happens that a manor extends itself over more parishes than one, though there are often many manors in one parith (19). The lords, as chriftianity fpread itself, began to build churches upon their own demefnes or waftes, to accommodate their tenants in one or two adjoining lordfhips; and, in order to have divine fervice regularly performed therein, obliged all their tenants to appropriate their tithes to the maintenance of the one officiating minifter, inftead of leaving them at liberty to diftribute them among the clergy of the diocefe in general; and this tract of land, the tithes whereof were fo appropriated, formed a diftinct parish. Which will well enough account for the frequent intermixture of parishes one with another. For, if a lord had a parcel of land detached from the main of his eftate, but not fufficient to form a parish of itself, it was natural for him to endow his newly erected church with the tithes of thofe disjointed lands; efpecially if no church was then built in any lordship adjoining to thofe outlying parcels. THUS parishes were gradually formed, and parish churches endowed with the tithes that arofe within the circuit affigned. But fome lands, either because they were in the hands of irreligious and carelefs owners, or were fituate in forefts and defart places, or for other now unfearchable reafons, were never united to any parish, and therefore continue to this day extraparochial; and their tithes are now by immemorial custom payable to the king instead of the bishop, in truft and confidence that he will diftribute them for the general good of the church yet extraparochial waftes and marfh-lands, when improved and drained, are by the ftatute 17 Geo. II. c. 37. to be affeffed to all parochial rates in the parish next adjoining. And thus much for the ecclefiaftical divifion of this kingdom. a z Inft. 647. 2 Rep. 44. Cro. Eliz. 512. (19) But at present the boundaries of the one afford no evidence or inference whatever of the boundaries of the other. 2. THE Civil divifion of the territory of England is into counties, of thofe counties into hundreds, of thofe hundreds into tithings or towns. Which divifion, as it now ftands, feems to owe it's original to king Alfred: who, to prevent the rapines and diforders which formerly prevailed in the realm, inftituted things; fo called, from the Saxon, because ten freeholders with their families compofed one. These all dwelt together, and were fureties or free pledges to the king for the good behaviour of each other; and if any offence was committe in their diftrict, they were bound to have the offender forthcoming. And therefore antiently no man was fuffered to abide in England above forty days, unless he were enrolled in fome tithing or decennary. One of the principal inhabitants of the tithing is annually appointed to prefide over the reft, being called the tithing-man, the headborough, (words which speak their own etymology,) and in fome countries the borfholder, or borough's-ealder, being fuppofed the difcreetest man in the borough, town, or tithing “. TITHINGS, towns, or vills (20), are of the fame fignification in law; and are faid to have had, each of them, originally a church and celebration of divine fervice, facraments, and burials though that feems to be rather an ecclesiastical, (20) In the 13 and 14 Car. 2. c. 12. which provides that when a parish is fo large that it cannot have the benefit of the overfeers and provifion for the poor appointed by the 43 Eliz. c. 2. two overfeers may be appointed for every township or village in fuch parish. In this ftatute the words township and village have always been thought fynonimous. But it has been held that wherever there is a conftable, there is a township. (1 T. R. 376.) Parishes in fome counties, as in part of Bedfordshire, are divided into tithings. (2 Luders, 511.) than than a civil, distinction. The word town or vill is indeed, by the alteration of times and language, now become a generical term, comprehending under it the feveral species of cities, boroughs, and common towns. A city is a town incorporated, which is or hath been the fee of a bishop: and though the bishoprick be diffolved, as at Westminster (21), yet (21) Weftminster was one of the new bishopricks created by Henry VIII, out of the revenues of the diffolved monafteries. (2 Burn. E. L.78.) Thomas Thirlby was the only bishop that ever filled that fee: (God. Comm.de Præf. 570.) he furrendered the bishoprick to Ed. VI. 30 March 1550, and on the fame day it was diffolved and added again to the bishoprick of London. (Rym. Foed. 15 tom. p. 222.) Queen Mary afterwards filled the church with Benedictine monks, and Eliz. by authority of parliament, turned it into a collegiate church fubject to a dean; but it retained the name of city, not perhaps becaufe it had been a bishop's fee, but becaufe, in the letters patent erecting it into a bishoprick, king Henry declared, volumus itaque et per præfentes ordinamus quod ecclefia cathedralis et fedes epifcopalis, ac quod tota villa noftra Weftmonafterii fit civitas, ipfamque civitatem Weftmonafterii vocari et nominari volumus et decernimus. There was a fimilar claufe in favour of the other five new-created cities, viz. Chefter, Peterborough, Oxford, Gloucefter, and Bristol. The charter for Chefter is in Gilf. Cod. 1449; and that for Oxford in Rym. Foed. 14 tom. 754. Lord Coke feems anxious to rank Cambridge among the cities, becaufe he finds it called civitas in an ancient record, which he " thought it good to mention in re"membrance of his love and duty, almæ matri academiæ Canta 86 brigiæ." (Co. Litt. 109) The prefent learned Vinerian profeffor of Oxford has produced a decifive authority that cities and bishops' fees had not originally any neceflary connection with each other. It is that of Ingulphus, who relates that at the great council affembled in 102, to fettle the claim of precedence between the two archbishops, it was decreed that bishops' fees fhould be tranfferred from towns to cities. (i Woodd. 302.) In Will. Malm. Scrip. Ang. p. 214. it is conceffam eft epifcopis de villis tranfire in civitates. The accidental coincidence of the fame number of bishops and cities would naturally produce the fuppofition that they were con. nected together as a neceffary caufe and effect. It is certainly (as Mr. Wooddefon obferves) a ftrong confirmation of this authority, that the fame diftinction is not paid to bishops' fees in Ireland.— Mr. Hargrave ftill it remaineth a city f. A borough is now underfood to be a town, either corporate or not, that fendeth burgeffes to parliament. Other towns there are, to the number fir Edward Coke fays of 8803, which are neither cities nor boroughs; fome of which have the privileges of markets, and others not; but both are equally towns in law. h To feveral of these towns there are fmall appendages belonging, called hamlets; which are taken notice of in the ftatute of Exeter, [ 115 ] which makes frequent mention of entire vills, demi-vills, and hamlets. Entire vills fir Henry Spelman* conjectures to have confifted of ten freemen, or frank-pledges, demi-vills of five, and hamlets of lefs than five. These little collections of houfes are fometimes under the fame adminiftration as the town itself, fometimes governed by feparate officers; in which laft case they are, to fome purposes in law, looked upon as diftinct townships. These towns, as was before hinted, contained each originally but one parish, and one tithing; though many of them now, by the encrease of inhabitants, are divided into feveral parishes and tithings; and, fometimes, where there is but one parish there are two or more vills or tithings. As ten families of freeholders made up a town or tithing, fo ten tithings compofed a fuperior divifion, called a hundred, as confifting of ten times ten families. The hundred is governed by an high conftable or bailiff, and formerly there was regularly held in it the hundred court for the trial of caufes, though now fallen into difufe. In fome of the Hargrave in his notes to Co. Litt. 110. proves, that, although Weftminster is a city, and has fent citizens to parliament fince the time of Ed. VI. it never was incorporated; and this is a striking inftance in contradiction of the learned opinions there referred to,viz. that the king could not grant within time of memory to any place the right of fending members to parliament without first creating that place a corporation. more more northern counties these hundreds are called wapentakes' (22). THE fubdivifion of hundreds into tithings seems to be most peculiarly the invention of Alfred: the inftitution of hundreds themselves he rather introduced than invented. For they seem to have obtained in Denmark : and we find that in France a regulation of this fort was made above two hundred years before; fet on foot by Clotharius and Childebert, with a view of obliging each district to answer for the robberies committed in it's own divifion. Thefe divifions were, in that country, as well military as civil: and each contained a hundred freemen, who were fubject to an officer called the centenarius; a number of which centenarii were themfelves [116] fubject to a fuperior officer called the count or comes". And indeed fomething like this inftitution of hundreds may be traced back as far as the antient Germans, from whom were derived both the Franks who became mafters of Gaul, and the Saxons who settled in England: for both the thing and the name, as a territorial affemblage of perfons, from which afterwards the territory itself might probably receive it's denomination, were well known to that warlike people. "Cente"ni ex fingulis pagis funt, idque ipfum inter fuos vocantur; et "quod primo numerus fuit, jam nomen et honor eft." An indefinite number of thefe hundreds make up a county or fhire. Shire is a Saxon word signifying a division; but a county, comitatus, is plainly derived from comes, the count of the Franks; that is, the earl, or alderman (as the Saxons. called him) of the fhire, to whom the government of it was 1 Seld. in Fortefc. c. 24. m Seld. tit. of honour. 2. 5. 3. n Montefq. Sp. L. 30. 17. (22) Et quod Angli vocant hundredum, comitatus Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, et Northamptonshire, vocant wapentachium (LI. Edw. c. 33.) And it proceeds to explain why they are called fo, viz. because the people at a public meeting confirmed their union with the governor by touching his weapon or lance. intrufted |