II.   Sovereign

Franchise is a 16th Century legal term meaning a special privilege, immunity or exemption granted in writing by a sovereign power within the limits of legislative authority to one (1) or more people at the exclusion of the general community at large.

The term Franchise is derived from the Italian and Venetian word franchigia meaning “exemption; naval shore leave”.

The rights, use or property granted through a Franchise are defined primarily through the act of enclosure of new, existing or acquired rights of use:

(i) New rights and property such as new lands or new trade are enclosed through the act of survey and proclamation; and

(ii) Acquired rights such as conquered lands are enclosed through the act of annexation; and

(iii) Existing rights diminished of certain people of the community are enclosed through the act of waste and redress.

The primary means of grant of Franchise are through a legislative act, by charter, by patent or by recording in official records or “rolls”:

(i) The enclosure of existing rights of the community previously defined by a legislative act requires a new and separate act to make legal and lawful any proposed Franchise; and

(ii) The acquiring of rights such as conquered lands or defining new property not previously covered by an act of parliament enables a sovereign power the prerogative to grant or rescind certain franchises by (letters) patent or charter, usually with such grants recorded in the patent rolls.

By definition, a corporation is a Franchise and the various powers conferred upon corporations are Franchise:

(i) The charter of a corporation is defined as its general or personal franchise; and

(ii) Special or secondary franchise may consist of any rights granted by the public to use property for a public use but with private profit.

The term Franchise also extends to any special or general powers granted by a corporation to its members or subsidiaries within the limits of its original grant.

The first Franchises formed under Henry VIII were a series of Companies or Livery Companies beginning with the London College (Corporation) and Fellowship (Fraternity) of Physicians in 1522 (14 & 15 H. 8 c.5) with further rights defined in 1540 (32 H.8 c.40). In the same year (1540), Parliament also passed an act for the Barbers & Surgeons as a distinct company (32 H.8 c.42).

The first Political Franchise whereby a corporation was recognized as fulfilling the role of a body politic was on July 4, 1797 by George III (37 G. 3. c. 97) and the act ratifying the 1794 treaty of amity, commerce and navigation between Great Britain and the united states of America as distinct from the United States to which a treaty (Great Britain & United States Treaty 1783) was formed in 1783.

The first Political Franchise functioning as a welfare state was in 1935 through the creation of the Social Security Act (1935) trading as THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA whereby citizenship is conferred by voluntary consent to such citizenship and possession of a social security number.

In 1948, the United Kingdom of Great Britain itself switched to a Political Welfare State Franchise through the creation of separate National Health Services for England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland and them combining them together trading as THE UNITED KINGDOM whereby citizenship is conferred by possession of a national health identity number.

As the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 1948 is the parliament of the political franchise known as the National Health Service (NHS) trading as the UNITED KINGDOM, all laws, acts and repeals since 1948 only apply to citizens of the UNITED KINGDOM (National Health Service) and not citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as constituted prior to 1948.