imported>LR.127: Adding local short description: "Citizenship process in the UK", overriding Wikidata description "obsolete common law process by which a foreigner gained some rights of a British subject"

2024-12-27T03:15:05Z

Adding local short description: "Citizenship process in the UK", overriding Wikidata description "obsolete common law process by which a foreigner gained some rights of a British subject"

New page

{{Short description|Citizenship process in the UK}}
[[File:Anthony van Dyck - Self-portrait with a Sunflower.jpg|thumb|''[[Self-portrait with a sunflower]]'' by [[Anthony Van Dyck]], a denizen from 1638]]
{{wiktionary|denizen}}
'''Denization''' is an obsolete or defunct process in [[Kingdom of England|England]] and [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]] and the later [[Kingdom of Great Britain]], the [[United Kingdom]], and the [[British Empire]], dating back to the 13th century, by which an [[alien (law)|alien]] (foreigner), through [[letters patent]], became a '''denizen''', thereby obtaining certain rights otherwise normally enjoyed only by the [[British subject|King's (or Queen's) subject]]s, including the right to [[land tenure|hold land]]. The denizen was neither a subject (with [[citizenship]] or [[nationality]]) nor an alien, but had a status akin to [[permanent residency]] today. While one could become a subject via [[naturalisation]], this required a [[private act]] of Parliament (or latterly of a [[Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865|colonial legislature]]); in contrast, denization was cheaper, quicker, and simpler. Denization fell into obsolescence when the [[British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914]] ([[4 & 5 Geo. 5]]. c. 17) simplified the naturalisation process.

Denization occurred by a grant of letters patent,<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1 |wstitle=Denizen |volume=8 |page=22}}</ref> an exercise of the [[royal prerogative]]. Denizens paid a fee and took an [[Oath of Allegiance (United Kingdom)|oath of allegiance]] to the crown. For example, when Venetian mariner Gabriel Corbet was granted letters of denization in 1431 for service upon the seas to [[Henry V of England|Henry V]] and [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]], he was required to pay 40 shillings into the [[hanaper]] for the privilege.<ref>Susan Rose, "Corbet, Gabriel (fl. 1427–1454)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004</ref>

The status of denizen allowed a foreigner to purchase property, although a denizen could not inherit property. [[Sir William Blackstone]] wrote "A denizen is a kind of middle state, between an alien and a natural-born subject, and partakes of both."<ref>Blackstone: Commentaries, Book 1, Chapter X, p374</ref> The denizen had limited political rights: he could vote, but could not be a member of parliament or hold any civil or military office of trust.<ref name="EB1911"/> Denizenship has also been compared to the Roman ''[[civitas sine suffragio]]'', although the rights of denizens were restricted by the [[Act of Settlement 1701]], not by [[Common law|common]] or [[Time immemorial|immemorial]] law.<ref>Berry, p.491; the restrictions originally applied to naturalised citizens also.</ref>

Denization was expressly preserved by the [[Naturalization Act 1870]] ([[33 & 34 Vict.]] c. 14){{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} and by s25 of the [[British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914]] ([[4 & 5 Geo. 5]]. c. 17).{{efn|See [[History of British nationality law#Early English and British nationality law|Early British Nationality Law]]}} According to the British Home Office, the last denization was granted to the Dutch painter [[Lawrence Alma-Tadema]] in 1873;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/nationalityinstructions/nisec2gensec/denization?view=Binary|title=Nationality instructions: volume 2 - Publications - GOV.UK|publisher=ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk}}</ref> the Home Office considered it obsolete when the [[Prince of Pless]] applied for it in 1933, and instructed him to apply for naturalisation instead.<ref>Berry, p.490</ref> The [[British Nationality Act 1948]], a major reform of citizenship law in Britain, made no mention of denization and neither abolished nor preserved the practice.

Denization, as an exercise of royal power, was applicable throughout the British dominion to all British subjects. That is, it was exercisable in the colonies. For example, denization occurred in the colony of [[New South Wales]]. As in Britain, the practice became obsolete to naturalisation, with the last known denization in 1848.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/short-guide-9/short-guide-9/?searchterm=denization|title=Naturalization / Citizenship Guide|first=|last=Anthea.Brown|date=16 December 2015|website=www.records.nsw.gov.au}}</ref>

The term ''denizen'' may also refer to any [[Nationality|national]] of a country, whether citizen or non-citizen, with a right to remain in and return to the country. In the United States, unassimilated [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]]s, although born on U.S. soil, were not deemed to be citizens of the United States or any state, but of a [[domestic dependent nation]] contained within the United States. However, in 1924 the [[Indian Citizenship Act of 1924|Indian Citizenship Act]], made all Native Americans born in the United States and its territories American citizens.

==See also==
* [[Metic]]
* [[Permanent resident]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*Edmund G. Berry, "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/3291904 ''Cives Sine Suffragio'' in England]"; ''The Classical Journal'', Vol. 39, No. 8. (May, 1944), pp. 490–492, ([[JSTOR]] link. Citing, for Pless, the ''Times'' of London, December 18, 1943.
*[http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/short-guide-9/short-guide-9/?searchterm=denization Australian article on historical denization]
*[http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a1_8_4_citizenships1.html Blackstone Commentaries] — Sir William Blackstone, Commentaries (1769), Book 1 Chapter X: ‘’Of People Whether Aliens, Denizens Or Natives’’
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051120084729/http://www.worldnewsstand.net/law/TheCitizenshipContract.htm On use of ‘denizen’ in the US] — see quote from Hugh S. Legare (Attorney General of US)
*[http://users.skynet.be/suffrage-universel/us/usvoalha.htm Foreigners Voting Rights in the Kingdom of Hawaii]

[[Category:Legal history of England]]
[[Category:British nationality law]]
[[Category:Medieval English law]]
[[Category:Royal prerogative]]

Denization - Revision history

imported>LR.127: Adding local short description: "Citizenship process in the UK", overriding Wikidata description "obsolete common law process by which a foreigner gained some rights of a British subject"