steward of chiltern hundreds
Steward of Chiltern Hundreds (chil-t[schwa]rn).English law. Formerly, a royal officer charged with protecting residents from robbers and thieves who hid in the hundreds’ wooded areas. • Today, a member of Parliament can accept this royal appointment as a step toward resigning, which is generally forbidden by statute. By law, for a member to accept this and certain other Crown appointments is to forfeit his or her seat. A resignation from the office of Steward completes the resignation process.