PARSON  , a technical

term in English law for the clergyman of the parish . It is a corruption of persona, the parson being, as it were, the persona ecclesiae, or representative of the Church in the parish . Parson imparsonee (persona impersonata) is he that as rector is in possession of a church parochial, and of whom the church is full, whether it be presentative or impropriate (Coke upon Littleton, 300 b) . The word parson is properly used only of a rector . A parson must be in holy orders; hence a lay rector could not be called a parson . There are four requisites to the appointment of a parson, viz. holy orders, presentation, institution and induction . The parson is tenant for life of the parsonage house, the glebe, the tithes and other dues, so far as they are not appropriated . See also RECTOR; VICAR; BENEFICE; and TITHES .