Looking for a historical title

[profmak]

I was scrolling through the dictionary on the android app and found a definition for the historical English official that applied the wax to legal and business documents but can't recall the name nor can I find it in the dictionary. Yes, I know that it's obscure and obsolete but it's really bugging me. Can anyone help?

Thank you.

 

[Proserpina]

I have absolutely no idea, but I'm intrigued!

See if something in this pokes your subconscious and rings a bell?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_(emblem)

 

[profmak]

Thanks. I did a google search and couldn'y find anything. Yes, the site you recommended came up but was no help. If no one comes up with an answer I'll just have to go through the dictionary definition by definition before it drives me nuts.

 

[Proserpina]

Well, it's now bugging me a little too because I am actually English.

And I'm flummoxed

 

[profmak]

It's somewhere in this site's dictionary.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I was scrolling through the dictionary on the android app and found a definition for the historical English official that applied the wax to legal and business documents but can't recall the name nor can I find it in the dictionary. Yes, I know that it's obscure and obsolete but it's really bugging me. Can anyone help?

I can help you as I'm probably familiar with every entry in the dictionary! Are you talking about tax documents? Could you describe the nature of what the definition was about? There are about 8,500 entries.

 

[profmak]

I don't remember the definition mentioning tax documents specifically. The name was an offshoot of the name for the substance (the wax) that the person applied for the seal to be used. It was something like...The ????? was the official who applied the ????? or wax to official documents for the use of the seal.

 

[cbg]

This is particularly frustrating because I am quite sure that I saw this in a list of obsolete jobs a couple of months ago, and I can neither remember the answer nor find the article with the list!

 

[Michael Wechsler]

These are the only two entries I can find - any of them ring a bell?

tabellio

chafewax

 

[army judge]

These are the only two entries I can find - any of them ring a bell?

tabellio

chafewax

I'm sure "chafewax" is the term. I remember a professor in law school mentioning this in contracts. It's one of those odd terms you hear, and remember years later. As I recall, these were chancery officials who prepared the wax, upon which the seal was laid. The professor was one that spoke in great detail. He made his lectures come alive as he often acted out certain events and cases.
He did say these positions were abolished centuries ago.

Thanks, OP, for a great question. Thanks, professor, for two great answers.

 

[guestposter]

These are the only two entries I can find - any of them ring a bell?

tabellio

chafewax

DING DING DING!!!!!

Thank you "thelawprofessor" chafewax it is. I appreciate your efforts.