English Law Terms
Doing English research? You should become familiar with these terms.
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Borough
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Town possessing a local government y royal charter. Might be divided into divisions called wards.
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Chapelry
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A division of a large or populous parish having its own chapel.
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City
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A town that has a Cathedral or site of the sea of a Bishop of a diocese.
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County
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Civil division of country. Until 1974 - 40 counties.
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Diocese
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Consists of several ecclesiastical parishes.
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Extra-Parochial
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Land exempt from church and poor rates. Often issued marriage licenses and probated wills. Did not always have a church building.
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Hamlet
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Group of houses of a small village, usually without a church.
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Hide
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Amount of land considered necessary to support a peasant household in Saxon England, usually 40-120 acres.
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Hundred
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Subdivision of county having its own court. Contained 100 hides of land (ancient terminology).
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Liberty
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District within a county exempt from the jurisdiction of a sheriff, often possessed a chapel for baptisms and burials.
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Parish
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(1) Civil subdivision of county.
(2) Ecclesiastical unit having a parish church.
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Province
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York and Canterbury
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Registration District
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Post-1837 division of country. Contains several civil parishes, liberties, precincts, and wards.
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| Stranger in Blood |
In the law of United States and the Commonwealth, a stranger in blood is someone mentioned in a will who is not related by blood to the testator. It is therefore the opposite of next of kin. |
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Tything
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A rural division originally of 10 householders (1/10 of a hundred). Exist today in Somerset and Wiltshire.
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Village
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Collection of houses, larger than a hamlet, but smaller than a town.
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Wapentake
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Administrative unit in the northern shires corresponding to Hundreds in the south.
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Ward
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Civil administrative division of a city or borough. Governed by an alderman and his deputy.
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Updated: 31 August 2015
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