The title of the 6th Baron and Baroness of North Cadbury was sold  by Manorial Counsel Limited.

 

This is a title in name only of course. It is, by my definition, a possessory title (not to be confused with a Possessory title relating to Adverse Possession, that is entirely different.)  

The clue with the Manorial Counsel is in the wording of both their website and their legal documentation that come with their title packages of exactly what their titles are.  Recently one of their clients sent me scans of the legal documentation that they received for their title which they had purchased from this company. 

The wording clearly relates to 'Quiet Enjoyment' of a title. 

• Incorporeal rights are rights to property that cannot be seen or touched, generally relating to intangible property. These rights, also known as intangible rights, are still enforceable by law. There are generally two kinds of incorporeal rights: jura in re aliena (i.e., encumbrances) and jura in re propria (intangible property ownership).

This is where the terminology of  'Quiet Enjoyment' is related.

Manorial Counsel will deny this and try to convince you that it is much more complex than that. They will say this as they have to justify the highly inflated prices that they charge.  The fact is that it is not complex and Manorial Counsel Limited are simply using the Laws of Possession. In actual fact, they are not even using these laws correctly.  The legal documentation that they provide for each title does not divulge how they acquired a title. They will tell you that that is Intellectual property. This is rubbish. There is not any intellectual property when it comes to manorial titles. They use this term to avoid telling you how they acquired a title. There are specific  procedures that have to be conducted before a 'dormant' title name can be possessed. They do not follow these procedures. 

It is therefore questionable as to the validity of every title Manorial Counsel has for sale and every title that Manorial Counsel has sold. With their legal documentation not detailing how they acquired a title in order to sell that title, poses the question as to whether they had/have the legal right to sell a title.

Without this crucial bit of information detailing how they acquired a title and under what laws and sections of law that acquisition took place within their legal documentation, effectively, under the eyes of the law, invalidates those legal documents. 

Manorial Counsel set out to explain that their titles are completely legal having been signed off by solicitors!  Manorial Counsel Ltd solicitors will be working for Manorial Counsel and not the 'Client'.    You would not purchase a property and use the same solicitor/s as the vendor. The vendors solicitor would tell you to instruct another solicitor as there would otherwise be a conflict of interest.  It is no different with purchasing a manorial title or feudal barony title. So, why go and trust Manorial Counsels solicitor????   Would it not be more sensible for a prospective customer to instruct their own solicitor to correspond with Manorial Counsel, at least that way there would not be a conflict of interest.

The problem with instructing a high street solicitor is that most do not have any knowledge of manorial titles and manorial law and therefore will, most of the time, advise that they are unable to help.  There are specialist solicitors out there who are well conversed with manorial law, such as Michael Baxendale.

Possessory Titles are not worth the amount of money that Manorial Counsel charge. Nor are the Feudal Baronies  -  don't forget that these are in 'Name Only'.  You would NOT own the history. To own the history of a title you need to have the full set of deeds.   

Possession, under the Possession Laws, does not mean ownership. This is a grey area. 'Quiet Enjoyment' means just that, but not ownership. Ownership comes in time.  A person in 'Possession' can only be challenged by someone with a 'better' title.   

When buying a title, think, "Would I be able to sell this title and get my money back"?

This brings me back to the Barony of North Cadbury. This is a title sold by Manorial Counsel to unsuspecting German clients for, I suspect, a large sum of money. It is a title in name only and therefore is only worth around £1,750, at the most. 

Wikipedia has not been updated with the new German Holders of this title?  This is because wiki do no recognise name only titles (Possessory) they require proof of the holder having the full set of deeds or a grant from the Crown.

The barony of north Cadbury website has a legal notice page detailing an in-depth 'Disclaimer'.  They would not need that page if the title was a genuine title rather than in name only.

It is great however, to keep these titles alive, but you don't need to fork out thousands of pounds to keep them alive. 

My advice to you is that if you are interested in a manorial or feudal barony title being sold by Manorial Counsel or any other platform/company that is priced more than £1,250 for a manorial title and £1,750 for a barony, would it not be best to instruct a solicitor.  Ask yourself  -  could you get your money back if you wanted to sell at a later stage?  The answer to that question is - no you wouldn't if you paid more than the above prices.

Don't let any platform/company with their creative literature rip you off.  Don't forget that a company solicitor will be working for that company and not the client.