Copyhold

A tenure by copy of courtroll; any species of holding by particular custom of the manor; the estate so held.

A tenure by copy of courtroll. Any species of holding by particular custom of the manor. The estate so held. A copyhold estate was originally an estate at the will of the lord, agreeably to certain customs evidenced by entries on the roll of the courts baron. Co. Litt. 58 a; 2 Bla. Com. 95; 1 Poll. & M. 351, 357. It is a villenage tenure deprived of its servile incidents. The doctrine of copyhold is of no application in the United States. Wms. R. P. 257, 258, Rawle's note; 1 Washb. R. P. 26. See Villein.

A species of estate at will or customary estate In England, the only visible title to which consists of the copies of the court rolls, which are made out by the steward of the manor, on a tenant's being admitted to any parcel of land or tenement belonging to the manor. It is an estate at the will of the lord, yet such a will as is agreeable to the custom of the manor, which customs are preserved and evidenced by the rolls of the several courts baron, in which they are entered. 2 Bl. Comm. 95.

In a larger sense, copyhold is said to import every customary tenure, (that is, every tenure pending on the particular custom of a manor,) as opposed to fuse socage or freehold, which may now (since the abolition of knight-service) be considered as the general or common-law tenure of the country. 1 Steph. Comm. 210.

— Copyhold commissioners. Commissioners appointed to carry into effect various acts of parliament, having for their principal objects the compulsory commutation of manorial burdens and restrictions, (fines, beriots, rights to timber and minerals, etc.il and the compulsory enfranchisement of copyhold lands. 1 Steph. Comm. 643; Elton, Copyh.

— Copy-holder. A tenant by copyhold tenure, (by copy of court-roll.) 2 Bl. Comm. 95.

— Privileged copyholds. Those copyhold estates which are said to be held according to the custom of the manor, and not at the will of the lord, as common copyholds are. They include customary freeholds and ancient demesnes. 1 Crabb, Real Prop. p. 709, § 919.

copihold.

In English law. A tenure or holding of manor lands by copy of court-roll, originally a holding at the will of the lord, according to the custom of the manor, — a tenure of pure villeinage; but it has gradually been divested of its slavish incidents, so that it cannot now be determined without cause or against custom.

A species of estate at will, or customary estate in England, the only visible title to which consists of the copies of the court rolls, which are made out by the steward of the manor, on a tenant's being admitted to any parcel of land, or tenement belonging to the manor. It is an estate at the will of the lord, yet such a will as is agreeable to the custom of the manor, which customs are preserved and evidenced by the rolls of the several courts baron, in which they are entered. 2 Bl. Comm. 95.

In a larger sense, copyhold is said to import every customary tenure, (that is, every tenure depending on the particular custom of a manor,) as opposed to free socage, or freehold, which may now (since the abolition of knight-service) be considered as the general or common-law tenure of the country. 1 Steph. Comm. 210.

Tenure of manor lands by copy of court roU, at the will of the lord, according to the custom of the manor. Originally pure villeinage, it has gradually become divested of its base services and approached a state resembling socage, and the lord cannot evict without cause or against custom. Coram domino rege ubicunque tunc fuerit Anglise, I. Before [our] lord the King, wherever he shall then be in England. Coram ipso rege (before the King himself): in the K. B. Coram nobis: before us; a name given to a writ of error on a judgment in the K. B. If on a judgment in other courts it was coram vobis, before you. Hence, the latter term is used when the proceedings of another court are to be reviewed; the former, when the proceedings of a court are to be reviewed by itself. V. Error. Coram me vel justiciariis meis: before me or my justices. Coram non judice (before one not a judge): in a court having no jurisdiction. Coram paribus de vicineto: before the [his] peers of the neighborhood. Coram sectatoribus: hefore the suitors.

C(^hold, [L. Lat. tenu^ ra per copiam rotuli curies; Fr. tenure per copie de court rol^ A tenure or holding by copy of court roll. A species of estate at will, or customary estate in England, the only visible title to which consists of the copies of the court rolls, which are made out by the steward of the manor, on a tenant's being admitted to any parcel of land, or tenement belonging to the manor. 2 Bl. Com, 94, 95, 147. Co, Litt, 58 a. Litt, sect. 75. It is an estate at the will of the lord, yet such a wiU as is agreeable to the custom of the manor, which customs are preserved and evidenced by the rolls of the several courts baron, in which they are entered. 2 Bl, Com, 95. It is a base tenure, founded upon immemorial custom.* 2 Steph, Com* 43, 44.

In a larger sense, copyhold is said to import every customary tenure, (that is, every tenure depending on the particular custom of a manor,) as opposed to free socage, or freehold, which may now, (since the abolition of knight-service) be considered as the general or common law tenure of the country. 1 Steph. Com. 210. See 1 Crabb's Real Prop, 606, § 765, et seq. Burton's Real Prop, ch. vii. Watkins and Scriven on Copyholds, Copyhold is lineally descended from the ancient tenure of pure villenage, the will of the lord by which the villein held having become, in the course of time, so far modified and controlled by custom, as to allow the tenant to hold his lands, on performance of the required services, in spite of any determination of the lord's will. 2 BL Com, 95. 1 Stepk. Com. 201, 210. 1 JReeves* Hist JEng. Law, 39. Copyhold is, in other words, villenage divested of all its slavish incidents. Crabb's Hist Eng. Law, 53«. Villeins appear to have been called custumarii tenentes (customary tenants) in the fourth year of Edw. I.; tenants per roll solonque le volunl le seigneur, (tenants by roll according to the will of the lord,) in 42 Edw. III. 36; tenants per le verge, (by the verge,) in 14 Hen. IV. 34; and copyliolders in 1 Hen. V. 11. Co. Litt 68. 3 Reeves* Hist Eng. Law, 312, 813.