Case of the Duchy of Lancaster: 1561

Queen Elizabeth I wished to know whether a lease granted by Edward VI of some land within the Duchy while under the age of 21 (‘during his nonage’) was voidable.
Held: It was not voidable. The king’s natural body was inseparable from his body politic (a corporation sole), which was never under age. Seisin can only pass to the Crown as a matter of record. Furthermore, seisin could not therefore pass to the Crown either by livery of seisin or by the disseisin of a subject’s land by a Crown servant.

Citations:

(1561) 1 Plow 213

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedRoberts v Crown Estate Commissioners CA 20-Feb-2008
The commissioners sought to claim title to a foreshore by adverse possession. The claimant asserted that he had acquired title in his capacity of Lord Marcher of Magor which had owned the bed of the estuary since the Norman Conquest, and that the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Land, Constitutional

Updated: 04 December 2022; Ref: scu.264648