freeholdn.adj.
/ˈfriːhəʊld/, U.S. /ˈfriˌ(h)oʊld/ Chiefly Law.
A. n.
1.
a. Permanent and absolute tenure of land or property with freedom to dispose of it at will. Also: a corresponding tenure of a dignity or office.The term was originally used to denote the holding of an estate in land with the rights of a free man, as opposed to a villein (cf. villeinage n. 1), and was taken to include the holding of an estate or interest in fee simple, in fee tail, or for term of life. Now frequently contrasted with leasehold.parson's freehold: see parson n. Compounds 2; socage freehold: see socage n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > tenure of property > [noun] > freehold
seisin1297
freeholdinga1325
freehold1414
seisininga1450
seizure1592
seise1607
freeholdership1701
1414 Rolls of Parl. IV. 58/1 The Priour and Chanons of Barnewell..hav cleymed, and ȝit cleymen, the regalite and the frehold of the Kynges Lordshippe and Townshipe of Chestreton.
1424 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1423 §15. m. 2 Many materes shul be treted afore the counsaill, the whiche toucheth the kings prerogatif and freehold, o that o partie et othir of his sougets o that othir.
1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Surueyeng xi. f. 12 There be many maner of fre holdes, and holde their landes and tenementes in diuers maner.
1598 J. Marston Scourge of Villanie i. ii. sig. C4 When tenure for short yeeres, (by many a one) Is thought right good be turn'd forth Littleton, All to be headdie, or free hold at least.
1660 R. Coke Elements Power & Subjection 25 in Justice Vindicated Do or Dedi to such a man or woman for term of either of their lives, or to such a man or woman during the life of another, creates a freehold.
1713 L. Milbourne Peace Gift of God 9 The Owners of them plead their Freehold never so clamorously.
1767 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. (ed. 2) II. 195 A disseisin being a deprivation of that actual seisin, or corporal freehold of the lands, which the tenant before enjoyed.
1846 E. F. Moore Rep. Cases Privy Council (1847) V. 391 A party cannot be removed from office, in which he has a freehold, but for misconduct.
1923 S. A. Korff Autocracy & Revol. in Russia ii. 37 The law of November, 1906..provided that the peasants could leave the village commune, purchase a patch of land, and own it in freehold.
1959 Earl Jowitt & C. Walsh Dict. Eng. Law I. 735/1 Before 1926 legal estates in land of freehold tenure were divisible..into estates of freehold or less than freehold.
2006 Church Times 14 July 29/4 Everybody in future would be appointed on the basis of common tenure, and under it, clergy would have a right to a stipend, something they did not have under freehold.
b. An estate or office held by this tenure.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > real or immovable property > land > a landed property or estate > other types of estate
freeholdc1432
vacant1572
perpetuity1607
forestry1751
c1432 in PMLA (1934) 49 454 (MED) Þis abbot Thomas continuyd xiij ȝere in possession of all þe vrehold of þis seyd Isabell.
1495 Rolls of Parl. (2005) VI. 508 Who that hath eny freeholde within the toun of Caleis.
1542–3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII c. 22 Manours..beinge the inheritaunce or the freholde of his wife.
1598 T. Bastard Chrestoleros vii. xv. 116 First Mirus coueted a peece of gold..then copie land, and after a freeholde.
1691 Case of Exeter-Coll. 22 He must be turned out by due course of Law; and not frighted from his freehold by the thunder of Excommunication.
1702 Acts & Laws Connecticut 2 A Jury of Twelve men of the Neighbourhood; each of which Twelve men shall have a Freehold worth Forty Shillings per Annum, or Fifty Pounds Personal Estate, in the County.
1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. i. i. 100 No freeman shall be divested of his freehold.
1858 Ld. St. Leonards Handy Bk. Prop. Law x. 65 An estate for life, or for another man's life, is termed a freehold, less than an inheritance, but still a freehold.
1871 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1876) IV. xviii. 167 One lordship in Somerset, alone among all the lands of England, became the freehold of the Church of Saint Peter at Rome.
1955 Times 26 May 3/7 The club, who own the freehold, find the problem of repairs and maintenance more and more difficult to solve.
1984 N. Barber Woman of Cairo i. xiii. 159 A Swiss company acquired the freehold of a four-bedroomed luxury apartment in New York.
1992 B. Gill Death of Love xii. 167 The sweep of field, upland pasture, and mountain..which comprised the freehold of her father.
c. Income derived from an estate held in freehold. Now historical.Used esp. in contexts where a certain level of such income is required to qualify for a particular right or privilege.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > [noun] > income derived from land or property > types of
extent1303
commodities1396
freehold1433
candle-rent1611
farmage1611
localityc1701
1433 Petition (P.R.O.) 277.13830 (MED) Diuerse parsones..by cause of sufficyaunt of freholde so purchased haue bene ofte returned by the Shereve of the Shire and other Bayllefs and sworen in enquestes.
1467 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 393 And that he be of frehold yerly, at the leste, xl.s.
1527 J. Rastell in Abridgem. Statutes f. 69 An indytement in the torne takyn by them that may not dispend .xx. x. by yere of frehold..shalbe voide.
1670 T. Blount Νομο-λεξικον: Law-dict. at Purlieu-man He..being able to dispend forty shillings per annum of Freehold, is licensed to hunt in his own Purlieu.
1704 W. Nelson Office & Authority Justice of Peace 247 Twenty four Men of 40 s. per Annum freehold each of them.
1794 Kentish Reg. May 177/1 Men resident within the district, having a qualification of 5l. per annum freehold.
1821 Times 30 July 3/2 The persons qualified to serve on juries are:—All persons having 10l. by the year of freehold [etc.].
1958 W. T. MacCaffrey Exeter, 1540–1640 ix. 226 The Statute of Apprentices, which then limited apprenticeship to those whose parents could spend 20s. of freehold per annum.
1973 Econ. Hist. Rev. 29 308 Many of these [requirements], and particularly that for the grand jury..were not the 40s. freehold of electoral law.
d. (A tract of) land or property which is or may be held in freehold.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > tenure of property > a legal holding > [noun] > freehold land or property
booklandeOE
freeholdinga1325
freehold1435
udal land?1502
charter-land1503
1435 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1883) II. 361 (MED) Als far as ye bawndes of ye free haldes gon.
c1450 (c1405) Mum & Sothsegger (BL Add. 41666) (1936) l. 946 (MED) I beheulde a faire hovs..A frankelynis fre-holde al fresshe newe.
a1625 H. Finch Law (1636) 11 A. erects a Shop vpon the Kings Freehold, the King grants the land to B. in fee.
1777 Ann. Reg. 1775 (ed. 2) 14/2 The British lands in that vast continent [sc. America], are generally portioned out in numberless small freeholds.
1850 A. Alison Hist. Europe from French Revol. (new ed.) XIV. xcv. 130 It has covered the country, not with Tuscan freeholds, but with Irish crofts.
1911 W. B. Odgers & W. B. Odgers Comm. Law Eng. II. 700 The produce of the trees, when they should be cut down and severed from the freehold.
1925 Times 18 June 14/4 They forgot that the land was the African's and attempted to convert it into freehold for the European.
1990 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 14 May 31 Camford's Stevenage site—nine prime hectares of freehold next to a railway station—was the clear prize.
2. figurative and in extended use.
ΚΠ
1611 M. Smith in Bible (King James) Transl. Pref. 2 He that medleth with mens Religion medleth with their custome, nay, with their free~hold.
a1640 P. Massinger Beleeue as you List (1976) iv. ii. 223 Courtezan. yf thou wer'et ten times a kinge thou liest. I am a ladie..Metellus. Hee hath touchd her freehold.
a1788 N. Cotton Var. Pieces Verse & Prose (1791) I. 52 Survey This little freehold of unthinking clay, And know thy end!
1864 H. E. P. Spofford Azarian ii. 83 Some deity appears to have given her your happiness in charge. She certainly claims a freehold in you.
1870 J. G. Whittier My Triumph in Compl. Poet. Wks. (1873) 431/2 I..take by faith, while living, My freehold of thanksgiving.
1923 A. N. Wilder Battle-Retrospect 11 A life past divination rich In poignant exploitations And eager explorations Of its allotted freehold in the Day.
1967 T. Hughes Wodwo 34 If the family features mount yet another Opportune, doomed bid To grapple to everlasting Their freehold of life.
B. adj.
Held by or having the status of freehold; relating to or of the nature of freehold. Also: (of a person) holding land by freehold.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > tenure of property > [adjective] > freehold
freehold1527
1527 in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1884) V. 235 All my landes, as well copiehold as freehold.
1593 J. Adames Order Keeping Court Leete & Court Baron sig. D4 You shall enquire whether any Freeholder hath aliened or sould away his Freehold lands or tenements.
1647 N. Ward Simple Cobler Aggawam 63 I have observed men to have two kindes of Wills, a Free-hold will..or a Copy-hold will.
1690 S. Sewall Let. 21 Feb. in Let.-bk. (1886) I. 107 All who have six pounds, (Country pay) pr annum freehold Land..may present themselves to the Gen.ll Court to be admitted Electors.
1738 W. Stephens Jrnl. 15 Feb. in Jrnl. Proc. Georgia (1742) I. 107 One Smith, a Shoemaker (not a Freehold Inhabitant).
1798 Times 28 June 4/3 To be sold..a..freehold house, with..numerous attached and detached offices of every description.
1827 T. Jarman Powell's Ess. Learning of Devises (ed. 3) II. 115 The testatrix having in a former part of her will disposed of all her freehold estate.
1872 Evening Hours 2 258/1 He had only to go to the land office, and challenge your pre-emptive rights. This gave you six weeks' grace in which to raise the money, and buy it freehold yourself.
1875 K. E. Digby Introd. Hist. Law Real Prop. iii. 115 When the rights over the land are given for a period the termination of which is not fixed or ascertained by a specified limit of time, the interest is a freehold interest.
1938 ‘N. Shute’ Kindling vi. 106 He wants..another twenty thousand for the property as it stands, the freehold site, buildings, plant, machinery, fixtures and fittings.
1960 A. J. Luthuli in H. Spottiswoode S. Afr. 116 In rural areas African freehold lands that are surrounded by white farms are by law ‘Black Spots’.
1990 Times Educ. Suppl. 19 Oct. 1/4 Hamilton House is a freehold asset in central London which none of the other teacher unions have.
2003 Oxoniensia 67 41 The tenement referred to was inherited and therefore freehold.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
freeholdv.
/ˈfriːhəʊld/, U.S. /ˈfriˌ(h)oʊld/, Australian English /ˈfriː(h)oʊld/, New Zealand English /ˈfriː(h)ʌuld/ Chiefly New Zealand and Australian.
transitive. To obtain freehold of (a property); to convert to freehold, to buy out (a lease). Also occasionally intransitive.
ΚΠ
1876 A. E. Peache Jrnl. in C. A. C. Gray Quiet with Hills (1970) 40 He had bought in as much land as he could afford to freehold, as others were taking up the ‘gridiron’ leaseholds.
1901 S. Butler in H. F. Jones Samuel Butler (1919) 353 I have, bit by bit, freeholded the greater part of them [sc. the houses].
1969 Econ. Geogr. 45 334/1 Its [sc. the farm's] new operator..most often starts as a leaseholder, with opportunity to freehold later.
1985 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 20 Feb. The predominant European land use [in Cape York Peninsula] has been cattle grazing under a system of 30-year pastoral leases which cannot be freeholded.
2007 Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) (Nexis) 26 Oct. 10 So far under tenure review, about 176,000ha has been freeholded and 127,000ha has been returned to the Crown as conservation land.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.adj.1414
v.1876