PURVEYANCE (purveyance, a pro viding), a prerogative formerly enjoyed by the King of England, of purchasing provisions and other necessaries for the use of the royal household, and of em ploying horses and carriages in his ser vice in preference to all other persons, and without the consent of the owners. The persons who acted for the king in these matters were called purveyors. A pri vilege of the same nature was also ex ercised by many of the great lords. The parties whose property was thus seized were entitled to a recompense ; but what they received was inadequate, and many abuses were committed under the pretext of purveyance. About forty statutes were passed upon the subject, many of them, like all the important early statutes, being a re-enactment of those preceding. Some of the most strict occur in the 36th year of Edward , III. The parliament of that year, which is said to have been held for the honour and pleasure of God, and the amendment of the outrageous grievances and oppressions done to the people, and the relief of their estate,' after a general confirmation of former statutes, immedi ately proceeds to enact five statutes on the subject of purveyance. -These statutes confine the exercise of it to the king and queen, and provided that for the future the heinous name of pur veyor shall be changed into that of buyer: they forbid the use of force or menaces, and direct that where pur veyors cannot agree upon the price, an appraisement shall be made, &c. &c. The provisions of these statutes are very full, but they appear to have wholly failed in their operation, and other statutes were passed without effect. Several of the charges against Wolsey were the ex ercise of purveyance on his own behalf.
(4 Ind. 93.) In the time of Elizabeth, two attempts were made in the same year by the Commons to regulate the abuses of purveyance. The queen was extremely indignant at this, and desired the Commons not to interfere with her prerogative. During the first parliament of James I., Bacon, on presenting a petition to the king, delivered his famous speech against purveyors, which forms a sort of compendium of the heavy charges made against them. Several negotia tions took place in that reign for the pur chase of the prerogative of purveyance, but nothing was done. Under the Com monwealth it fell into disuse. Purvey ance was not formally abolished till after the Restoration. By the 12 Ch. II., c. 24, this branch of the prerogative was surrendered by the king, who received in lieu of it a certain amount payable on exciseable liquors. Probably in the earlier periods of our history the exist ence of purveyance was almost necessary for the support of the royal household, especially during the progresses which were then so frequent. This seems almost a necessary inference from its continuance in spite of so many attempts to suppress it. Even after its final abolition by the statute Charles II. several temporary statutes were passed.
and in that and the succeeding reign, for its partial revival on the occasion of royal progresses. On behalf of the navy and ordnance, a statute to that effect occurs as late as 11 and 12 Will. 3. (Camden, 388 ; Bacon's Works, vol. vi. p. 3, Montagu's edit. ; Hume's Hist.; 1 BL Corn., 287 ; 3 Inst., 82 ; 4 Inst., 273.)