comburgess (komberjes)

[= F. combour geo is, ML. com bur gens is, a fellow-burge : see com- and burge .] A fellow-burge : a term formerly used in England of one who was a member or an inhabitant of the same borough with another, particularly of a member of Par comburge liament who was a resident of the borough he represented. The statutes of Henry IV. and V. enforced as a requisite for electors and elected alike, adidence a Henry VI. prescribed that the qualification of both must lie within the shire. The same rule applied to the boroughs. And it was for the most part strictly observed; the members were generally "co-citizens" or com - burge es. Stubbs, Const. Hist., § 423.