A Brief History of Real Estate: The Fee Simple Ownership

Arthur Wellesley (1769-1852), Duke of Wellington, isno courts or police force ready to recognize or
reputed to have been the one to exclaim 'All goodenforce "legal rights" as we know them today. All this
things come from England, but cavalry is not one ofchanged with the Norman conquest of England in 1066.
them' while facing Napoleon's French Army atWilliam decreed that he owned all of the land in
Waterloo on June 18, 1815. Wellesley had learnt hisEngland by right of conquest. Not one acre of England
military trade in India applying his study of the art ofwas to be exempted from this massive expropriation.
war and had became a master of the reverse-slopeThis sudden vacuum of privately-held land was
tactic - keeping his forces screened from artillery firepromptly filled by a variety of huge land grants given
behind the brow of a hill. At Waterloo, however,by the new King to either his Norman officers or to
Wellesley's Armies were outwitted by Napoleon. Thethose of the English who were ready to recognize him
French Emperor had imitated Wellesley's tactics byas king. The device used by the King to control and
positioning 200 heavy artillery guns behind a ridge at Laadminister his land was that of tenure. Tenure was the
Haye Sainte. When the Hussars and Dragoonskey component of the feudal system. The King struck
cavalrymen led by Lord Uxbridge attacked in thea bargain with a Lord for a large chunk of land. The
famous Charge of the Scots Greys, NapoleonLords that held their tenure directly from the King were
commanded the guns on the topline of the ridge andcalled Tenants-in-chief. It was this group of persons
one of the epic artillery bombardments in historywho formed the basis of English aristocracy and
began. It was at this very moment, at the height of thebegan, by the process of subletting the King's land, the
Charge and while his 3,000 cavalrymen were beingimplementation of the feudal system.
slaughtered by the rapid artillery fire of Napoleon'sTenures were of a variety of duration known as
heavy guns, that the phlegmatic English General is"estates" and the Fee Simple Estate was the most
reputed to have exclaimed his now famous remark,extensive and allowed the Tenant to sell or to convey
directed at Lord Uxbridge who had apparently orderedby will or be transferred to the Tenant's heir if he died.
the Charge without Wellesley knowing it. The day wasIn modern law, almost all land is held in fee simple and
saved by Gebhard von Blucher (1742-1819), Fieldthis is as close as one can get to absolute ownership
Marshal of Prussia, who led the assault of the Kaiser'sin common law. It was in this context that the British
Prussian Cavalry against the French right wing, thusbegan their dominion over the seas and their
causing the entire French line to collapse.explorations which led to the modern nations of
Wellesley's famous remark has been retouchedAustralia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States
several times throughout the years, depending on one'sof America. The concept of developing an informal
point of view. The British dropped the second part -association of local real estate agents originated in the
the reference to the ill-fated cavalry charge - thusUnited States in the 1880s, and by the turn of the
creating the popular short version 'All good thingscentury about 15 Real Estate Boards had been
come from England' - period. When about a centuryestablished. The National Association of
later Britain had the unwise idea of attacking theREALTORS® (NAR) was formed in the U.S. in
Ottoman Empire and the British and French Armies1908 with 19 boards and one state association.
were fighting the Turks side-by-side in WWI, GeneralOrganized real estate in Canada is almost as old as
Mustapha Kemal - the English-speaking Commanderthe country itself. The very first Real Estate Board
of the Turkish Garrison and victorious defender ofwas set up in 1888 in the growing community of
Gallipoli - paraphrased the English dictum after 289Vancouver. Back then, a commercial lot on Hornby
days of siege by turning it, somewhat deprecatingly,Street near the Hotel Vancouver sold for $600. The
into: "No good things ever come from England". AndVancouver Board - as it was known then - was
Mahatma Gandhi throughout his teachings ofactive until the start of the First World War, when
non-violent conflicts resolutions makes reference tooperations were suspended. It resumed in 1919, and
the fact that "All good things come from India".has been operating ever since.
Alas, no matter what your point of view is, I shallThe distinction of the oldest, continuous running Board
submit to readers of my Blog that "at least two goodbelongs to Winnipeg, Manitoba. It started in 1903, and
things comes from England" : Fee Simple Ownershipthe Winnipeg Real Estate Board was the first in
and Organized Real Estate.Canada to celebrate its 100th anniversary. The
English real estate law (or 'Estate Law' as it wasToronto Board was incorporated in 1920, followed by
known back then) was imported, through colonization,boards in Ottawa, Hamilton, Regina and Victoria in 1921.
into the earlier forms of law in the U.S.A., Canada,More than half of the existing Real Estate Boards in
Australia and New Zealand. Many of these states, orCanada were created after 1955, in part because of
their territories, have since modified this historical law, tothe evolution of the "Photo Co-Op System" that was
varying degrees. A study of the old feudal landintroduced in 1951. That was the forerunner of today's
system of England provides us with an invaluableMLS®, introduced in 1962. The Co-op System not
glimpse of legal history regulating the most valuableonly created a need for an organization to establish
asset of them all: land. In medieval times, land was therules and promote co-operation among agents, but
sole form of wealth and it depended primarily onalso to provide funds to operate a real estate board.
possession. You had it, you owned it. You wanted it,That's when technology first changed the real estate
you fought for it. You found it, you kept it. There wereindustry.