Law. [f. TALES + MAN sb.1] A member of the tales impanelled to complete a jury: see TALES.
1679. Luttrell, Brief Rel. (1857), I. 18. There was a good jury impanelled, but they were never summoned; so that there were talesmen there ready who did the work.
1770. Chron., in Ann. Reg., 129/1. Only seven of the special jury attended, so that five talesmen were allowed to be taken out of the box.
1825. Act 6 Geo. IV., c. 50 § 37. Where a special jury shall have been struck the talesmen shall be such as shall be impanelled upon the common jury panel.
1891. ‘Octave Thanet,’ Otto the Knight, Trusty, 236. One of those court-room hangers-on always ready to the sheriff’s hand either for jurors or talesmen.
1906. Westm. Gaz., 19 Oct., 14/1. In a murder case now being heard in Albany [N.Y.]. After the expenditure of a whole fortnight in the examination of 522 talesmen, only ten of the number have qualified as jurors.
