| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
The conception of Crown land in Canada and Australia has developed parallel to the development of Federal lands in the US.
Crown land is also a feature of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its predecessors.
In Anglo-Saxon times the property of the king consisted of his private estate, the demesne of the crown, comprising palaces, and rights over the folkland of the kingdom, the "commonage" that the people held in common. By the time of the Norman Conquest, the three had become merged into the estate of the crown, that is, land annexed to the crown, held by the king only as king. The king, also, ceased to hold as a private owner but he had full power of disposal by grant of the crown lands, which were increased from time to time by confiscation, escheat, forfeiture, and like processes.
The career of the crown lands to the reign of William III was one of continuous alienation to favorites. Their wholesale distribution by William III necessitated the intervention of parliament, and in the reign of Queen Anne an act was passed limiting the right of alienation of crown lands to a period of not more than thirty-one years or three lives. The revenue from the crown lands was also made to constitute part of the Civil List. At the beginning of his reign George III surrendered his interest in the Crown Estate in return for a fixed civil list.
The Crown Estate is now a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom run on commercial lines. It has a property portfolio of buildings, shoreline, seabed, forestry, agricultural and common land worth in excess of £4 billion, generating revenue of around £170 million for HM TreasuryHM Treasury Her/His Majesty's Treasury is the United Kingdom government department responsible for and putting into effect the UK Government's financial and economic policy. The Treasury's stated aim is to raise the rate of sustainable growth, and achieve every year. For example, it owns much of Regent StreetThis article is about the Regent Street in London. For other Regent Streets see Regent Street (disambiguation . Regent Street is a major shopping street and thoroughfare in London's West End. It was named after the Prince Regent and formed part of the 181 in LondonLondon is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England, and with over seven million inhabitants in the Greater London area, is the second-most populous conurbation in Europe (after Moscow). From being Londinium the capital of the Roman province of Bri.
In theory, also, state lands in the British colonies are supposed to be vested in the crown, and they are called crown lands; actually, however, the various colonial legislatures have full control over them, including power of disposal.
In Dominions of the CommonwealthThe Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of independent sovereign states, mostly formed by the United Kingdom and its former colonies. It was formerly known as the British Commonwealth (or British Commonwealth of Nations , and many still cal, the law concerning these lands has developed further. In Australia, Crown land comprises approximately half of all land even in well-populated New South WalesNew South Wales NSW is Australia's most populous and oldest state, located in the southeast, north of Victoria. It was founded in 1788 and originally comprised much of the Australian mainland. During the 19th century large areas were successively separate. Most of the Crown land management functions, which are undertaken by the DPIWE 's Crown Land Services Branch, are governed by the Crown Lands Act 1976.