aldermanate

Noun

aldermanate (usually uncountable, plural aldermanates)

1. (usually) The office of an alderman; the municipal legislative body of a city or town.
   • As York was not divided into wards before the reign of Charles II, we must trace the existence of the aldermanate either to the ancient guild system, or to the combination of the merchant guild with the leet jury.1880, William Stubbs, The Constitutional History of England
   • The actually existing municipalities in each city, borough, parish, or community, under the titles of hotels-dc-villc, mayoralties, aldermanates, consulates, and generally under any title or qualification whatsoever, are suppressed and abolished;1904, Frank Maloy Anderson, The Constitutions and Other Select Documents Illustrative of the History of France, 1789-1907, page 24
2. (usually) The members of the aldermanate, collectively.
   • The Lord Mayor and the aldermanate, who knew nothing about Finbar, were delighted to accept his generous offer.2006, Michael O'Donnell, Doctor Donovan's Bequest: Tales from the Slagthorpe Archive
   • This gave the army ample justification for its occupation of London in early August, which, as in 1642, was followed by a purge of the aldermanate.2015, Stephen Porter, London and the Civil War