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CHILTERN HUNDREDS

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Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 164 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CHILTERN HUNDREDS . An old principle of See also:

English See also:parliamentary See also:law declared that a member of the See also:House of See also:Commons, once duly chosen, could not resign his seat. This See also:rule was a relic of the days when the See also:local gentry had to be compelled tc serve in See also:parliament. The only method, therefore, of avoiding the rule came to be by accepting an See also:office of profit from the See also:crown, a See also:statute of 1707 -enacting that every member accepting an office of profit from the crown should thereby vacate his seat, but should be capable of re-See also:election, unless the office in question had been created since 1705, or had been otherwise declared to disqualify for a seat in parliament. Among the posts of profit held by members of the House of Commons in the first See also:half of the 18th See also:century are to be found the names of several crown steward-See also:ships, which apparently were not regarded as places of profit under the crown within the meaning of the See also:act of 1707, for no seats were vacated by See also:appointment to them. The first instance of the See also:acceptance of such a stewardship vacating a seat was in 1740, when the house decided that See also:Sir W. W. See also:Wynn, on inheriting from his See also:father, in virtue of a royal See also:grant, the stewardship of the lordship and See also:manor of Bromfield and Yale, had ipso facto vacated his seat. On the passing of the See also:Place Act of 1742, the See also:idea of utilizing the appointment to certain crown stewardships (possibly suggested by Sir W. W. Wynn's See also:case) as a pretext for enabling a member to resign his seat was carried into practice. These nominal stewardships were eight in number, but only two survived to be used in this way in contemporary practice—those of the Chilterns and Northstead; and when a member wished to vacate his seat, he was accordingly spoken of as taking the Chiltern Hundreds.

I. Steward and See also:

Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds, See also:County Bucks.—The Chiltern Hundreds formed a bailiwick of the See also:ordinary type. They are situated on the Chiltern Hills, and the depredations of the bandits, who found shelter within their recesses, became at an See also:early See also:period so alarming that a See also:special officer, known as the steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, was appointed for the See also:protection of the inhabitants of the neighbouring districts. It is doubtful at what date the See also:necessity for such an appointment disappeared, but the three hundreds of Stoke, Burnham and See also:Desborough are still distinguished by the old name. The appointment of steward was first used for parliamentary purposes in 175o, the appointment being made by the See also:chancellor of the See also:exchequer (and at his discretion to grant or not), and the See also:warrant bestowing on the holder " all See also:wages, fees, allowances and other privileges and pre-eminences." Up to the 19th century there was a nominal See also:salary of 2os. attached to the See also:post. It was laid down in 1846 by the chancellor of the exchequer that the Chilterns could not be granted to more than one See also:person in the same See also:day, but this rule has not been strictly adhered to, for on four occasions subsequent to 185o the Chilterns were granted twice on the same day. The Chilterns might be granted to members whether they had taken the See also:oath or not, or during a See also:recess, though in this case a new See also:writ could not be issued until the House met again. Each new warrant expressly revoked the grant to the last holder, the new steward retaining it in his turn until another should be appointed. 2. Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of See also:East See also:Hundred, or Hendred, Berks.—This stewardship was first used for parliamentary purposes in 1763, and was in more or less See also:constant use until 184o, after which it disappeared. This manor comprised copyholds, the usual courts were held, and the stewardship was an actual and active office, the duties being executed by a See also:deputy steward. The manor was sold by public See also:auction in 1823 for L910, but in some manner the crown retained the right of appointing a steward for seventeen years after that date.

3. Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead, See also:

Yorkshire.—This manor was crown See also:property before 175o, but was in See also:lease until 1838. It has no See also:copyhold lands, nor are there any records of manor courts. There are no traces of any profits having ever been derived from the office. It was used for parliamentary purposes in 1844 and subsequently. 4. Steward of the Manor of Hempholme, Yorkshire.—This manor appears to have been of the same nature as that of Northstead. It was in lease until 1835. It was first used for parliamentary purposes in 1845 and was in constant use until 1865. It was sold in 1866. 5. Escheator of See also:Munster.—Escheators were See also:officers commissioned to secure the rights of the crown over property which had legally escheated to it.

In See also:

Ireland mention is made of escheators as early as I256. In 1605 the escheatorship of Ireland was split up into four, one for each See also:province, but the duties soon became practically nominal. The escheatorship of Munster was first used for parliamentary purposes in the Irish parliament from 1793 to 1800, and in the See also:united parliament (24 times for Irish seats and once for a Scottish seat) from 18oi to 182o. After 182o it was discontinued and finally abolished in 1838. 6. Steward of the Manor of Old See also:Shoreham, See also:Sussex.—This manor belonged to the duchy of See also:Cornwall, and it is difficult to understand how it came to be regarded as a crown appointment. It was first used for parliamentary purposes in 1756, and then, occasionally, until 1799, in which See also:year it was sold by the duchy to the See also:duke of See also:Norfolk. 7. Steward of the Manor of See also:Poynings, Sussex.—This manor reverted to the crown on the See also:death of See also:Lord Montague about 1804, but was leased up to about 1835. It was only twice used for parliamentary purposes, in 1841 and 1843. 8. Escheator of See also:Ulster.—This appointment was used in the united parliament three times, for Irish seats only; the last See also:time in 1819.

See parliamentary paper—Report from the Select See also:

Committee on House of Commons Vacating of Seats) (1894). (1'. A.

End of Article: CHILTERN HUNDREDS

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