Sidney Oldall Addy

“ And I noticed that a piece of land called "the Isle," at the foot of Lady's Bridge, is described as the property of "The Burgesses and Free Tenants of Sheffield." To one possessing an acquaintance with the origin and development of village communities an inspection of these plans would at once suggest that these "town lands" are pieces of land which were set apart in very early times by a community of freeholders for the public benefit of the "town," meaning the whole body of freeholders. ”

“ The names of the persons who fixed the amount of rent to be paid by the tenants at Handsworth Woodhouse are not given, but without doubt they were the freeholders or freemen who at a former period held their lands in common, and composed the village community. It is interesting to compare these lands, which are expressly stated to belong to the "town," with the "town lands" of Sheffield. In both cases their origin and purpose were the same, but in Sheffield, as from a much wealthier and more important place, there grew up a body or guild which was in fact a Mayor and Corporation. ”

“ The relationship between the "Town Trustees" and the freeholders of Sheffield is that of trustee and cestui que trust, and, except as aforesaid, those freeholders who elect the "Town Trustees" are the owners in undivided shares of all the original freehold estates now vested in, or administered by, the "Town Trustees." And, as fructus scquitur ventrem, the same freeholders are the owners of all other estates, whether real or personal, which the "Town Trustees" have at any time purchased out of income arising from property belonging to them as trustees. ”

“ At Ripon he was known as a "wakeman."↑ "Tenure in burgage is described by Glanvil, and is expressly said by Littleton to be but tenure in socage: and it is when the King or other person is lord of an antient borough, in which the tenements are held by a rent certain. It is indeed only a kind of town socage." (Stephen's Blackstone, 1863, p. 215.) We may thus learn that "Free Tenants" and "Burghers" or "Burgesses" are in Sheffield equivalent terms, the burgesses holding their lands in "free and common socage." ”

“ And although alienation from the family was in the end permitted we shall see in the next paragraph that, in theory at least, the town still held the land, and that a freehold estate could only be alienated by the permission of a jury of freeholders. In other words admission to the ancient order of freemen or burgesses could only be obtained by permission of the order itself. ”

“ It does not appear that Sheffield was direclly represented in Parliament, but it seems that the charter of 1297 was the instrument by which the amount of dues or taxes to be paid by the Burgesses was settled, such amount being probably remitted to the Crown by the lord who represented them in Parliament, or was answerable for the amount. Besides compounding the dues or taxes, Furnival's charter makes provision for the administration of justice within the borough, for the infliction of punishments by a jury composed of the Burgesses themselves, and for exemption from market tolls. ”

“ The. first step taken in the direction of emancipation was the purchase, by the tenants, of the firma burgi, that is, the ferm of the dues payable to the lord, or the king, within the borough: instead of being collected severally by the reeve or the sheriff, these were compounded for by a fixed sum, which was paid by the burghers and reapportioned amongst themselves. The grant of the ferm was accompanied by, or implied, an act of emancipation from villein services; and the recipient of the grant was either the leet or the guild, or the same individuals in both capacities. ”

“ What the grantor really does by the charter is to give the fee ferm (feudi firmam) of these lands to the Burgesses or Free Tenants in return for a fixed annual payment, the sum so paid being remitted to the manorial lord as talliage or taxes. ”