Definition
"Fastwardly" does not appear as a recognized legal term in authoritative sources. The sole historical dictionary entry retrieved under this heading is, in fact, an entry for "Eastwardly" — a directional term used in deeds and conveyances to describe the orientation of a boundary or parcel of land relative to a given line. The appearance of "Fastwardly" in this context is likely the result of a transcription error, OCR misread, or data artifact in the source corpus.
For the operative legal term actually defined in the source material, see EASTWARDLY below.
EASTWARDLY (the term defined in source): As used in a deed or conveyance, "eastwardly" is a directional descriptor indicating that land or a boundary lies on the eastern side of a given line or point of reference. The term is understood to be indefinite in precise angular meaning — it does not specify an exact bearing or compass degree — but serves to distinguish the eastern side from the western side of the referenced line. Courts have treated it as a general orientation, not a precise surveying call.
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Common Confusion
"Fastwardly" as it appears in this corpus should be treated as a corrupt or misrendered form of "Eastwardly." Researchers encountering "Fastwardly" in digitized legal texts, indexes, or search results should verify the underlying source document. Historical OCR errors involving directional terms — "East," "West," "North," "South" and their adverbial forms — are common in digitized deed and conveyancing records, particularly in older typeset materials where the capital "E" may be misread.
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Why It Matters in Research
This entry is a research warning, not a substantive legal definition. If you have arrived here via a search of the Law Mind corpus, the term you are looking for is almost certainly "Eastwardly" or another directional adverb used in deed description.
Two practical implications for corpus researchers:
First, OCR artifacts are frequent in digitized deed records, deed books, and conveyancing treatises. Directional terms are especially vulnerable because historical typefaces render "E," "F," and occasionally "N" ambiguously at low scan resolution. Any unusual directional-sounding term — "Fastwardly," "Northwardly" rendered as "Nerthwardly," and similar — should prompt a return to the original document image before relying on the transcription.
Second, the substantive point from the Bouvier entry on Eastwardly is worth noting for deed research generally: courts have consistently held that cardinal-direction adverbs in deeds are indefinite as to precise bearing. They establish a side, not a line. This has interpretive consequences when a deed description using "eastwardly" conflicts with a survey call or a metes-and-bounds description that implies a specific angle. The Kentucky case cited in Bouvier (2 Bibb 120) illustrates this principle in an early American conveyancing context.
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Historical Dictionary Support
Bouvier's Law Dictionary does not define "Fastwardly." The entry retrieved under this heading in the source corpus is the Bouvier entry for "Eastwardly," which states: "Eastwardly, as used in a deed, is an indefinite expression, and means nothing more, necessarily, than that the land shall lie on the eastern, and not upon the western side of the given line. 2 Bibb (Ky.) 120."
No other historical legal dictionary in the Law Mind shelf — not Black's, not Tomlin's, not Wharton's — carries an entry for "Fastwardly." Its absence is itself informative: this is not a term of art that developed any independent legal meaning. Researchers should not treat it as such.
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