Allodial title

Do you really think you own your own land?

Source: INVESTIGATE August 2000, Letters to the Editor - Wiremu Williams

This is mostly derived from the research of Thomas Dalby, but I have changed some of the legalese to make it more readable.

"The easiest way to enslave a people is to do it while they falsely believe they are free". The English feudal system, which was imported to Aotearoa, was a system where serfs had equal rights with other serfs, but with no one else.

The English were a free and prosperous people until William the Conqueror brought in the feudal system of the Holy Roman Empire, and along with it the doctrine of the "Divine Right of Kings". Prior to that event, even the Kings of England could not unlawfully seize freehold land.

Under this feudal system, those in servitude were considered to be chattel property, just as the cattle fields and dwellings were. While they had possession of a dwelling, and perhaps some animals for personal use, they possessed title to none of it.

It all belonged to the lord of the manor. It was beneficial for the Lord and his manor if the serfs were well-fed, well-clothed and healthy as they worked the fields and tended the herds, providing income for their lord.

When a villein (male serf) and a knave (female serf) wished to marry, they would have to get permission from the lord of the manor or his steward, and would be given a "Writ of Marriage" (marriage certificate). Don't you have to go to a steward (agency) of the manor (government) today to get your marriage licence?

It has only been in more recent times that this has become a requirement. From William 1 until King John 1, all lands in England were held in allodium by the King under the Divine Right doctrine, with large tracts given to the King's liege lords, or major nobility, such as counts (comte, or Saxon Earl) where the word "County" originates.

The title was in "fee simple" which is defined as a "freehold estate of inheritance, absolute and unqualified". These were called "Estates". After the Magna Carta of 1215, the revolting lesser nobility (Barons) were given limited land rights in smaller tracts of land, (ie, the baronial manors). These were called "Real Estate", and in English law signified an interest in land "less than ownership". This distinction still applies today: if you believe you own any real estate or real property, guess again.

Let's take this a step further and look at the definition of "Copyhold": "A type of customary or unfree tenure deriving from records of transfers of farming strips and other land within a feudal manor. As all title to land derived from the lord of the manor, it could only be transferred by one tenant to another under the oversight of the lord himself." - Butterworth's Law Dict. p 282.

Copyhold titles were in existence in England until 1925 when they were converted to "fee simple in socage", another term that is equivalent in meaning. Butterworths, at p1087 (Socage) states:

"In Australia, the feudal tenures were never a part of Australian law although the doctrine of tenure [still] applies. All fee simple land is in socage tenure for the Crown."

In New Zealand the same principle applies, and NZ has the office of Public Trustee which, according to the Public Trustee Act, is a corporation sole with perpetual seal of office and succession.

If you "own" real estate, you own nothing but an illusion. The true proof of ownership is if you have allodial title to that land. The true owner of all land in this country is the Crown. This is why you have to pay rates - because you don't own it.

This is why the Government had the power to enact legislation over the decades to confiscate Maori lands "for the good of the country" - because we don't own it. We are merely caretakers for the Lord of the Manor.

This is why Government agencies can enter your freehold property - albeit with a warrant - because you don't own it.

This is why your lands are subject to the Resource Management Act - because you don't own it!

Guess what? even your Address belongs to the Crown. It is the Crown's numbering system for their real estate property. Our forebears signed the Treaty of Waitangi with the Crown. In return for our cooperation and agreement to "share" our whenua with the Crown, we became "subjects" and were given the "protection" of the Crown.

We entered into a state of Voluntary Servitude - in essence we became nothing more than "voluntary serfs".

In return for pledging our loyalty we were given "privileges". Now there is a huge difference between a "Privilege" and a "Right". A right is something that cannot be granted by law. A privilege is a "reward" given to a slave provided they behave themselves.

One of the privileges granted to us was the "free and undisturbed possession" of our lands. Guess what - there is also a huge difference between possession and ownership. You have been given the privilege of possessing it, not owning it.

The Allodial Title of all land in this country passed from our ownership to the Crown.

Most believe our Law systems were created to "protect" society and our rights. The reality is, Law systems were created by Kings and Queens to protect their interests. The feudal system still exists today. The only difference is the "Steward of the Manor" who looks after the Queen's lands and serfs is now our Government. Overt control by the Crown in former times has now become Covert. I say Covert because most of us are "blind" to how the game really works.

"The best slave is one who doesn't know he is one."

Decades of conditioning has put us all to sleep. Time to wake up, folks.

See also

• 1835 Flag
• Wikipedia:Allodial title
• Wikipedia:Fee simple