Why do they use jane doe

Under old English common law, the actions landowners could take against squatters or defaulting tenants in court were often too technical and difficult to be of any use. So landlords would instead bring an action of ejectment on behalf of a fictitious tenant against another fictitious person who had allegedly evicted or ousted him. In order to figure out what rights to the property the made-up persons had, the courts first had to establish that the landlord really was the owner of the property, which settled his real reason for action without him having to jump through too many legal hoops.

Frequently, landlords named the fictitious parties in their actions John Doe the plaintiff and Richard Roe the defendant , though no one has been able to find the case where these names were first used or figure out why they were picked.

The surnames, meanwhile, both reference deer—a doe being a female deer and roe a Eurasian deer species Capreolus capreolus common in Britain. They might also have been the actual names of real people that a particular landlord knew and decided to use. Public to go to the polls and vote. The variants date from the s. Also see Joe six-pack. Also, Jane Doe. An unknown individual, as in The police found a John Doe lying on the street last night , or The judge issued a warrant for the arrest of the perpetrators, Jane Doe no.

New Word List Word List. Save This Word! Compare Jane Doe , Richard Roe. We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms. Kennedy International Airport , John Hancock. How to use John Doe in a sentence The second John Doe , whom Kelly met when he was 16 or 17, was also allegedly forced to have filmed sex with the singer and several of his girlfriends.

God and my Neighbour Robert Blatchford.