Definition
1. (Conveyancing) The descriptive portion of a deed or conveyance that identifies and delineates the property being transferred. The parcels clause sets out the boundaries, measurements, and identifying characteristics of the land in sufficient detail to distinguish it from all other property. In older conveyancing practice, this section was formally introduced by language such as "All that parcel of land..." and was understood as a term of art referring to the descriptive block of the instrument.
2. (Plural, general property) Separately identified tracts or units of land, each with its own legal description. A single deed may convey multiple parcels, each described in sequence.
3. (Commerce) The "bill of parcels" is an itemized account of goods transmitted to a purchaser along with the goods themselves — functionally, an invoice or packing list.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Plural of parcel — a package or bundle, or a plot of land.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): A parcel is a part of a larger whole; a bundle wrapped for carriage; or a portion of land.
The common usage of "parcels" as packages or bundles overlaps awkwardly with the legal conveyancing use. In a deed, "parcels" does not mean multiple packages — it refers to the formal descriptive clause of the instrument, often as a singular concept ("the parcels clause"), regardless of how many tracts are described. A researcher encountering "parcels" in a historical deed should treat it as a term of art pointing to the property description, not as a count noun indicating plural objects.
Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES
Bill of Parcels: A commercial document itemizing goods delivered with a shipment; the precursor to the modern invoice. Distinct from the conveyancing use of the term and encountered primarily in older mercantile and sales law sources.
Parcels Clause: The specific section of a deed containing the legal description. Often introduced by the word "all" followed by a description of the property. May incorporate general words describing appurtenances, rights, and easements passing with the land.
General Words: Standardized language formerly inserted into the parcels clause to carry appurtenances, rights-of-way, easements, and other incidents of ownership. In English practice, the Conveyancing Act 1881 rendered express general words unnecessary by implying them into every conveyance — a reform noted by Rapalje & Lawrence.
Why It Matters in Research
The primary research trap with "parcels" is the shift in how the term functions across time and document type. In deeds before the late nineteenth century, encountering "parcels" in the body of a conveyance almost always signals you are reading the operative property description — the legal heart of the instrument. Understanding that the parcels clause was a formal, structured part of the deed helps researchers locate and interpret property descriptions in historical title chains.
The reform introduced by the English Conveyancing Act 1881 is significant for researchers working in English property law or in jurisdictions that followed English conveyancing models: after that date, the absence of express general words in the parcels clause no longer creates a gap in the conveyance. Researchers comparing pre- and post-1881 instruments should account for this shift when assessing what rights passed with the land.
In American practice, the term "parcels" survives most commonly in the plural sense of discrete tracts — as in a deed conveying "the following parcels" — and in assessor and tax records identifying separately assessed units of land. The formal "parcels clause" terminology is less consistently used in American sources than in English ones, and American deeds more often use "legal description" as the functional equivalent.
For corpus research, be alert to the bill of parcels in pre-twentieth-century commercial law sources. It appears in contexts involving sale of goods, factors, and mercantile agents, and is unrelated to real property conveyancing despite sharing the term.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary treats "parcels" in two senses — the conveyancing description and the bill of parcels — without integrating them or tracing the evolution of either. The definition is workmanlike but thin on practical guidance for reading historical instruments.
Rapalje & Lawrence adds more doctrinal texture by connecting parcels to the general words doctrine and noting the English statutory reform. The cross-reference to the Conveyancing Act 1881 is the most useful signal in either source: it marks a clean doctrinal break that researchers working across that date must navigate.
Neither source addresses the American divergence in terminology, nor do they explain how "parcels" functions in tax and assessment records — a significant gap for researchers working with land records outside the deed context.
Jurisdictional Note
In England and Wales, the Conveyancing Act 1881 (and its successors) substantially standardized what passes with a conveyance, reducing the operational importance of express general words in the parcels clause. In the United States, conveyancing practice varies by state, and the sufficiency of a property description in the parcels clause remains a source of litigation, particularly where descriptions are vague, use obsolete monuments, or conflict with recorded plats.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: Conveyancing; Deeds and Their Components; General Words in Conveyances