PASSATOR

4 definitions found across Law Mind sources

← Dictionary
PASSATORAuthored
The Law Mind • 741 words
Definition
A person who holds the right or authority over a river crossing or passage — either by having a proprietary interest in the passage itself or by serving as the lord or owner to whom a toll or duty is paid by those who cross. The term describes a position that was, in practical terms, both an economic right and a form of local governance over waterway transit.
Why It Matters in Research
PASSATOR is a term of historical and feudal significance with no living counterpart in modern Anglo-American law. Researchers encountering it in early English legal records, title chains, or riparian rights disputes should treat it as a marker of feudal tenure arrangements rather than a concept with continuing legal vitality. The term surfaces primarily in medieval and early modern English legal contexts where control over river crossings was a legally recognized property right — typically held by grant from the Crown or by long-standing prescriptive use. A passator could collect tolls (passage duties) as an incident of that right, and disputes over who held the right were litigated as property matters. Researchers should note a significant trap in the Rapalje & Lawrence entry: the definition of PASSATOR is immediately followed, without clear break, by language about passenger carriers and contributory negligence (citing Crofts v. Waterhouse, 3 Bing. 319 and Martin v. Great Northern Ry. Co., 16 C.B. 179). This appears to be a typographical or compositional error in the original source — the carrier liability language belongs to a neighboring entry (likely PASSENGER or PASSAGE) and has bled into the PASSATOR entry. Researchers relying on Rapalje & Lawrence for this term should treat that trailing passage as extraneous. The carrier liability cases cited are real but have no substantive connection to the meaning of PASSATOR. For title research involving ferry rights, bridge tolls, or riparian passage rights in historical English or early American records, PASSATOR is conceptually adjacent to terms like FERRIAGE, PONTAGE, and PISCARY — all involving monetized rights over natural features. A passator's right was typically a profit à prendre or a franchise, and its modern successors (where they survive at all) appear in the law of public franchises and riparian rights.
Historical Dictionary Support
All four source dictionaries reproduce virtually identical definitions, each tracing to Wharton's Law Lexicon as the primary authority. The consistency is notable but also limiting — none of the sources elaborate on how the right was created, transferred, or extinguished, nor do they address whether American law ever formally received the concept. Black's (both editions) and Bouvier's offer no examples or elaboration beyond the core definition. This uniformity suggests the term was already archaic by the time these nineteenth-century dictionaries were compiled and was being carried forward as a historical record rather than a working legal concept. Bouvier's minor textual variant ("& lord" for "or a lord") is a typographic artifact and carries no substantive difference. None of the historical sources address the relationship between a passator's rights and the common law public right of navigation, which would have created a significant tension in practice: the passator's toll right presupposed control over crossing, while the public right of navigation potentially undermined exclusivity. This gap in the historical dictionaries is worth flagging for any researcher attempting to reconstruct the legal framework around historical passage rights.
Jurisdictional Note
PASSATOR as a legal category did not migrate intact into American law. American riparian and ferry law developed through state-level franchise grants and public utility regulation rather than through feudal tenure concepts. Researchers working in English legal history, particularly pre-1800 records, will encounter the term; researchers in American legal contexts almost certainly will not.
Related Terms
FERRIAGE — duty paid for river crossing; the functional equivalent of the passage duty a passator collected PONTAGE — toll for crossing a bridge; a parallel feudal transit right RIPARIAN RIGHTS — modern doctrinal home for disputes over use of and access to waterways FRANCHISE — the legal mechanism by which passage rights were typically granted PROFIT À PRENDRE — property law category into which passage rights are sometimes analyzed PISCARY — analogous feudal right over a natural feature (fishing) TOLL — the broader category of which passage duty is a species PASSAGE — the correlative term describing the right of crossing; compare the lord's right (passator) with the traveler's entitlement
PASSATORmain
Black's Law Dictionary • 1891
He who has the interest or command of the passage of a river; or a lord to whom a duty is paid for passage. ton.
PASSATORmain
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) • 1910
He who has the interest or command of the passage of a river; or a lord to whom a duty is paid for passage. Wharton.
PASSATORmain
Rapalje & Lawrence • 1883
- He who has the interest or command of the passage of a river; or a lord to whom a duty is paid for passage. - Wharton. (Crofts v. Waterhouse, 3 Bing. 319;) but the contributory negligence or unskillfulness of the passengers may relieve the carrier, (Martin v. Great Northern Ry. Co., 16 Com. B. 179.) As regards the baggage of passengers, (being articles properly so called, and not including merchandise,) it appears that the carrier is in the general case liable for its safe delivery on the platform of arrival, (Richards v. London, Brighton, and South Coast Ry. Co., 7 Com. B. 839,) and in certain cases even for its safe transfer to the agent of the passenger at the station or point of arrival, (Willoughby v. Horridge, 12 Com. B. 742;) and conditions of an unreasonable character PASSED IN THE PRESENT SESSION, ANY ACT exempting the company from liability for TO BE, (in a statute). Dwar. Stat. 686. PASSENGER.-A person conveyed for hire from one place to another. the loss or damage of baggage are void, (Cohen v. South Eastern Ry. Co., 1 Ex. D. 217; 2 Id. 253,) excepting as regards the carriage thereof on railways not belonging to the company. (Zunz v. South Eastern Ry. Co., L. R. 4 Q. B. 539; and, see, Henderson v. Stevenson, L. R. 2 H. L. Sc. 470.) But the passenger must travel with his baggage, (Becher v. Great Eastern Ry. Co, L. R. 5 Q. B. 241,) and must not take it (excepting at his own risk) into the carriage with him, (Talley v. Great Western Ry. Co., L. R. 6 C. P. 44.)-Brown. For the American cases on the liability of carriers of passengers, see references given under BAGGAGE; CARRIER; COMMON CAR1. By sea-Rights and duties of.— Passenger-ships are those peculiarly appropriated to the conveyance of passengers. In some respects, passengers by ship may be considered as a portion of the crew. They may be called on by the master or commander of the ship, in case of imminent danger, either from tempest or enemies, to lend their assistance for the general safety; and in the event of their declining, may be punished for disobedience. This principle has been recognized in several cases; but as the authority arises out of the necessity of the case, it must be exercised strictly within the limits of that necessity. (Boyce v. Bayliffe, 1 Campb. 58.) A passenger is not, however, bound Wend. (N. Y.) 626; 2 Campb. 80; 2 Esp. 533. to remain on board a ship in the hour of danger, but may quit it if he have an op-

Explore the full Law Mind legal research platform.

SubscribeEncyclopediaSign In
The Law Mind Legal Dictionary. This is a legal research library, not a lawyer.
Dictionary • Encyclopedia • Sign In