Also known as: head silver · headsilver · poll tax · capitation
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A payment made as part of a common fine in historical English land conveyancing procedures.
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Hugo Hart and Heidi Henderson sought to convey a parcel of ancestral property without the usual chain of title documents. They initiated a fictitious suit in the old manner and paid the required head-silver to complete the compromise recorded by the court.
Harold Hunt claimed superior title against Henry Hoffman after a family partition. The parties levied a fine and tendered head-silver, allowing the court to enter the final concord that quieted title in Hunt.
Henry Harrison wished to sell land held in fee tail. He and the remainderman used the fine procedure, each contributing head-silver so the court could approve the conveyance and bar the entail.
Highland Farms and Horizon Realty litigated over acreage boundaries affecting school funding. They settled through a fine and paid head-silver to obtain a binding court record of the agreed division.
Highland Steel needed clear title before a corporate reorganization. Officers arranged a fine proceeding and remitted head-silver, producing an official foot of the fine that confirmed ownership.
Hana Hashimoto and Haven Medical resolved overlapping claims to a border parcel. They executed a fine and delivered head-silver to the court, creating an amicable final concord that settled possession.
Head-silver formed part of the payment made when parties levied a fine to compromise a suit and convey land under the old English system.
Head-silver is the specific payment associated with a common fine, the amicable final agreement recorded by the court to establish land ownership.
…justification for the rationale in Harper v. Virginia Bd. of Elections , 383 U. S. 663, 668 (1966), in which Virginia's poll tax was struck down. The criterion of political allegiance may have been added in Williams v. Rhodes , 393 U. S. 23 (1968). Today the list apparently has been further enlarged to include…