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PRIMOGENITURE

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 340 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PRIMOGENITURE • (See also:

Lat. See also:Primus, first, and genitus, See also:born, from gignere, to bring forth), a See also:term used to signify the preference in See also:inheritance which is given by See also:law, See also:custom or usage, to the eldest son and his issue, or in exceptional cases to the See also:line of the eldest daughter. The practice is almost entirely confined to the See also:United See also:Kingdom, having been abolished by the various See also:civil codes of the See also:European states, and having been rejected in the United States as contrary to the spirit of the constitution. The See also:history of primogeniture is given in the See also:article See also:SUCCESSION, while the existing See also:English law will be found in the articles See also:HEIR; INHERITANCE; WILL, &c. But it may be briefly said here that the English law provided that in See also:ordinary cases of inheritance to See also:land of intestates the See also:rule of primogeniture shall prevail among the male See also:children of the See also:person from whom descent is to be traced, but not among the See also:females; and this principle is applied throughout all the degrees of relationship. There are exceptions to this rule, as in the cases of " See also:gavelkind " and " See also:borough-English," and in the See also:copyhold lands of a See also:great number of manors, where customs analogous to those of gavelkind and borough-English have existed from See also:time immemorial. In another class of exceptions the rule of primogeniture is applied to the inheritance of females, who usually take equal shares in each degree. The See also:necessity for a See also:sole succession has, for example, introduced succession by primogeniture among females in the See also:case of the inheritance of the See also:Crown, and a similar necessity led to the See also:maxim of the feudal law that certain dignities and offices, castles acquired for the See also:defence of the See also:realm, and other inheritances under " the law of the See also:sword," should not be divided, but should go to the eldest of the co-heiresses (See also:Bracton, De Legibus, ii. c. 76; Co. Litt., 165a). There are also many other See also:special customs by which the ordinary rule of primogeniture is varied. It may be remarked that the English law of inheritance of land creates a See also:double preference, subject to certain exceptions and customs, in favour of the male over the See also:female and of the first-born among the See also:males.

This necessitates the rule of See also:

representation by which the issue of children are regarded as See also:standing in the places of their parents, called " representative primogeniture." The rule appears to have been firmly established in See also:England during the reign of See also:Henry III., though its application was favoured as See also:early as the 12th See also:century throughout the numerous contests between See also:brothers claiming by proximity of See also:blood and their nephews claiming by representation, as in the case of See also:King See also:John and his See also:nephew See also:Prince See also:Arthur (See also:Glanvill, vii. c. 3; Bracton, De Legibus, ii. c. 30). See See also:Pollock and See also:Maitland, History of English Law; K. E. See also:Digby, History of the Law of Real See also:Property; See also:Sir H. See also:Maine, See also:Ancient Law and Early History of Institutions; C. S. Kenny, Law of Primogeniture in England.

End of Article: PRIMOGENITURE

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