| Orlando | Who staies it [Time] stil withal? |
| Rosalind | With Lawiers in the vacation: for they sleepe betweene
Terme and Terme
and then they perceiue not how time moues. |
| William Shakespeare, As You Like It (III ii 330-333 [1519-1522]) | |
Students of English literature and history often find references to yearly division periods called the ‘law terms’ that are peculiar to the British society. In the 11th edition (1910/11) of the Encyclopaedia Britannica they are defined as follows:
“Terms, in the sense of a limited and certain period of time during which the law courts are open, used to affect only what were called in England the superior courts—that is, the king’s bench, common pleas and exchequer. They were originally the leisure seasons of the year which were not occupied by great feasts or fasts of the Church or by agriculture. Their origin is no doubt to be traced back to the legislation of the early Christian emperors, the principle being adopted in England through the influence of ecclesiastical judges. Terms were regulated by many acts of parliament, the effect of which was to confine to a comparatively short period the time during which the courts could sit in banco—that is, for the decision of questions of law as distinguished from the decision of questions of fact. There were four terms, Hilary, Easter, Trinity and Michaelmas, the average duration of each being about three weeks. All legislation on the subject previous to 1873 is now merely of historical interest, for by the Judicature Act of that year terms were abolished so far as related to the administration of justice and sittings substituted. The previous subdivisions of the legal year were, however, retained, the dates of commencement and termination being somewhat changed. The Michaelmas sittings of the high court and court of appeal are now held from the 24th of October to the 21st of December, the Hilary sittings from the 11th of January to the Wednesday before Easter, the Easter sittings from the Tuesday after Easter week to the Friday before Whitsunday, and the Trinity sittings from the Tuesday after Whitsun week to the 12th of August, all dates inclusive. The old terms, with their duration as fixed by statute, are now kept alive only for the purpose of reference in all cases in which they are used as a measure of time.”
51 Henry III, Stat. 3
[Concerning general Days in a Writ of Dower]
32 Henry VIII, cap. 21
Trinity Term, and the Abbreviation thereof
Where the Term called Trinity Term of long Time hath been, and yet is, yearly used to be holden and kept in such Time and Season of the Year, that by Occasion thereof not only great Peril and Danger of Infection of the Plague, and sundry other Sicknesses have happened to the King’s loving Subjects, as well Nobles as other, but also hath been and yet is, a great Impediment and Let to a great Multitude of the King’s poor Subjects, for Provision and gathering in of Harvest, and other their necessary Business and Livings in that Season of the Year most expedient to be exercised: and much more
One of the earliest complete descriptions of the durations of the Law Terms is found in the Book of Common Prayer. The earliest editions of 1549 and 1552 give no information on the Law Terms but an edition probably dated to 1553 supplies the following information.
The booke of common prayer (1553?)
A briefe declaracion when euery Terme begynneth, and endeth
The 1559 edition of the Book of Common Prayer gives a different definition for the begin and the end of the Trinity Term.
The booke of common prayer (1559)
A briefe declaration when euery Terme beginneth, and endeth
The English Law Terms were also described in detail in Raphael Holinshed’s The Description of England (London, 1587), book II, chapter 9 :
16 Charles I, Cap. 6
An Act concerning the Limitation and Abbreviation of Michaelmas Term
Michaelmas Term shortened by two weeks.
Another
source for the Law Term periods are English calendar coins. Due to their small
size, the formulae are necessarily given in a highly abbreviated form.
The following example, struck in or just before 1718 by A. Buckley, of which copies are preserved in the Museon (The Hague), formerly from the collection of the Dutch calendar specialist Walter Emile van Wijk (1887-1961), and in the Collection of Coins and Medals of the British Museum (London), defines the periods as follows:
In this act, that announced the change of the hitherto adopted (Julian) calendar to the Gregorian calendar that would take place in 1752 (leaving out 11 days between 2 and 14 September), the periods of the law terms were left unchanged. A full-text transcription of this Act (lacking the tables) has been prepared by Mark Brader (Toronto) and Rudolphe Audette (Quebec).
[...] and that the two fixed Terms of St. Hilary and St. Michael, in that Part of Great Britain called England, and the Courts of Great Sessions in the Counties Palatine and in Wales, and also the Courts of General Quarter-Sessions and General Sessions of the Peace, and all other Courts of what Nature or Kind soever, whether Civil, Criminal, or Ecclesiastical, and all Meetings and Assemblies of any Bodies Politick or Corporate, either for the Election of any Officers or Members thereof, or for any such Officers entering upon the Execution of their respective Offices, or for any other Purpose whatsoever, which by any Law, Statute, Charter, Custom or Usage within this Kingdom, or within any other the Dominions or Countries subject or belonging to the Crown of Great Britain, are to be holden and kept on any fixed or certain Day of any Month, or on any Day depending upon the Beginning, or any certain Day of any Month (except for such Courts as are usually holden or kept with any Fairs or Marts) shall, from Time to Time, from and after the said second Day of September, be holden and kept upon or according to the same respective nominal Days and Times, whereon or according to which the same are now to be holden, but which shall be computed according to the said new Method of numbering and reckoning the Days of the Calendar as aforesaid; that is to say, eleven Days sooner than the respective Days whereon the same are now holden and kept, any Law, Statute, Charter, Custom or Usage, to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding. [...].N.B.: Passages in blue were repealed by the ??? Act of ???
24 George II, cap. 48
An Act for the Abbreviation of Michaelmas Term
[...].
Calendar
coin struck by John Powell in Birmingham in 1766, preserved in the Museon (The
Hague) and formerly from the collection of the Dutch calendar specialist Walter
Emile van Wijk (1887-1961). The Law Term periods for that particular year are
recorded as:
Hilary Term shall begin on the eleventh and end on the thirty-first day of January; Easter Term shall begin on the fifteenth day of April, and end on the eighth day of May; Trinity Term shall begin on the twenty-second day of May, and end on the twelfth day of June; and Michaelmas Term shall begin on the second and end on the twenty-fifth day of November; and that the Essoign and General Return Days of each Term shall, until further provision be made by Parliament, be as follows; that is to say, the first Essoign or General Return day for every Term shall be the fourth day before the day of the commencement of the Term, both days being included in the computation; the second Essoign day shall be the fifth day of the Term; the third shall be the fifteenth day of the Term; and the fourth and last shall be the nineteenth day of the Term; the first day of the Term being already included in the computation; with the same relation to the commencement of each Term as they now bear, and shall be distinguished by the day of the Term on which they respectively fall, the Monday being in all cases substituted for the Sunday when it shall happen that the day would fall on Sunday, except always that in Easter Term there shall be but four Returns instead of five, the last being omitted; provided that in case the day of the month on which any Term according to the Act aforesaid is to end shall fall to be on a Sunday, then the Monday next after such day shall be deemed and taken to be the last day of the Term; and that if the whole or any number of the days intervening between the Thursday before and the Wednesday next after Easter-day shall fall within Easter Term, there shall be no Sittings in Banc on any of such intervening days, but the Term shall in such case be prolonged and continue for such number of days of business as shall be equal to the number of the intervening days before mentioned exclusive of Easter-day, and the commencement of the ensuing Trinity Term shall in such case be postponed and its continuance prolonged for an equal number of days of business.Although the durations of the Law Terms were nominally defined by fixed calendar dates, Easter could occasionally fall within the Easter Term, which considerably complicated the rules for the calculating the Easter and the Trinity Terms. A table giving all possible combinations can be found in Woolhouse (1890).
[...].
[...].
The division of the legal year into terms shall be abolished so far as relates to the administration of justice [...].
Act of [...], 1875
(38 & 39 Victoria, c. 77, Sched. I. Order lxi 1.1)
The Hilary sittings shall commence on the 11th of January and terminate on the Wednesday before Easter. The Easter sittings shall commence on the Tuesday after Easter week and terminate on the Friday before Whitsunday. The Trinity sittings shall commence on the Tuesday after Whitsun week and terminate on the 12th of August. The Michaelmas sittings shall commence on the 24th of October and terminate on the 21st of December.
A Tabular Overview of the
English Law Term Periods
| Hilary Term | Easter Term | Trinity Term | Michaelmas Term | |
| 1264 - 1540 | 23[24] Jan — 12[13] Feb | ES+17 — ES+43 | ES+66 — ES+80[#] | 9[10] Oct — 28[29] Nov |
| 1541 - 1640 | ES+61 — ES+80[#] | |||
| 1641 - 1751 | 23[24] Oct — 28[29] Nov | |||
| 1752 - 1830 | 6[7] Nov — 28[29] Nov | |||
| 1831 - 1875 | 11[12] Jan — 31 Jan [1 Feb] | 15[16] Apr — 8[9] May | 22[23] May — 12[13] Jun | 2[3] Nov — 25[26] Nov |
| 15[16] Apr — 9[10] May | 23[24] May — 13[14] Jun | |||
| 15[16] Apr — 10[11] May | 24[25] May — 14[15] Jun | |||
| 15[16] Apr — 11[12] May | 25[26] May — 15[16] Jun | |||
| 15[16] Apr — 12[13] May | 26[27] May — 16[17] Jun | |||
| 1876 - ... | 11[12] Jan — ES-4 | ES+2 — ES+47 | ES+51 — 12[13] Aug | 24[25] Oct — 21[22] Dec |
ES = Easter Sunday
x[y] = if day x is a Sunday, then day y applies
# = if it falls on 24 June, then on the next day (25 June)
Not yet understood is why the Book of Common Prayer (1559 edition) ends Trinity Term on 28 June (would be correct for 1531 or 1542).