Domesday, Or Domesday Book - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition domesday-or-domesday-book

Definition :

Domesday, or domesday-book [liber judiciarius vel censualis Angli', Lat.], an ancient record made in the time of William the Conqueror, and now kept at the Record Office, consisting of two volumes, a greater and lesser; the greater containing a survey of all the lands in England except the counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmorland, Durham, and part of Lancashire, which it is said, were never surveyed; and excepting Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk, which three last are comprehended in the lesser volume. There is also a third book, which differs from the others in form more than in matter, made by command of the same king. And there is a fourth book called Domesday, which is only abridgement of the others. The question whether lands are ancient demesne or not is to be decided by the Domesday of William I., whence there is no appeal. The addition of day to this Dome-book was not meant for an allusion to the final day of judgment, as most persons have conceived, but was to strengthen and confirm it, and signifies the judicial decisive record or book of dooming justice and judgment. Consult Ellis's Introd. To Domesday Book.