Definition
In the law of advowsons, the right of next presentation is the right to present a qualified clerk or candidate to a bishop for appointment to a benefice upon the first vacancy that occurs. The holder of this right does not hold the advowson itself — that is, the general and recurring right to present to a living — but rather a one-time entitlement to make the next presentation when the current incumbent's tenure ends, whether by death, resignation, or removal.
The right is a present, vested property interest even though it cannot be exercised until a future vacancy arises. It could be granted, conveyed, or devised independently of the underlying advowson, and courts of equity recognized and enforced it accordingly.
Why It Matters in Research
This is a term rooted in English ecclesiastical property law and is largely without operational significance in modern American law. Researchers encountering it will most often do so in one of three contexts:
First, in historical English real property materials — treatises, Year Books, equity reports — where advowson-related rights were treated as a recognized species of incorporeal hereditament. The right of next presentation was freely alienable and was the subject of frequent litigation, particularly in the Court of Chancery, over whether a grant had been made simoniacally (that is, for money, in violation of the ecclesiastical prohibition on the sale of spiritual offices).
Second, in American colonial and early republic materials where Church of England livings existed, particularly in Virginia, Maryland, and other southern colonies. Post-disestablishment, these rights became effectively obsolete, but they may appear in title chains, wills, or conveyancing records from the colonial period.
Third, as an analogy or illustration in broader property law discussions about future or contingent rights in expectancy — the right of next presentation being a classic example of a vested right that is presently alienable despite being exercisable only upon a contingency.
A research trap: do not conflate the right of next presentation with the advowson itself. The advowson is the perpetual right to present on every vacancy; the right of next presentation exhausts itself after one exercise. Sources that discuss one may not address the other, and their legal treatment — especially regarding alienability, lapse, and simony — can differ.
The Rapalje & Lawrence entry as preserved here is fragmentary and offers no independent guidance on this term. Researchers should treat it as a cross-reference artifact rather than a substantive definition.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary provides the controlling definition cleanly and correctly: the right of next presentation is the right to present to the first vacancy of a benefice. This captures the essential character of the right — it is singular and future-contingent, not perpetual.
The Rapalje & Lawrence fragment is not useful as a definition of this term. The text preserved — "proceeding upon which the petition is founded" — appears to be a fragment from an unrelated entry and should be disregarded for purposes of defining next presentation.
Historical English legal dictionaries and institutional writers are more informative. Blackstone's Commentaries treat the advowson and its derivative forms, including the right of next presentation, as incorporeal hereditaments capable of ownership, transfer, and inheritance. Simony — the purchase or sale of ecclesiastical offices or presentations — was a significant doctrinal constraint on the alienation of these rights, and courts distinguished between the legitimate transfer of the right of next presentation and the corrupt sale of it for consideration tied to the expected value of the living.
Jurisdictional Note
The right of next presentation has no operational presence in American law following disestablishment of state churches. It remains relevant to English ecclesiastical law and may appear in historical property records from jurisdictions with Church of England establishments prior to the American Revolution.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
The Law Mind Constitutional Law Encyclopedia: The Legislative Process — Bicameralism, Presentment, and the Veto (constitutional_14). Note: the presentment doctrine in constitutional law — requiring bills passed by Congress to be presented to the President — is an entirely distinct concept sharing only a root word. That entry is not a subject-matter match but may be relevant if a researcher is tracing the word "presentment" across legal contexts.