With the disuse of private and local
jurisdictions, the meaning of the term became commonly restricted
to such persons as were deputed by the sheriff to assist him in
the merely ministerial portion of his duty; such as the summoning
of juries, and the execution of writs. Brande.. The word
bailiff is also applied in England to the chief magistrates of
certain towns and jurisdictions, to the keepers of castles,
forests and other places, and to the stewards or agents of lords
of manors. Burrill's Law Dict.
"BAILIFF, (from the Lat. ballivus; Fr. baillif, i. e., Praefectus
provinciae,) signifies an officer appointed for the
administration of justice within a certain district. The office,
as well as the name, appears to have been derived from the
French," &c;. Brewster's Encyclopedia.
Millar says, "The French monarchs, about this period, were not
content with the power of receiving appeals from the several
courts of their barons. An expedient was devised of sending royal
bailiffs into different parts of the kingdom, with a commission
to take cognizance of all those causes in which the sovereign was
interested, and in reality for the purpose of abridging and
limiting the subordinate jurisdiction of the neighboring feudal
superiors.
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