In
English law
English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures.
Principal elements of English law
Although the common law has, historically, be ...
, an estover is an allowance made to a person out of an estate, or other thing, for his or her support. The word estover can also mean specifically an allowance of wood that a
tenant is allowed to take from the commons, for life or a period of years, for the implements of
husbandry,
hedges and
fences, and for
firewood
Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellets or chips. Firewood can ...
.
History
The word derives from the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
''estover'', ''estovoir'', a
verb used as a
substantive
A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for:
* Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
meaning "that which is necessary". This word is of disputed origin; it has been referred to the
Latin ''stare'', to stand, or ''studere'', to desire.
The Old English word for estover was ''bote'' or ''boot'', also spelled ''bot'' or ''bót'', (literally meaning 'good' or 'profit' and cognate with the word ''better''). The various kinds of estovers were known as house-bote, cart or plough-bote, hedge or hay-bote, and fire-bote.
Anglo-Saxon law also imposed "bot" fines in the modern sense of compensation.
[The legal phrase ''&'' n. ''scillingas to bote'', "and ''n.'' shillings as compensation" often followed after other fines imposed for the same offense, and is the origin of the modern English phrase, "to boot"]
Anglo-Saxon dooms from 560-975
/ref> These rights might be restricted by express covenants. Copyholders had similar rights over the land they occupied and over the waste of the manor, in which case the rights are known as Commons of estovers.
Burrill in his dated ''A law dictionary and glossary'' published in New York (1871) states:
See also
*Condonation
Within the legal profession, condonation (or a condonance) is a defence argument sometimes made when an accuser has previously forgiven or chosen to ignore an act about which they are now legally complaining. In some legal jurisdictions, and for c ...
*Collegatary In civil law, a collegatary is a person to whom is left a legacy, as imparted by a will, in common with one or more other individuals; so called as being a joint legatary, or co-legatee.
See also
* Barratry
*Condonation
Within the legal professi ...
*Contorts
Contorts (arguably) is a portmanteau, or a combination of "contracts" and " torts" originated by Grant Gilmore in his book '' The Death of Contract''. The generally informal termLegal disputes are not formally or officially referred to as "foun ...
Notes
References
*
* {{EB1911, wstitle=Estovers, volume=9 , page=801
English legal terminology
Wood
English forest law