Alderman

[Sax. ealdarman, L. Lat. aldermanni Ls.'] A member of the corporation or common council of a city or corporate town, elected by, and representing the inhabitants of a ward, and having authority to act as a civil magistrate, and sometimes as a judge.* See Aldermannus civitatis. The use of the term alderman as an official title may be traced back to the time of the Anglo Saxons.

LL.

Edw, Conf, c.

35.

The word itself is derived from the Saxon ta Herman or ealdorman, compounded of 8ax. ealder, (Gr. 'ff^ea^vtegogf Lat. senior,) and man; literally, an elder man. The word talder was also used as a substantive, like the modem elder, and was sometimes employed as synonymous with ealderman, but It f Fas generally used as descriptive of age, rather than office. Spelman, Ealderman, (aldermannus,) on the other hand, was employed to denote office or rank, and not age. roeabantur aldermanni, non propter cetatem, sed propter sapientiam et dignitatem, cum gtudemadolescentes essent, juris periti tamen, et super hoe experti; they were called aldermen, not on account of their age, but on account of their wisdom and dignity; for they mieht be young men, provided they were skilled in the law, and possessed of the requisite experience. Ll, Edw, Conf. c.

35. Co. Litt. 168 a.

See Ealderman, The title however was not used to desi^ate any particular office, but was applied to officers of various grades, from the highest to the lowest. It was used in the first place, in a general sense, to denote any superior officer or magistrate, {pro seniore vel superiori in quavis prafectura,) and in this sense was applied to a prince, archbishop, bishop, duke and earl.

Spelman.

It was also used in a stricter sense to denote certain particular officers or magistrates of both general and limited jurisdiction, such as the alderman of all England, {aldermannus totius Anglice;) the king's alderman, {aldermannus regis;) the alderman of a county, {aldermannus comi* tatus;) of a city, {civitatis;) of a borough, {burgi;) of a castle, (castelli;) and of a hundred or wapentake, {hundreai sive wapentackii.) Id. See infra.