Dean - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition dean

Definition :

Dean [fr. decanus, Lat.; deka, Gk., ten], an ecclesiastical governor or dignitary, so called as he is supposed to have originally presided over ten canons or prebendaries at the least. In cathedrals of the old foundation in England, the dean is the principal of the four chief dignitaries, exercising a general supervision over the other members of the capitular body, with special reference to the cure of souls. In cathedrals of the new foundation, the duties of the deans are defined by the statutes of each chapter.

Considered in respect of the differences of office, deans are of six kinds:--(1) Deans of Chapters, who are either of cathedral or collegiate churches. (2) Deans of Peculiars, who have sometimes both jurisdiction and cure of souls, and sometimes jurisdiction only. (3) Rural Deans, deputies of the bishop, planted all round his diocese, the better to inspect the conduct of the parochial clergy, to inquire into and report dilapidations, and to examine the candidates for confirmation; and armed, in minuter matters, with an inferior degree of judicial and coercive authority. (4) Deans in the Colleges of our Universities, who are officers appointed to superintend the behaviour of the members, and to enforce discipline. (5) Honorary Deans, as the Dean of the Chapel Royal, St. James's. (6) Deans of Provinces or Deans of Bishops. Thus the Bishop of London is Dean of the Province of Canterbury, and to him, as such, the archbishop sends his mandate for summoning the bishops of his province when a convocation is to be assembled.

Another division, arising from the nature of their office, is into deans of spiritual promotions and deans of lay promotions. Of the former kind are deans of peculiars, with cure of souls, deans of the royal chapels and of chapters, and rural deans; of the latter kind are deans of peculiars without cure of souls, who therefore may be, and frequently are, persons not in holy orders.

Their appointments are either elective, as deans of chapters of the old foundation, though the Crown has, in fact, the real patronage; or donative, as those deans of chapters of the new foundation, who are appointed by the royal letters-patent. The (English) Ecclesiastical Commissioners Act, 1840 (3 & 4 Vict. c. 113), provides that the old deaneries (except in Wales) shall thenceforth be in the direct patronage of the Sovereign, who may, on the vacancy thereof, appoint by letters-patent a spiritual person to be dean; and that no person shall hereafter be capable of receiving the appointment of dean, archdeacon, or canon, until he shall have been six complete years in priest's orders, and that the dean shall reside for at least eight months in the year.

By the (English) Archdeaconries and Rural Deaneries Act, 1874 (37 & 38 Vict. c. 63), provision is made for the re-arrangement of the boundaries of archdeaconries and rural deaneries, and by the (English) Deans and Canons Resignation Act, 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c. 8), for the resignation of Deans. See also (English) Cathedrals (Houses of Residence) Measure, 1936 (No. 4).