Under the ancien régime in France, the bailli was the king's representative in a bailliage, charged with the application of justice and control of the administration.
In southern France, the term generally used was sénéchal (cf seneschal) who held office in the sénéchaussée.
At Bicester in Oxfordshire, the Lord of the Manor of Market End was the Earl of Derby who, in 1597, sold a 9,999-year lease to 31 principal tenants.
This in effect gave the manorial rights to the leaseholders, ‘purchased for the benefit of those inhabitants or others who might hereafter obtain parts of the demesne’.
The leaseholders elected a bailiff to receive the profits from the bailiwick, mainly from the administration of the market and distribute them to the shareholders.