Legal Term Dictionary

A service turned Into money, which was paid in respect that anciently the tenants used to wash the lord's sheep. Wharton.

A service turned Into money, which was paid in respect that anciently the tenants used to wash the lord's sheep. Wharton. Less...

A deed; so called from the parchment ft was written on.

A deed; so called from the parchment ft was written on. Less...

A right of sheep-walk bi the same thing as a fold-course, (q.v.) Elton, Commons, 44.

A right of sheep-walk bi the same thing as a fold-course, (q.v.) Elton, Commons, 44. Less...

"When the ancestor, by any gift or conveyance, taketh an estate of freehold, and in the same gift or conveyance an estate ia limited, either mediately or immediately, to his heirs in fee or ha tall, the 'heirs' are words of lim-' itation of the estate, and not words of More...

"When the ancestor, by any gift or conveyance, taketh an estate of freehold, and in the same gift or conveyance an estate ia limited, either mediately or immediately, to his heirs in fee or ha tall, the 'heirs' are words of lim-' itation of the estate, and not words of purchase," 1 Coke, 104. Intimately connected with the quantity of estate which a tenant may hold in realty is the antique feudal doctrine generally known as the "Rule in Shelley's Case," which is reported by Lord Coke in 1 Coke, 93b, (23 Eliz. in C B.) This rule was not first laid down or established in that case, but was then simply admitted in argument as a well-founded and settled rule of law, and baa always since been quoted as the "Rule in Shelley's Case." Wharton. Less...

A court held before the lord warden of the Cinque Ports. A writ of error lay from the mayor and jurats of each port to the lord warden in this court and thence to the queen's bench. The civil jurisdiction of the Cinque Ports is abolished by 18 & 19 More...

A court held before the lord warden of the Cinque Ports. A writ of error lay from the mayor and jurats of each port to the lord warden in this court and thence to the queen's bench. The civil jurisdiction of the Cinque Ports is abolished by 18 & 19 Vict c 48. Less...

The body of the lordship of Cardiff In South Wales, excluding the members of it Powel, Hist. Wales, 123.

The body of the lordship of Cardiff In South Wales, excluding the members of it Powel, Hist. Wales, 123. Less...

The time of a man's being sheriff. Cowell. The term of a sheriff's office.

The time of a man's being sheriff. Cowell. The term of a sheriff's office. Less...

The jurisdiction of a sheriff. Called, in modern law, "bailiwick." The office of a sheriff.

The jurisdiction of a sheriff. Called, in modern law, "bailiwick." The office of a sheriff. Less...

A word used by the authorities of the Roman Church, to specify contemptuously the technical parts of the law, as administered by non-clerical lawyers. Wharton.

A word used by the authorities of the Roman Church, to specify contemptuously the technical parts of the law, as administered by non-clerical lawyers. Wharton. Less...

In American law. The chief executive and administrative officer of a county, being chosen by popular election. His principal duties are in aid of the criminal courts and civil courts of record; such as serving process, summoning juries, executing judgments, holding judicial sales, and the like. He is also the More...

In American law. The chief executive and administrative officer of a county, being chosen by popular election. His principal duties are in aid of the criminal courts and civil courts of record; such as serving process, summoning juries, executing judgments, holding judicial sales, and the like. He is also the chief conservator of the peace within his territorial jurisdiction. See State v. Finn, 4 Mo. App. 352; Com. v. Martin, 9 Kulp (Pa.) 69; In re Executive Communication, 13 Fla. 687; Pearce v. Stephens, 18 App. Div. 101, 45 N. Y. Supp. 422; Denson v. Sledge, 13 N. C. 140; Hoc-xett v. Alston, 110 Fed. 912, 49 C. C A. 180. In English law. The sheriff is the principal officer in every county, and has the transacting of the public business of the county. He is an officer of great antiquity, and was also called the "shire-reeve/' "reeve," or "bailiff." He is called In Latin "vice-comes," as being the deputy of the earl or comes, to whom anciently the custody of the shire was committed. The duties of the sheriff principally consist in executing writs, precepts, warrants from justices of the peace for the apprehension of offenders, etc Brown. In Scotch law. The office of sheriff differs somewhat from the same office under the English law, being, from ancient times, an office of important judicial power, as well as ministerial. The sheriff exercises a jurisdiction of considerable extent, both of civil and criminal character, which is, in a proper sense, Judicial, in addition to powers resembling those of an English sheriff. Tomlins; Bell. -Deputy sheriff. See DEPUTY.-High sheriff. One holding the office of sheriff, as distinguished from his deputies or assistants or under sheriffs.-Poohet sheriff. In English law. A sheriff appointed by the sole authority of the crown, without the usual form of nomination by the judges in the exchequer. 1 Bl. Comm. 342; 3 Steph. Comm. 23.-Sheriff clerk. The clerk of the sheriff's court in Scotland.-Sheriff depute. In Scotch law. The principal sheriff of a county, who is also a judge.-Sheriff-peld. A rent formerly paid by a- sheriff, and it is prayed that the sheriff in his account may be discharged thereof. Rot. Pari. 50 Edw. III.-Sheriff-tooth. In English law. A tenure by the service of providing entertainment for the sheriff at his county-courts; a common tax, formerly levied for the sheriff's diet. Wharton.-Sheriff's court. The court held before the sheriff's deputy, that is, the under-sheriff, and wherein actions are brought for recovery of debts under ?20. Writs of inquiry are also brought here to be executed. The sheriff's court for the county of Middlesex is that wherein damages are assessed in proper cases after trial at Westminster. Brown.-Sheriff's Jury. In practice. A jury composed of no determinate number, but which may be more or less than twelve, summoned by the sheriff for the purposes of an inquisition or inquest of office. 3 Bl. Comm. 258.-Sheriff's officers. Bailiffs, who are either bailiffs of hundreds or bound-bailiffs.-Sheriff's sale. See SALE.- Sheriff's tourn.. A court of record in England, held twice every year, within a month after Easter and Michaelmas, before the sheriff, in different parts of the county. It is, indeed, only the turn or rotation of the sheriff to keen a court-leet in each respective hundred. It ia the great court-leet of the county, as the county court is the court-baron; for out of this, for the ease of the sheriff, was taken the court-leet or view of frank-pledge. 4 Bl. Comm. 273. Less...