Copyholds are a common incident to the demesnes of a manor, but there are many manors in which this species of tenure does not appear to have ever existed, and many more in which it has been long extinct ; and though there are now no copy holds unconnected with a manor, the custom of demising by the lord's rolls appear,' to have formerly been common to every lord or freeholder who had demesnes who were held in 'amine. So the right to have a court-leet is a royal franchise [Lime], under which the grantee holds a court of criminal jurisdiction in the king's name, over the resiants (residents) within a particular district. This privilege may be granted to persons who are not lords of manors ; and where the grantee has a manor, the limits of the manor and of the loot are not always co-extensive.
Manors, low ereatcd.—Sinee the statutes of Quia Faaptores and Do Prterogativa Regis no manors have probably been created ; and it Las been commonly said that no new manor mild afterwanle be created. But se a proposition of law this appears to be stated too broadly. The former statute has been held not to apply to the immediate tenants of the king, who is not one of the " magnates and other (that is, inferior) lords.' The latter statute speaks only of lands held by knight's-service, and therefore, like the clause in the statute of wine imposing a restriction upon the devising of lands of that tenure, appears to be inapplicable since the abolition of military tenures. Besides, the statute of Quia Einptores Terrarurn has been held to con tain. an implied exception in respect of alienations made with the licence of all lords, mediate or immediate ; and in the statute De Prwrog,ativet Regis we find an express exception in favour of alienations made with the licence of the king. It seems to be questionable whether, even by the common law, the immediate tenant of the crown did not incur a forfeiture by making a subfeoffment without licence. (34 Edw. III., c. 15.) It has also been objected that a court-baron is necessary to a manor, and that a man cannot, by granting lands in tail, reserving suit at his court, create a court-baron. But this objection assumes that no greater subtenure can now be created than an estate tail ; whereas, with licence, a subtenure in fee may be created, and the holding of a court-baron seems to be incidental at common law to the seigniory over tenants in fee-simple.
Practically however no entirely new manors are now created ; but where, upon the partition of a manor, part of the demesnes and part of the services, including suit of court of a sufficient number of free hold tenants to constitute a court-baron, are assigned to one parcener, joint-tenant, or tenant in common, and other parts of the demesnes and services to another parcener, &c., each party has a manor, and may hold a court-baron. And it is said that if a manor extends into several townships, the lord may create separate manors by conveying the demesnes and services in township A to one, and those in township to another.
IV. Manors, how destroyed.—A manor is not destroyed by the loss of those incidents which, though members, and forming part, of the manor, are not, like demesnes and services, the " material causes of a manor." or will the legal existence of the manor be affected by the alienation of part of the demesnes, or by the alienation or extinction of part of the services, or by the extinction of all the copyholds. But upon the alienation of all the demesne., or the alienation or extinction of all the services, the manor ceases, and is said to be destroyed : and though any part of the demesnes, however small, will keep alive the manor, if there be sufficient services, it can exist no longer than whilst there can be found enough freehold tenants to constitute a court-baron. Thus if the lord purchase the lands of all his freehold tenants, or of all except one, or if the freehold escheat, or if the lord release or alien the services, the manor ceases to exist. So, if the lord alien the free hold of all lands holden of him by copy of court-roll, or enfranchise all the copyholders, in a manor where there are no demesnes except the copyholds. So, if he alien all the demesnes. So if, upon a partition of the manor, the demesnes are allotted to one and the services to another. But in none of these cases is the destruction of the manor absolute and irrevocable. If there cease to be any demesnes, so that the manor is turned into a seigniory in gross, yet upon the event of any of the freeholds holden of the manor coming to the lord by escheat or purchase, the lands so escheating or purchased will become demesnes of the manor, as they were, before the subinfeudation of those lands, whereby they wore originally severed from the manor, took place. Where a manor is destroyed by partition between co-parceners, if one die, and the other take. the share of the party dying as heir, the manor revives; but it would not be so in the case of a partition between joint-tenants or tenants in common, nor would the manor revive in the case of co-parceners if the severed portion of the manor were re-united, not by descent, but by purchase. Where all the free hold tenants have ceased to exist except one, there is no longer a complete legal manor, because there can be no court-baron ; but if the remaining tenant convey his tenement in fee to different persons in severalty, as there will he now a sufficient number of freeholders holding of the manor, to constitute a court-baron, the manor will revive. But without such revival, the estate is by some lawyers con sidered to be still entitled to the designation of a manor, by reason of there being demesnes and a seigniory appendant, though over one tenant only. (1 ' Anderson,' 257.) Such an e.,tate is however more frequently called " a manor by reputation,' a vague term, applied indiscriminately to all estates which have been manors, and which indeed would be equally applicable to a property which had acquired the name of a manor without having ever been one.