Odger's English Common Law

Chapter X.
CUSTOMS.
We have hitherto spoken of the general law of the land,
which binds all classes of the community and is in force
throughout the whole of England and "Wales. But there are
certain particular customs, which have the force of law within
limited areas.
There are other particular customs, which prevail only in
certain trades or at certain markets and bind only persons
who are engaged in those trades or who deal in those
markets. We will therefore deal with the various classes of
customs in the following order :
—
I. Local customs, which may be divided thus :
(a) General local customs.
(b) Customs of the country.
(c) Customs of a manor.
II. Trade customs.
I. (a). General Local Customs.
A local custom may be defined as a usage which " has
obtained the force of law, and is, in truth, the binding law
within a particular district, or at a particular place, of the
persons and things which it concerns." 1
—
Such customs are
deviations from the general law of the land, which prevail
only in a particular district. " A custom in the strict legal
signification of the word must be taken with reference to
some defined limit or space, which is essential to every
custom properly so called," 2 and must have been in use so
long that " the memory of man runneth not to the contrary ;
i.e., it must be impossible to prove that the custom com-
menced since the first year of Eichard I.
Thus, the custom of gavelkind, which prevails in Kent and some other parts
of the kingdom, ordains that on the death of a father intestate all his sons
i Per Tindal, C. J., in Tyson r. Smith (1838), 9 A. & E. at p. 421.
2 Per Lord Ellenborough, C. J., in Legh v. Hewitt (1803), i East, at p. 159.
"