Ordinary

In Ecclesiastical Law. An officer who had original jurisdiction In his own right, and not by deputation. In England, the ordinary was an officer who has immediate jurisdiction in ecclesiastical causes.

Co. Lift. 344.

A bishop is an ordinary, and archbishops are the ordinaries of the whole province. Also an archdeacon; and an officer of the royal household. The executor legitimus “deriveth his authorise from the law,” wffio is the bishop or ordinary of every diocese. The executor dativus ‘‘deriveth his authoritie from the bishop or ordinarie,” who is the person usually known as the administrator.

2 Holdsw. Hist. E. L. 447.

It was not the ordinary who administered the estate, but his representative. See Executors and Administrators. In the United States, the ordinary possesses, in those states where such officer exists, powers identical with those usually vested in the courts of probate. In South Carolina, the ordinary was a judicial officer; Hays v. Harley, 1 Mill, Const. (S. C.) 267; Boggs v. Hamilton, 2 Mill, Const. (S. C.) 384; but the office no longer exists in South Carolina, where they have now a probate court. Georgia retains courts of ordinary; also New Jersey.

See Courts of Ordinary.