The Statute of Richard III (1484) and the Emergence of Beneficial Ownership in Freehold Land

The first and only Parliament of King Richard III’s reign met at Westminster on 23 January 1484. Richard had usurped the throne the previous June by declaring his brother’s heirs illegitimate and had conclusively seen off the somewhat anti-climactic rebellion of October 1483. The King’s immediate concerns for this Parliament were thus the confirmation of his title and the passing of attainders against his political opponents. This highly volatile political background was the setting for the passage of one of the most important statutes in the history of English equity and the development of the trust – the Statute of Richard III....