Uses in United Kingdom

Uses, in law, equitable or beneficial interests in land. In early law a man could not dis p ose of his estate by will nor could religious houses acquire it. As a method of evading the common law arose the practice of making feoffments to the use of, or upon trust for, persons other than those to whom the seisin or legal possession was delivered, to which the equitable jurisdiction of the chancellor gave effect. To remedy the abuses which it was said were occasioned by this evasion of the law was passed the famous Statute of Uses (1536), which, however, failed to accomplish its purpose. Out of this failure of the Statute of Uses arose the modern law of Trusts, under which heading will be found a full history of uses. See also Conveyancing.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica (1911)

Uses and Medieval Law

Uses and Legal History

Resources

See Also

• Burglary (in this legal Encyclopedia)
• Burglary (in this legal Encyclopedia)
• Origins of the Common Law (in this legal Encyclopedia)
• Uses (in this legal Encyclopedia)

Bibliographies of English Law History

• Maxwell, William H. A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Volume 1: English Law to 1800. London: Sweet and Maxwell, 1955-
• Beale, Joseph H. A Bibliography of Early English Law Books. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1926.
• Winfield, Percy H. The Chief Sources of English Legal History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1925.