to married women, and also enacted that no infant or married woman should forfeit any copyhold land for his or her neglect or refusal to go to any court to be kept for the manor, and to take admittance to the land, or for the omission, denial, or refusal of such infant or married woman to pay any fine imposed or set upon his or her admittance to such land (~), and it enables the tenants to controvert the legality of the payment of any unwarranted fine (y). It will be observed that if the infant comes into court he may be admitted in person. With regard to married women, it will be remembered that the Married Women's Property Act, 1882 (z), provides that every woman married after the 1st of January, 1883, is entitled to hold and dispose of all real property belonging to her at the time of the marriage, or afterwards acquired by or devolving on her, as if she were a feme sole (a); and that every woman who was married before that date may hold and deal with as a feme sole all real property her title to which, whether vested or contingent, and whether in possession, reversion, or remainder, accrued to her after that date (b). In many cases, therefore, it is presumed a married woman will not require to claim the benefit of the provisions of the Act 11 Geo. IV. & 1 Will. IV. c. 65. The Act last mentioned contained provisions regarding Lunatic heir the admittance of lunatics similar to those already mentioned. These provisions have now been embodied in the Lunacy Act, 1890 (c), sect. 125 of which provides that where a lunatic so found by inquisition is entitled to be admitted tenant of copyhold land, the committee of his estate may appear at one of the three next courts held for the manor and offer himself to be admitted tenant in the name and on behalf of the lunatic, and in default of his appearance or of his acceptance of admittance, the lord, Forfeiture for or his steward, may, after three courts duly held and proclamations thereat regularly made, at any subsequent court appoint any fit person to be attorney for the lunatic for that purpose only, and by that attorney may admit the lunatic tenant of the land according to such estate as the lunatic is legally entitled to. On the admittance or enrolment of an heir as tenant, he is entitled to receive from the steward of the manor a notice as to his right to enfranchise the land (d). In a case which bears strongly upon the question of the heir's neglect. heir's forfeiture for neglect of appearance, a copyhold had been devised to six persons upon certain trusts. One of the devisees offered to be admitted and to pay his share of the fine; the other five disclaimed; but the lord would not admit without the whole fine, and seized quousque. The Court held that the lord ought to have admitted the devisee who offered himself, and then proceeded to recover the fine which he claimed, and that he had been too hasty in entering for a supposed forfeiture before admittance, for a seizure quousque was till somebody comes for admittance, and one had come and offered to be admitted; so that it was clear the lord had no right to seize (e). Seizure quousque of undivided shares. Inasmuch as coparceners make but one heir, the admittance of one is the admittance of all the rest (ƒ); and therefore if one appears, the shares of the others cannot be seized quousque; and if one of several co-heirs or co-heiresses be under disability, and none of them claim, the lord cannot seize the whole estate, but only the shares of those who are sui juris; and it seems in this case that he might seize the shares of the heirs who are sui juris, although he can enforce the admittance of the person under disability under his statutory powers (g). (d) 50 & 51 Vict. c. 73, s. 1; ante, p. 70. (e) Roe d. Ashton v. Hutton, 2 Wils. 162. (f) Garland v. Jekyll, 2 Bing. 273. (g) See Doe d. Tarrant v. Hellier, 3 T. R. 162. CHAPTER VI. INCIDENTS OF COPYHOLD ESTATES. In this chapter it is proposed to treat of the incidents Incidents of which usually attach to the copyholder's estate, including copyholds. the widow's freebench and the husband's customary estate by the curtesy, and the manorial dues, such as fines, heriots, reliefs, and the like, to which the lord is usually entitled by custom. There is no general custom in copyholds for the widow Freebench of a copyholder to have a provision analogous to dower, or and curtesy. for the widower to have an estate by the curtesy (a); but by the customs of most manors the widow has a provision called her freebench or "widow's estate," which in some points resembles dower; and in many places the widower has by custom an estate in his wife's lands analogous to an estate by the curtesy in freeholds, which is called his customary curtesy or "man's freebench." 1. Freebench. In the case of freehold lands, where dower had not been Freeholds. barred, the widow was entitled to an assignment by the heir for her life of one-third in value of the tenements of which her husband at any time since the marriage was seised, or to which he was entitled as sole tenant of a legal or equitable estate of fee simple or fee tail, which a child born of the marriage might possibly inherit (b). By the (a) See Brown's Case, 4 Rep. 21 a; Rivet's Case, 4 Rep. 22 b; Doe d. Hamilton v. Clift, 12 A. & E. 566, 573. (b) Litt. ss. 36, 53; R. P. Comm. 1 Rep. 16-19; 3 & 4 Will. IV. Copyholds. custom of gavelkind in Kent, the dower amounts to onehalf in value, but is lost by the birth of an illegitimate child, or by a second marriage (c); and this is the case even if the land has been made descendible to the eldest son by a disgavelling Act (d). In lands of burgage tenure the dower may by custom include the whole of the husband's lands, or by other customs be restricted to a third part, or a fourth, or any other fraction, and may continue during her life, or be forfeited upon a second marriage (e). In the Forest of Pamber the usage at one time was that the widow of a tenant in capite dying without issue should have the whole land for her life, but should forfeit two-thirds upon a second marriage (ƒ); and in freehold lands of the tenure of ancient demesne it is not unusual to find similar customs prevailing. In the case of copyholds, however, a special custom is necessary to entitle the wife to take any interest in her husband's lands after his death. The Dower Act, 1833 (g), does not apply to copyhold lands (1) unless they are enfranchised or the manorial rights to which they may be subject are extinguished under the provisions of the Copyhold Acts, in which case the lands become subject to the ordinary law as to dower (i). When copyholds have had their services commuted under the Copyhold Act, 1841, though the customary tenure remains, the lands are also subject to the ordinary law as to dower, and cease to be subject to any custom relating to dower or freebench (). Accordingly, in the case of copyholds, where a widow is entitled to an interest in the lands which belonged to her husband, the (c) Rob. Gav. 205, 206; Elton, Ten. of Kent, 42, 86-90. (d) Wiseman v. Cotton, 1 Sid. 135, 137; Elton, Ten. of Kent, 385. (e) Litt. ss. 37, 166; Co. Litt. 33 b, 111 a; Fitzh. Nat. Brev. 150. (f) Inquis. p. mortem, 44 Hen. III. No. 27 b. (g) 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 105. (h) Smith v. Adams, 18 Beav. 499. (i) 4 & 5 Vict. c. 35, s. 81; 15 & 16 Vict. c. 51, s. 34. (k) 4 & 5 Vict. c. 35, s. 79. quantity and duration of that interest and the lands upon which the right attaches are in every case determined by the custom. By the customs of various manors the freebench can only be claimed on certain conditions and subject to various restrictions, as that the widow must have been the first wife of the copyholder, or that she must have been only once married, or must be the mother of the heir, or must claim within a certain time, as a year and a day, and the like (7). As a general rule the widow's estate Duration of lasts only during widowhood, being at once determined by a second marriage. In some manors it is also forfeited for unchastity (m). estate. As to the quantity of the estate taken by the widow, the Quantity. customs of those manors where the copyholds are held as in gavelkind will give her the half, and in copyholds for lives she generally takes the whole (n): elsewhere the custom gives a third part, or some other fraction, for her widow's estate. In some manors she can claim nothing; in others the marriage makes her tenant by entireties with her husband of all his land with a right of survivorship; and, as already has been noticed, there may be a custom to give the inheritance to the widow in lieu of dower, as in the manor of Taunton Deane (0). ments. Dower at law extends to almost every kind of inherit- In what teneance, including many incorporeal hereditaments, as advowsons, rents, profits of fairs and markets, franchises, &c. (p); and a woman is dowable of a reversion expectant on a term of years, because her husband was seised of the freehold and of the rent as incident to the reversion (1). But the widow of a copyholder is in general confined to (7) See Watk. Copyh. ii. c. 3, and the customs of various manors collected in the Appendix to that work. (m) See Oland v. Burdwick, Cro. Eliz. 460, and Wheeler's Case, 4 Leon. 240. (n) See Chantrell v. Randall, 1 Lev. 20. (0) See Locke v. Southwood, 1 (p) Co. Litt. 32 a; Howard v. |