Instrument issued by a government granting a right or conveying title to a private individual or organization.
Document announcing an honor or power for an individual, granted by an official or nobleman. For example, arms might be granted by letters patent, or they might be granted lordship over a feudal estate.
Sealed and "open" letters, often enrolled on Patent Rolls. (Sayles, George O. The King's Parliament of England, 145) Related terms: Letters Close
A means of sending a royal instruction: an open letter, with the seal attached to the bottom. In the context of the Gazetteer, letters patent were occasionally used to record royal grants of markets and fairs. The use of letters patent for such grants often occurs during exceptional circumstances, for example when the king was overseas on campaign. However, from 1517 onwards, all grants which had previously been made using royal charters were made with letters patent.
A letter addressed (open) to all; in heraldry, normally a document by the relevant authority which informs all who read it of the granting of armorial bearings to a named person or body corporate
letters with the seal pendant from them, as distinct from letters close which were sealed with a blob of wax that had to be removed before the letter was open; as the seal was at this time the mark of legal validity it meant that any important letters had to be sealed patent.
This refers to an original grant from the Crown.
A royal grant of property or right, enrolled on the patent rolls.
A sealed document by which power and authority is given to a person to enjoy some right, or to allow some specific act.
an official document granting a right or privilege
a grant of a set of rights from the United States government that is enforceable in our courts
a document made under the Great Seal of the province or of Canada by which Crown lands are granted to private individuals/companies.
royal letters conferring a privilege on an individual or corporate body, sent open with a visible seal.
Official, public documents created by the Crown which record land grants, appointments (commissions), pardons, as well as the revocations of rights
royal letters containing instructions to an official or initiating legal action, sent in open form and certified by seal
A written instrument granting authority from the Crown, not enclosed but open to view, with the seal of the sovereign at the bottom
In the legislative context, royal assent to bills passed by the Parliament is signified by letters patent signed in the monarch's own hand, passed under the Scottish Seal and recorded in the Register of the Great Seal.
