Denization Totally Explained

Everything about Denization totally explained

: Denization is an obsolete process in English Common Law, dating from the 13th century, by which a foreigner became a denizen, gaining some privileges of a British subject, including the right to hold English land, through letters patent. Denization fell into disuse when statutory mechanisms for naturalisation developed.

Denization at English Common Law

Denization occurred by a grant of letters patent, an exercise of the royal prerogative. Denizens paid a fee and took an oath of allegiance to the crown.
   The denizen wasn't a citizen nor an alien: but had a status akin to permanent residency today; it has also been compared to the Roman civitas sine suffragio, although the rights of denizens were restricted by the Act of Settlement 1701, not by common or immemorial law. Sir William Blackstone noted: ť "A denizen is a kind of middle state, between an alien and a natural-born subject, and partakes of both." – (Blackstone: Commentaries, Book 1, Chapter X, p374)

The denizen wasn't a citizen because he didn't have any political rights: he couldn't be a member of parliament or hold any civil or military office. However, the status of denizen allowed a foreigner to purchase property, although a denizen couldn't inherit property. Historically, paying for letters patent was thus a requirement of foreign land ownership in England.
   Denization was expressly preserved by the Naturalisation Act of 1870 and by s25 of the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914 . (See Early British Nationality Law.) According to the British Home Office, the last denization was granted to the Dutch painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema in 1873; the Home Office considered it obsolete when the Prince of Pless applied for it in 1933, and instructed him to apply for naturalization instead. The British Nationality Act 1948, a major reform of citizenship law in Britain, made no mention of denization and neither abolished nor preserved the practice.
   Denization, as an exercise of royal power, was applicable throughout the British dominion to all British subjects. That is, it was exercisable in the colonies. For example, denization occurred in the colony of New South Wales. As in England, the practice became obsolete to naturalisation, with the last known denization in 1848.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Denization'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://denization.totallyexplained.com">Denization Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.