durham
Durham (d[schwa]r-[schwa]m). One of the three remaining county palatines in England, the others being Chester and Lancaster. • Its jurisdiction was vested in the Bishop of Durham until the statute 6 & 7 Will. 4, ch. 19 vested it as a separate franchise and royalty in the Crown. The jurisdiction of the Durham Court of Pleas was transferred to the Supreme Court of Judicature by the Judicature Act of 1873, but Durham continued to maintain a Chancery Court according to the Palatine Court of Durham Act of 1889. See COUNTY PALATINE.