English

Alternative forms

• freebench, free-bench

Noun

free bench ‎(uncountable)

1. (law, now historical) A married woman's entitlement to the use of her husband's lands or property after he dies; or the land and property itself considered as such an entitlement. [from 15th c.]
   • 1808, William Cruise, A Digest of the Laws of England Respecting Real Property, p. 329:

     In most manors, free-bench consists of one half of the husband's copyhold; although, in others, it consists of a third or fourth part, and in some few, of the whole copyhold.

   • 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society 2012, p. 541:

     The widow enjoyed the right of freebench, that is, of succession to a portion of her late husband's holding, ranging from a quarter to the whole, according to local manorial custom.

   • 1987, Judith M Bennett, Women in the Medieval English Countryside, p. 165:

     Some widows in Brigstock also probably sold free bench lands, despite the customary restriction on such sales.