adjudication
or ‘adjudication for debt’, the legal action by which a debtor’s property was passed to his creditors. Adjudication in implement on the other hand, is a decision by a court to implement a defective title to land.
Your Scottish Archives Glossary
The Your Scottish Archives Glossary defines archaic words and phrases, mostly Scots law terminology, commonly found in documents and records in Scotland’s archives. If you think a word or phrase should be added to the glossary, or an existing entry could be defined better, please contact us at your@scottisharchives.org.uk.
You can also use the Dictionary of the Scots Language as a further resource at https://dsl.ac.uk/ for Scots words and phrases (including legal terminology).
To find a term within the glossary, click on the initial letter of the word you are looking for, then select the relevant syllable segment displayed below.
Example: to find the term “roup” select section “R” then sub-section “Ro”
adminicle
supporting or corroborative evidence.
administration, right of
the right of the husband, abolished in 1920, to manage the heritable property of his wife: his consent was required for her legal actions.
administrative history
a narrative of the history of an organisation that provides context to its records. This should include the type of organisation (local authority, business etc), dates of foundation, changes in legal status and a summary of its main functions or purposes, with any changes. A term often found in descriptions within an archival catalogue.
administrator at law
the role of a father in relationship to his minor children; or a mother when the father was deceased.
advowson
or advocation is the right of a patron to present a person to a role in the church with an associated revenue, known as a church living or benefice.