Court of Wards and Liveries

The Court of Wards and Liveries was a court established in England during the reign of Henry VIII to administer a system of feudal dues. Besides collecting that revenue, it was responsible for wardship and livery matters. It was set up from 1540 by two acts of Parliament, the Court of Wards Act 1540 and the Wards and Liveries Act 1541. From 1561 William Cecil, as Master of the Court, oversaw the upbringing of orphaned heirs to peerages and, until they came of age, the administration of their estates. It lost its principal function in 1646, when the Long Parliament abolished feudal tenure, and was formally abolished soon after the Restoration by the Tenures Abolition Act 1660.