Manor - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition manor

Definition :

Manor [fr. manerium, Lat.; manoir, Fr., habitation, or manendo, of abiding there, because the lord usually resided there], an estate in fee-simple in a tract of land granted by the sovereign to a subject (usually of power and consequence) in consideration of certain services to be performed. The tenementales were granted out; the dominicales (whence the ter demesne) were reserved to the lord; the barren lands which remained formed the 'wastes'; the whole fee was termed a lordship or barony; and the Court appendant to the manor the Court baron. Every manor (with some doubtful and unimportant exceptions) is of a date prior to the statute of Quia Emptores (18 Edw. 1, c. 1).

'A manor,' says Mr. Joshua Williams, 'was made by the owner of an estate in fee carving out other estates in fee to be held by other freeholders as his tenants. A manor consists of demesnes and services: of demesnes, that is, of lands of which the freeholder, now become lord of a manor, is seised in his demesne as of fee; of services, namely, of such yearly rent, called rent service, and other services as he reserved in the grant to his tenants of portions of land, which once were his, to be holden by them and their heirs of him and his heirs. Of the demesne, the lord was seised; of the lands held by free tenants by rent or other services, the tenants themselves were seised, each man in his own demesne as of his own fee. Two free tenants, at least, were necessary to constitute a manor; but there might be as many more as the lord could procure to become his men in his manner before mentioned.

'Copyholds, of which I shall speak hereafter, form no part whatever of the essence of a manor. The lord of a manor may have copyholders or may not; but I am not speaking of them at present. The rights and interests of copyholders are entirely apart from those of the freehold tenants of a manor.'--Williams on Seisin, p. 13. See Co. Litt. 58 a; Scriven on Copyholds, p. 1.

A court baron is an essential part of a manor, and this court cannot be held without at least two freeholders as suitors. If there be not two suitors, the manor becomes a reputed manor and continues to have certain manorial rights and franchises (see Wol. And Ch. Conveyancing Statutes, p. 583). For the purposes of the (English) Law of Property Acts, 1922, 1925, etc., 'manor' includes a lordship and reputed manor or lordship. [(English) L.P. Act, 1925, s. 205 (1) (ix)]

The (English) land legislation of 1925 has not disturbed the property in fee simple or many valuable rights which are or may be incident to a manor, such as mines, minerals, lime, clay, stone, gavel pits or quarries, whether under the now enfranchised land or not, rights of entry, winning and search for the same; nor have franchises, royalties or privileges in respect of fairs, chase or warren, fisheries and hunting and shooting been affected subject to the enfranchised copyholder's right to disturb or remove soil for roads or building purposes, but Manorial Courts have been abolished, the lord's right to escheat has been transferred to the Crown or the Duchy of Lancaster or of Cornwall, rent and other services except Grand and Petty Serjeanty have been commuted and extinguished. See COPYHOLD and MANORIAL DOCUMENTS.

Manor, the tenant of land could grant a part of it to be held of himself as Lord, and by this process of subinfeudation one or more mesne Lordship or seigniories might be established. Where there were several free tenants holding under the same lord, the lord, as an incident of this system of tenure, had rights of civil jurisdiction over them; and by special grant from the Crown or by prescription he might have right of criminal jurisdiction. He might also have villain, or unfree, tenants holding land at his will (afterwards copyholder's holding at his will according to the custom of the manner) and over these also, he had jurisdiction. In additional he might retain land, his demesne land, in his own occupation. An estate large enough to have these various incidents, free tenants, villain tenants, demesne land and a local court, was known as a 'Manor', see Halsbury's Laws of England, 4th Edn., Vol. 39, para 310 at p. 219.