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Webster 1913 Edition
Chiltern Hundreds
Chiltern Hundreds
.[
AS
. Chiltern
the Chiltern, high hills in Buckinghamshire, perh. Fr. ceald
cold + ern
, ærn
, place.] A tract of crown land in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, England, to which is attached the nominal office of steward. As members of Parliament cannot resign, when they wish to go out they accept this stewardship, which legally vacates their seats.