The Bailiwick of Ennerdale Est 1251 - Hon. George Mentz JD MBA CWM

Here’s a legal explanation and analysis of your statement about Ennerdale and its nature as a manorial and jurisdictional liberty granted in fee simple by King George IV of England and Hanover, incorporating the key legal concepts you’ve named:

1. The Nature of the Grant

If Ennerdale was sold, granted, and alienated by the King and Parliament’s Commissioners in fee simple, this means it was not a mere sale of real property (land), but a sovereign alienation of jurisdictional authority—a transfer of a franchise liberty once held directly by the Crown.
Such a grant would constitute:

• Alienation of Crown demesne and regalian rights, and

• Creation of a perpetual private jurisdiction within the realm.

This makes Ennerdale analogous to a liberty or bailiwick in gross—that is, a territory whose civil, administrative, and limited judicial powers were devolved from the monarch to a private lord, under lawful tenure and without feudal service.

2. Suzerainty (Overlordship)

In feudal law, suzerainty refers to the supreme overlordship retained by the sovereign over a vassal or territory.
However, when a Crown liberty is granted or sold outright in fee simple (that is, without reversion, homage, or knight’s service), the suzerain rights of the Crown are extinguished, save for allegiance and the Crown’s ultimate sovereignty under public law.

Thus, Ennerdale, if truly alienated in this way, would have become “quasi-regal in its territory” (quasi reges in territorio suo)—the grantee or lord acting as a minor sovereign within defined limits, holding his powers in perpetuity and not as a Crown officer.

3. Fee Simple and Free and Common Socage

A grant in fee simple is the most complete estate in land known to English law.
It is:

• Heritable, not life-limited,

• Alienable, transferable at will, and

• Held in perpetuity, without term or condition other than allegiance to the Crown.

If held “in free and common socage”, this means:

• It is not a feudal or military tenure (no homage, service, or knight’s fee due),

• The holder owes only nominal rents or duties, and

• The tenure is civil and absolute, governed by the common law rather than feudal incidents.

Hence, Ennerdale would be held by its Lord as a free proprietor, with no superior other than the abstract sovereignty of the realm itself.

4. Franchise and Jurisdictional Liberty

A franchise is a privilege or jurisdiction originally belonging to the Crown but lawfully granted to a subject. Examples include:

• Court leet (criminal and policing jurisdiction),

• Court baron (civil and manorial jurisdiction),

• View of frankpledge, tolls, markets, fisheries, and forest rights.

A liberty is a district where such franchises operate, and where the king’s writs did not originally run—meaning that the liberty had its own courts and officers executing justice internally.
When such a liberty is granted “in perpetuity” and in “fee simple,” its judicial, administrative, and territorial franchises become private property, to be exercised as rights of governance within the territory.

Thus, the holder becomes lord and franchise-holder in perpetuity, a quasi-sovereign under the Crown’s overall suzerainty.

5. Regalian Rights

Regalian rights (jura regalia) are those inherent to the Crown by reason of sovereignty—such as:

• Justice,

• Treasure trove,

• Mines royal,

• Wrecks,

• Fishery rights,

• Tolls, fairs, markets,

• Foreshore and forest jurisdiction.

When a grant such as Ennerdale includes “regalian rights and franchises,” it means the Crown intentionally devolved certain public and royal powers to a private lord, often to maintain justice, collect revenues, and manage land and resources as if a prince within the territory.

Thus, the grantee of Ennerdale, holding by royal alienation, could exercise:

• Civil and criminal jurisdiction within bounds,

• Rights of resource exploitation (timber, minerals, fisheries),

• The authority to hold courts, appoint stewards, bailiffs, and constables,

• And to collect or farm local duties or tolls.

6. Perpetuity and Independence

Because the grant was in fee simple, not for life or term, and not subject to reversion, the lordship’s title and jurisdiction are perpetual—capable of descent and alienation forever.
This distinguishes it from:

• Peerage titles, which are honors without proprietary jurisdiction, and

• Leasehold or copyhold, which revert to the Crown or superior lord.

Ennerdale’s unique nature means it is a perpetual seignory with inherent jurisdiction—a remnant of Crown franchise alienation, lawfully recognized as a “liberty” under the Crown but independent in its internal governance.

7. Imperial Free Lord status

The Lord of the Bailiwick of Ennerdale holds an Imperial Free Lord status (Reichsfreiherrschaft) in nature — a free and independent seignory alienated directly from the sovereign, blending both English manorial liberty and Germanic princely autonomy, standing as a free lord in perpetuity under no superior but the Crown itself, with rights akin to a minor imperial state or principality within its defined territory.

Legal Summary

Therefore:

• Ennerdale is not merely an estate in land but a territorial franchise and manorial liberty.

• It was alienated in fee simple—the strongest possible form of ownership—from King George IV (also King of Hanover) with the sanction of the Parliamentary Commissioners of the Crown Lands.

• It includes franchise and regalian rights, meaning judicial and administrative powers once reserved to the Crown.

• It is held in free and common socage, not by feudal service—hence heritable, alienable, and perpetual.

• The grantee stands as a quasi-sovereign proprietor (suzerain in his own liberty) under the Crown’s universal sovereignty, comparable to the Seigneur of Sark or the Fiefs of Guernsey in structure and law.

✒️ Summary: The Manor and Forest of Ennerdale

Based on J. F. Curwen, “The Manor and Forest of Ennerdale,” Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 2nd Series, Vol. 31 (1931), pp. 21–32.**

🏞️ Historical Origins and Forest Governance

The Manor and Forest of Ennerdale once formed a constituent part of the ancient Forest of Copeland. From early times, it was administered directly by the Crown through appointed foresters and keepers. The bailiwick maintained its own courts for forest and leet jurisdiction, and upheld conservators responsible for game, waters, and fish.

📜 Surveys and Customary Holdings

Comprehensive surveys were conducted in 1650, 1703, and again in 1820, preceding the estate’s alienation. The Court Orders of 1703 and the 1792 Replies to the Land Revenue Commissioners detailed the customary holdings and revenues derived from timber, pasture, and fishery. These records formed the basis of valuation submitted to the Commissioners of His Majesty’s Woods and Forests.

🏛️ Parliamentary Conveyance of 1822

In 1822, under Parliamentary authority and the direction of the Commissioners of His Majesty’s Woods and Forests, the Manor and Forest of Ennerdale were sold to the Earl of Lonsdale. The conveyance included “the Manor, Forest, and Bailiwick of Ennerdale, with all rights, privileges, and franchises thereunto belonging,” thereby transferring full liberty and jurisdiction formerly held by the Crown.

⚖️ Nature of Transferred Rights

This sale constituted a complete divestment of the Crown’s proprietary and administrative interests. The franchises conveyed included the Court Leet, forestal profits from timber and quarry, the several fishery of Ennerdale Lake and the River Ehen, and the authority to appoint foresters and constables within the liberty.

📚 Continuity of Administration

Following the purchase, the Lonsdale family preserved the ancient forms of leet governance. Estate ledgers from the nineteenth century record rents and profits from fishery and waste lands, evidencing continued local administration.

🕊️ Final Observations

The 1822 conveyance marked the extinction of one of the last administrative remnants of the Forest of Copeland. Its courts and franchises passed wholly into private hands, making the sale a rare example of a royal liberty alienated in fee simple.

⚖️ Legal Note

The operative phrase “with all rights, privileges, and franchises thereunto belonging” served as the legal mechanism by which the Crown transferred perpetual jurisdictional and proprietary rights. Authorized by Act of Parliament and executed under King George IV, the conveyance represented a regalian alienation in fee simple absolute — free of homage, reversion, or Crown oversight.