Daily AncestorReeve
A reeve was a local official in medieval England, after the Norman Conquest usually the manager of a manor who oversaw the peasants for the lord.
The word comes from Old English gerefa. Before the Norman Conquest royal reeves enforced the law, presided over local courts and witnessed sales. After 1066 the reeve was a man of lower rank appointed to manage a manor and oversee the peasants, called by one historian the earliest English specialist in estate management.
In Canada a reeve is the head of a township or rural municipal council. The New England hog reeve was a minor town officer.
As seen in a recordEnglish manorial court rolls and accounts of the 1200s to 1400s
Wm. atte Welle, reeve of the manor
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Daily Ancestor. "Reeve." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/reeve. Last checked 2026-10-12.