Re: Ceremonies of property transfer

[PETERSR@spiegel.becltd.com (Peters, Rise J.)]

Poster: PETERSR@spiegel.becltd.com (Peters, Rise J.)

Here is my current =best guess= regarding content of the (adapted) property 
transfer ceremony.  I would be very pleased to have your responses:

(1) Parties present:

==Mayor (as representative of the sovereign people of the City)
==Chancellor or Provost of the University (as representative of the Faculty 
of the University)
==Chairman of the Board of the Corporation (as the representative of the 
shareholders of the Corporation)
==Head of the faculty (what title?) for the College
==Medievally, "other vassals;" modernly, other persons or representatives of 
organizations that have received grants of land from the City;
==Representatives of the population at large (making the transfer of 
ownership "open and notorious."
==From the population present (probably well in advance), several young 
children should be selected to stand with the Mayor, in order that they 
might remember and bear witness to the transfer.

(2) Location:

To effect livery of seisin, the ceremony of transfer should take place at or 
on the land to be transferred (this may not be possible; IIm not sure how 
far apart the three sites are, and I doubt theyIll want to have three 
separate ceremonies).

2.  Form of Words:

To create the recipient as a "tenant in fee simple," the tenant must acquire 
the land by these words:  "to have an to hold to him [it] and his heirs." 
 Thus, the ceremony should start with a declaration by the Mayor that it is 
the intent of the City to transfer this land to the University, etc., to 
have and to hold to itself and its heirs [an odd concept, but "assigns" 
creates a different estate here.  Or is there a different form of words for 
transfer of fee simple title to an immortal corporate being?]]

3.  "Open and notorious" transfer (see above)

IIm going to urge them to do this up fancy, with ceremonial robes for the 
University and College folks (actually, since most of these folks hold 
degrees they could probably wear robes and hoods...), with banners bearing 
the insignia of the State, the City, the University, etc.  After all, one of 
the goals is to make the transfer memorable...

4.  "Livery of seisin"

After the statement of intent to create the present fee simple estate (#2 
above), the Mayor delivers to the Chancellor/Chairman/etc. in the presence 
of the witnesses "a key, twig, or some other thing, as a symbol of the 
delivery of the land."  Since this is unimproved land, maybe a gilded twig 
set on a commemorative plaque of some kind.

5.  Ceremony of enfeoffment/swearing of fealty

Original:  And when a freeholder doth fealty to his lord, he shall hold his 
right hand upon a book (a Bible-ed.), and shall say thus: 'Know ye this, my 
lord, that I shall be faithful and true unto you, and faith to you shall 
bear for the lands which I claim to hold of you, and that I shall lawfully 
do to you the customs and services which I ought to do, at the terms 
assigned, so help me God and his saints;' and he shall kiss the book. But he 
shall not kneel when he maketh his fealty, nor shall make such humble 
reverence as is aforesaid in homage."

For the University and the College:  And when a freeholder doth fealty to 
his lord, he shall hold his right hand upon a book (a Bible-ed.), and shall 
say thus: 'Know ye this, my lord ["good citizens?"], that I ["the 
University"] shall be faithful and true unto you, and faith to you shall 
bear for the lands which I ["we"] claim to hold of you, and that I ["we"] 
shall lawfully do for you the customs and services which I ["we"] ought to 
do, at the terms assigned[; to wit, that we will hold the gates of the open 
to you and your children, and work to increase the body of knowledge among 
us, &c.], so help me God and his saints;' and he shall kiss the book. But he 
shall not kneel when he maketh his fealty, nor shall make such humble 
reverence as is aforesaid in homage."

6.  "Beating the bounds" of the property, in which all the children (and 
obviously some number of grownups) pace the boundaries of the property to be 
transferred, in order to fix its extent 
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