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bear the inscription ''Bailiwick of Jersey'']] The term originated in France (''bailie'' being the Old French term for a bailiff), Under the Ancien Régime in France, the bailli was the king's representative in a '''bailliage''', charged with the application of justice and control of the administration. In southern France, the term generally used was '''sénéchal''' (cf Seneschal ) who held office in the '''sénéchaussée'''. The administrative network of ''baillages'' were established in the 13th century, based on the earlier medieval fiscal and tax divisions (the "baillie") which had been used by earlier soverein princes (such as the Duke of Normandy). (For more on this French judicial system, see Bailli , Prévôt and Early Modern France ). In English, the original French ''bailie'' was combined with "-wic", the Anglo-Saxon suffix meaning a village, to produce a term meaning literally "bailiff's village" - the original geographic scope of a bailiwick. In the 19th Century , it was absorbed into American English as a metaphor for one's sphere of knowledge or activity. The term survives in administrative usage in the Channel Islands , which for administrative purposes are grouped into the two bailiwicks of Jersey (comprising the island of Jersey and the islets known as the Minquiers And Ecréhous ) and Guernsey (comprising the islands of Guernsey , Sark , Alderney , Brecqhou , Herm , Jethou and Lihou ). Each Channel Island bailiwick is headed by a Bailiff . |
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