Definition
In historical English law, a crates was an iron gate or grating fixed before the entrance to a prison. The term appears in early legal records as a physical feature of the prison structure, distinct from the cells or interior spaces, and carried significance in defining the boundary of custodial confinement.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Plural of crate — a slatted wooden or plastic container used for transport or storage.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): A crate is a large basket or wicker framework used for packing and carrying fragile goods, or a similar wooden structure for transport.
The legal meaning bears no connection to the common meaning. In law, crates referred to a fixed architectural feature of a prison — an iron gate — not a portable container. A researcher encountering the term in historical legal records should not import the ordinary meaning.
Common Confusion
The plural form crates in everyday English almost always refers to containers. In legal and historical sources, the singular crate (or crates in context) could denote the prison gate itself. Confusion is most likely when reading prison or gaol records, writ returns, or descriptions of custody where the physical structure of confinement is at issue.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working in early English criminal law, prison law, or the law of custody will encounter this term in sources predating modern penal vocabulary. Its significance is architectural and jurisdictional: the crates defined the threshold of lawful imprisonment, and writs or procedural documents touching on a prisoner's location or return might reference the gate as a legal landmark within the prison structure. The fragment in Black's citing 2 Reeve, English Law, 56 places the term in the context of writ return days, suggesting the gate had procedural as well as physical relevance. Researchers should note that Black's own coverage is minimal — just the bare definition and a single citation — and that the term does not appear to have developed into a broader legal doctrine. It is primarily an antiquarian legal term useful for interpreting historical records of English gaols and custody disputes. Do not expect to find it in American legal sources; it is an English law term tied to pre-modern prison architecture.
Historical Dictionary Support
Both the first and second editions of Black's Law Dictionary give identical entries: "An iron gate before a prison," citing 1 Ventris 304. The first edition also appends a passing reference to writs returnable the day after, citing 2 Reeve, English Law, 56, though the connection between that passage and the crates definition is oblique in context. Neither edition elaborates on the term's legal consequences, procedural uses, or relationship to custody doctrine. There is no evolution between the two editions — the definition is copied verbatim. No significant historical dictionary divergence exists here because the coverage is so sparse. What the historical sources miss entirely is any discussion of how the crates functioned in legal argument — whether, for example, confinement "within the crates" versus beyond it bore on habeas or escape liability. Researchers seeking that analysis will need to consult the primary sources directly.
Jurisdictional Note
This is an English law term with no documented American legal counterpart. It appears in records of the common law courts of England and is relevant only to research touching on English legal history, early prison law, or the history of custody.