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Heir by custom, or customary heir, he who inherits by a particular and local custom, as in borough-English, whereby 217 the youngest son inherits, or in gavelkind, whereby all the sons inherit as parceners, and made but one heir.

Again, the law of gavelkind, although not extending over the whole of Kent, belongs to so important and numerous a portion of the population, that, as in the case of ancient demesne, it comes to be considered as the typical custom of the county, and attracts all other variations of local usage into its sphere of influence.

The Custumal published among the Statutes speaks of the personal freedom of all Kentish-men, although it has to concern itself specially with the gavelkind tenantry.

Not to speak of that provincial variation, the Kentish system of gavelkind, we notice that even in the rest of England large units are breaking into fractions, and that very often the supposed unity is only a thin covering for material division.

The gavelkind or tributary tenure there was subjected to equal partition among the heirs.