1. a. One who holds land by charter; a freeholder. b. A freeman of a chartered borough.
1598. Manwood, Lawes Forest, xxiii. (1615), 217. A Bookeland man, which at this day is taken for a Charterar or a freeholder.
1669. in Picton, L’pool Munic. Rec. (1883), I. 276. The Aldermen and such of the charterers of this towne as he shall think meet. Ibid. (1698), I. 283. The Lord of Derby is a Charterer.
1708–21. Kersey, Charterer, (in Cheshire) a Free-holder.
2. One who hires a vessel under a charter-party.
1833. M. Scott, Tom Cringle, xxii. I was assured by the … charterer, that it would be all right.
1875. Bedford, Sailor’s Pock. Bk., VI. 224. The Charter-party is the written contract by which a Vessel is let, in whole or in part; the person hiring being called the Charterer.
1882. Pall Mall Gaz., 15 June, 7/1. The charterers of the Swedish steamer Bifrost.
