What does copyhold mean?
Copyhold was a distinctive form of English land tenure in which a tenant's holding rested not on a sealed deed but on an entry — a 'copy' — made in the court rolls of the manor. Tenure was technically at the will of the lord of the manor but was in practice regulated by the manor's long-standing customs, which gave many copyholders secure, even hereditary, rights over their land. The tenant would receive a written copy of the relevant court-roll entry as evidence of title, which gives the tenure its name. Copyhold grew out of villeinage after the decline of serfdom and became one of the most widespread forms of tenure in England, though it carried obligations such as fines on inheritance and alienation. It survived for centuries but was abolished by the Law of Property Acts of the 1920s, when surviving copyholds were converted into freeholds or leaseholds. Today the term lives on mainly in legal history and manorial genealogy.
nounA form of customary tenure in English property law by which a tenant held land at the will of and according to the custom of the manor, evidenced by an entry on the court rolls rather than by a sealed document.
- The system of land tenure held by copy of the court roll of a manor, according to the custom of the manor.
- (Law) An individual parcel of land so held.
"The farm had been held by copyhold of the manor since the seventeenth century before being converted to freehold."
"The solicitor traced each successive tenant through the entries on the manorial court roll to establish the copyhold title."
"Under the Law of Property Act 1925, remaining copyhold lands were automatically converted into freeholds or leaseholds."
The plural refers either to multiple parcels of copyhold land or to instances of the tenure generally.
"The manor's records list numerous copyholds surrendered and admitted across the eighteenth century."
For centuries, English farmers proved they owned their land not with a signed deed but because their name was scribbled in the lord's notebook — that was copyhold.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of copyhold
Copyhold derives from Middle English: 'copy', from Old French 'copie' (ultimately from Latin 'copia', meaning abundance or transcript), combined with 'hold', from Old English 'healdan', meaning to keep or possess. The compound arose in medieval English law to describe tenure evidenced by a copy of an entry in the manor's court roll. Its linguistic cousins include 'household', 'uphold', and 'behold', all built on the same Old English verb 'healdan'.
How copyhold is actually used
Copyhold belongs almost entirely to historical and legal contexts. It was abolished as a new form of tenure by the Law of Property Act 1922 and effectively extinguished by 1925, so it appears chiefly in legal history, genealogy, and discussions of manorial documents. It is primarily associated with England; Scottish and American property law never used the term.
Easily confused with copyhold
Leasehold is tenancy for a fixed term under a lease, whereas copyhold was indefinite tenure at the will of the manor according to its customs.
Freehold grants absolute ownership in perpetuity, while copyhold was merely customary tenure dependent on the manor's records.