Definition of 'in tail male'
RCBrooks
ITEM: E[xchequer] 210/826
SCOPE: "Grant, in tail male, by John Beket of Curthuther, to Roger Beket his son, of all hsi messuages and lands &c. in Hendregolyan in the parish of Plevynt, with reversion in fee to the grantor : [ Cornw. ]"
DATED: 10 June, 21 Henry VII.
[NOTE: the apparent typo 'hsi' is per the catalogue entry]
Can anyone give me a definition of a 'grant, in tail male'?
rcb
Todd A. Farmerie
Through the male line. In other words, if the owner has only only
daughters, it goes to his brother, uncle, or other nearest relative by
male-only descent. Usually, as with this grant, there is a reversion -
what should happen if the male line of the grantee becomes extinct. In
this case it goes back to the grantor, and by implication, to his heir
general following his decease.
taf
Ivor West
RCBrooks <rcbr...@acadia.net> wrote in message
news:37F513...@acadia.net...
> Browsing through the online catalogue at the Public Record Office at Kew,
I found the following item:
>
> ITEM: E[xchequer] 210/826
> SCOPE: "Grant, in tail male, by John Beket of Curthuther, to Roger Beket
his son, of all hsi messuages and lands &c. in Hendregolyan in the parish of
Plevynt, with reversion in fee to the grantor : [ Cornw. ]"
> DATED: 10 June, 21 Henry VII.
> [NOTE: the apparent typo 'hsi' is per the catalogue entry]
>
> Can anyone give me a definition of a 'grant, in tail male'?
>
>
The transfer of property restricted to male heirs of the body (of the
grantee). If there are no male heirs of the body the property reverts to
the grantor (reversion in fee) who would be the holder of the fee simple.
Fee tail comes from the French tailler, "to cut", as the estate, or fee, has
been cut down by being confined to heirs of the body, in this case male
heirs, whereas a fee simple may descend to common law heirs.
Plevynt is very likely Pelynt, in Cornwall.
Ivor West
se...@maclochlainn.freeserve.co.uk
"Todd A. Farmerie" <ta...@po.cwru.edu> wrote:
> > Can anyone give me a definition of a 'grant, in tail male'?
>
> Through the male line. In other words, if the owner has only only
> daughters, it goes to his brother, uncle, or other nearest relative by
> male-only descent.
This is a description of heirs male general.
Tail male (male heirs of the body) confines succession to the senior
male descendant of the grantee. If his male line descendants die out
then the grant reverts back to the grantor. Heirs male
general "confines" succession to the senior male descendant of the
grantees father, failing that his grandfather, failing that his great-
grandfather, etc.
Sean
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Eric Thompson
-0700:
> Can anyone give me a definition of a 'grant, in tail male'?
Yes!
It means that the property would descend to Roger Beket and his direct
male heirs.
The 'Oxford English Dictionary' includes these entries:
-----
tail general, limitation of an estate to a man and the heirs of his
body lawfully begotten;
tail special, limitation of an estate to a special class of heirs,
e.g. to a man and his wife and the heirs of their bodies lawfully
begotten;
tail male (or female), limitation of an estate to male (or female)
heirs;
1844 Williams Real Prop. (1877) 35 An estate in tail male cannot
descend to any but males, and male descendants of males.
Ibid., Tail female scarcely ever occurs.
-----
--
Eric Thompson