escheatery

English

Etymology

A calque of Middle English or Anglo-Norman escheterie; equivalent to escheat +‎ -ery.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪsˈt͡ʃiːtəɹi/, /əs-/, /ɛs-/

Noun

escheatery (uncountable)

1. (England and Wales law, historical and rare) The medieval English governmental office that recorded escheated property.
   • 1914, “Lonsdale Hundred (North of the Sands)”, in William Farrer, J. Brownbill, editors, Victoria History of the County of Lancaster‎^[1], volume 8, Constable and Company, page 39:

     Thomas Singleton, bailiff of the escheatery of the town of Lancaster, rendered account in 1441 of £8 4s. 7d. due from ancient rents and various burgages and plats of land which had escheated to the king as duke from various causes.

   • 2008 October 27, J. S. Bothwell, “The More Things Change: Isabella and Mortimer, Edward III, and the Painful Delay of a Royal Majority (1327-1330)”, in Charles Beem, editor, The Royal Minorities of Medieval and Early Modern England‎^[2], Palgrave Macmillan US, →ISBN, page 85:

     Most importantly, the administrative “experiments” of the Despensers—the home staple, escheatery restructuring, and the designation of “chamber lands”—were brought to an end or modified.

   • 2014, Christopher Starr, “Escheator”, in Medieval Lawyer: Clement Spice of Essex, Essex Society for Archaeology and History, →ISBN, page 85:

     In view of Clement’s advanced age and busy legal practice, the demands of the escheatery must have been onerous for him.