Rector
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia · John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia
In Ecclesiastical Law. One who rules or governs: a name given to certain officers of the Roman church. Diet. Canonique. In English Law. He that hath full possessession of a parochial church. A rector (or parson) has for the most part the whole right to all the ecclesiastical dues in his parish; where, as in theory of law, a vicar has an appropriator over him, entitled to the best part of the profits, to whom the vicar is, as it were, perpetual curate, with a standing salary.
Cowell; 1 Bla. Com. 384; 2 Steph. Com. 677.