"BAILIFF, _balivus_. From the French word _bayliff_, that is, _præfectus provinciæ_, and as the name, so the office itself was answerable to that of France, where there were eight parliaments, which were high courts from whence there lay no appeal, and within the precincts of the several parts of that kingdom which belonged to each parliament, _there were several provinces to which justice was administered by certain officers called bailiffs_; and in England we have several counties in which justice hath been, and still is, in small suits, administered to the inhabitants by the officer whom we now call _sheriff_, or _viscount_; (one of which names descends from the Saxons, the other from the Normans.) And, though the sheriff is not called _bailiff_, yet it was probable that was one of his names also, because the county is often called _balliva_; as in the return of a writ, where the person is not arrested, the sheriff saith, _infra-nominatus_, _A.B. non est inventus in balliva mea_, &c.; (the within named A.B. is not found in my bailiwick, &c.) And in the statute of Magna Carta, ch. 28, and 14 Ed. 3, ch. 9, the word _bailiff_ seems to comprise as well sheriffs, as bailiffs of hundreds. "_Bailies_, in Scotland, are magistrates of burghs, possessed of certain jurisdictions, having the same power within their territory as sheriffs in the county.... "As England is divided into counties, so every county is divided into hundreds; within which, in ancient times, the people had justice administered to them by the several officers of every hundred, which were the _bailiffs_. And it appears by Bracton, (_lib. 3, tract_. 2, ch. 34,) that _bailiffs_ of hundreds might anciently hold plea of appeal and approvers; but since that time the hundred courts, except certain franchises, are swallowed in the county courts; and now the _bailiff's_ name and office is grown into contempt, they being generally officers to serve writs, &c., within their liberties; though, in other respects, the name is still in good esteem, for the chief magistrates in divers towns are called _bailiffs_; and sometimes the persons to whom the king's castles are committed are termed _bailiffs_, as the _bailiff_ of Dover Castle, &c. "Of the ordinary _bailiffs_ there are several sorts, viz., _bailiffs_ of liberties; sheriffs' _bailiffs_; _bailiffs_ of lords of manors; _bailiffs_ of husbandry, &c.... "_Bailiffs_ of liberties or franchises are to be sworn to take distresses, truly impanel jurors, make returns by indenture between them and sheriffs, &c.... "_Bailiffs of courts baron_ summon those courts, and execute the process thereof.... "Besides these, there are also _bailiffs of the forest_ ..."--_Jacob's Law Dict. Tomlin's do._