|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
gavelkind
gavelkind, the English legal term used by government officials to describe the complex and regionally varied forms of collective partible inheritance which characterized communal native Irish land tenures, before these were formally abolished in 1606. The fundamental principle, of subdivision between all male heirs or kinsmen, was similar to that of gavelkind in medieval England, but was applied to communal sept land rather than tenements held in severalty. Moreover, the nature and occasion of such subdivision varied widely. In some districts, scrupulous impartiality was observed in the allocation of equal shares among all eligible male heirs; in others, the lord allocated shares at will, frequently retaining the best portion for himself. In some areas, redistribution only occured on the death of a co‐heir; in others it took place annually. As in England, the practice encouraged the rapid fragmentation of landholdings, and has been held to have been a major factor discouraging the erection of permanent buildings. The penal law of 1704 reimposed gavelkind on Catholic landowners unless the eldest son converted to Protestantism, when he inherited the whole.
Lindsay Proudfoot |
|
|
Cite this article
"gavelkind." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "gavelkind." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O245-gavelkind.html "gavelkind." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O245-gavelkind.html |
|
gavelkind
gavelkind [M.E.,=family tenure], custom of inheritance of lands held in socage tenure , whereby all the sons of a holder of an estate in land share equally in such lands upon the death of the father. Most of the lands in England were held in gavelkind tenure prior to the Norman Conquest in 1066, and the custom of dividing lands among the male heirs is still preserved in parts of England, notably the county of Kent. This system of inheritance of lands is to be contrasted with borough-English and primogeniture . |
|
|
Cite this article
"gavelkind." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "gavelkind." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-gavelkin.html "gavelkind." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-gavelkin.html |
|
gavelkind
gavelkind was the practice of partible or equal inheritance, as opposed to primogeniture. It was predominant in Kent but found elsewhere, particularly in Wales and Ireland. The result was the creation of small estates with considerable political independence. It was extinguished in 1922 by 12 & 13 Geo. V c. 16. See also borough English.
J. A. Cannon |
|
|
Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "gavelkind." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "gavelkind." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-gavelkind.html JOHN CANNON. "gavelkind." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-gavelkind.html |
|
gavelkind
gavelkind Kentish form of land-tenure XIII; in Kent and elsewhere, division of a deceased man's property equally among his sons. XVI. ME. gavel(i)kinde, -kende; repr. OE. *gafolġecynd, f. gafol tribute + ġecynd KIND1; presumably orig. tenure by the payment of a fixed service.
|
|
|
Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "gavelkind." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "gavelkind." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-gavelkind.html T. F. HOAD. "gavelkind." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-gavelkind.html |
|
gavelkind
gavelkind was the practice of partible or equal inheritance, as opposed to primogeniture. It was predominant in Kent but found elsewhere, particularly in Wales and Ireland.
|
|
|
Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "gavelkind." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "gavelkind." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-gavelkind.html JOHN CANNON. "gavelkind." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-gavelkind.html |
|
gavelkind
gavelkind See PRIMOGENITURE.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"gavelkind." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "gavelkind." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-gavelkind.html "gavelkind." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-gavelkind.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
