> Part V of the Law of Property Act 1925 finally abolished all remaining statutes.

References

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Principles

Inheritance

Abolition

See also

References

Further reading