The quarter ( lit. "one-fourth") was used as the name of several distinct English units based on ¼ sizes of some base unit.
The "quarter of London" mentioned by Magna Carta as the national standard measure for wine, ale, and grain [1] was ¼ ton or tun. It continued to be used, e.g. to regulate the prices of bread. [2] This quarter was a unit of 8 bushels of 8 gallons each, understood at the time as a measure of both weight and volume: the grain gallon or half- peck was composed of 76,800 ( Tower) grains weight; the ale gallon was composed of the ale filling an equivalent container; and the wine gallon was composed of the wine weighing an equivalent amount to a full gallon of grain.
In measures of length, the quarter (qr.) was ¼ of a yard, formerly an important measure in the cloth trade. [3] [4] [5] 3 qr. was a Flemish ell, 4 quarters were a yard, 5 qr. was an (English) ell, and 6 qr. was an aune or French ell. [3] [4] Each quarter was made up of 4 nails. [3] [4] Its metric equivalent was formerly reckoned as about 0.228596 m, [5] but the International Yard and Pound Agreement set it as 0.2286 exactly in 1959. [a]
The modern statutory definition of Imperial units, the Weights and Measures Act 1985 as amended by The Units of Measurement Regulations 1994, defines the quarter as a unit of mass equal to 28 pounds. [6]
In measures of weight and mass at the time of Magna Carta, the quarter was 1⁄4 ton or (originally 500 pounds).[ citation needed] By the time of the Norman French copies of the c. 1300 Assize of Weights and Measures, the quarter had changed to 512 lbs. [7] These copies describe the "London quarter" as notionally derived from eight " London bushels" of eight wine gallons of eight pounds of 15 ounces of 20 pennyweights of 32 grains of wheat, taken whole from the middle of an ear; [8] [9] the published Latin edition omits the quarter and describes corn gallons instead. [10]
The quarter (qr. av. or quartier) came to mean ¼ of a hundredweight: 2 stone or 28 avoirdupois pounds [11] (about 12.7 kg): this is its (only) statutory definition since 1993. [6]
The Weights and Measures Act 1824 declared that, for measures of liquids and unheaped dry volume, a 'quarter' equals eight bushels (64 gallons, where a gallon is defined as a volume of water weight ten troy pounds). [12] The 1824 Act delegitimised all previous definitions. (The Weights and Measures Act 1985 (as amended) no longer shows the quarter as a unit of volume: an 1825 quarter of wheat would weigh about 494 lb, [b] substantially more than the 1985 definition.)
In measures of liquid volume at the time of Magna Carta, the quarter of wine was (originally) ¼ tun: 8 London bushels or 64 wine gallons. [14] [15] The tun was subsequently defined down 4 gallons to 252 and the quarter was effectively ¼ pipe or butt. [14] The quarter of wine was a gallon larger than a hogshead. [14] As 231 cubic inches were considered to make up a wine gallon, [16] the measure was about 242,25 litres.
The ale gallon was 282 cubic inches, [17] meaning the quarter of ale was 295.75 litres.
Cardarelli also says it can vary from 17 to 30 imperial gallons for liquor. [18]
Two such Gallons shall be a Peck, and Eight such Gallons shall be a Bushel, and Eight such Bushels a Quarter of Corn or other dry Goods, not measured by Heaped Measure.. (The date of coming into effect was 1 May 1825).
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(
help).The quarter ( lit. "one-fourth") was used as the name of several distinct English units based on ¼ sizes of some base unit.
The "quarter of London" mentioned by Magna Carta as the national standard measure for wine, ale, and grain [1] was ¼ ton or tun. It continued to be used, e.g. to regulate the prices of bread. [2] This quarter was a unit of 8 bushels of 8 gallons each, understood at the time as a measure of both weight and volume: the grain gallon or half- peck was composed of 76,800 ( Tower) grains weight; the ale gallon was composed of the ale filling an equivalent container; and the wine gallon was composed of the wine weighing an equivalent amount to a full gallon of grain.
In measures of length, the quarter (qr.) was ¼ of a yard, formerly an important measure in the cloth trade. [3] [4] [5] 3 qr. was a Flemish ell, 4 quarters were a yard, 5 qr. was an (English) ell, and 6 qr. was an aune or French ell. [3] [4] Each quarter was made up of 4 nails. [3] [4] Its metric equivalent was formerly reckoned as about 0.228596 m, [5] but the International Yard and Pound Agreement set it as 0.2286 exactly in 1959. [a]
The modern statutory definition of Imperial units, the Weights and Measures Act 1985 as amended by The Units of Measurement Regulations 1994, defines the quarter as a unit of mass equal to 28 pounds. [6]
In measures of weight and mass at the time of Magna Carta, the quarter was 1⁄4 ton or (originally 500 pounds).[ citation needed] By the time of the Norman French copies of the c. 1300 Assize of Weights and Measures, the quarter had changed to 512 lbs. [7] These copies describe the "London quarter" as notionally derived from eight " London bushels" of eight wine gallons of eight pounds of 15 ounces of 20 pennyweights of 32 grains of wheat, taken whole from the middle of an ear; [8] [9] the published Latin edition omits the quarter and describes corn gallons instead. [10]
The quarter (qr. av. or quartier) came to mean ¼ of a hundredweight: 2 stone or 28 avoirdupois pounds [11] (about 12.7 kg): this is its (only) statutory definition since 1993. [6]
The Weights and Measures Act 1824 declared that, for measures of liquids and unheaped dry volume, a 'quarter' equals eight bushels (64 gallons, where a gallon is defined as a volume of water weight ten troy pounds). [12] The 1824 Act delegitimised all previous definitions. (The Weights and Measures Act 1985 (as amended) no longer shows the quarter as a unit of volume: an 1825 quarter of wheat would weigh about 494 lb, [b] substantially more than the 1985 definition.)
In measures of liquid volume at the time of Magna Carta, the quarter of wine was (originally) ¼ tun: 8 London bushels or 64 wine gallons. [14] [15] The tun was subsequently defined down 4 gallons to 252 and the quarter was effectively ¼ pipe or butt. [14] The quarter of wine was a gallon larger than a hogshead. [14] As 231 cubic inches were considered to make up a wine gallon, [16] the measure was about 242,25 litres.
The ale gallon was 282 cubic inches, [17] meaning the quarter of ale was 295.75 litres.
Cardarelli also says it can vary from 17 to 30 imperial gallons for liquor. [18]
Two such Gallons shall be a Peck, and Eight such Gallons shall be a Bushel, and Eight such Bushels a Quarter of Corn or other dry Goods, not measured by Heaped Measure.. (The date of coming into effect was 1 May 1825).
{{
citation}}
: External link in |volume=
(
help).