The writ of elegit was established by the Statute of Westminster II (1285)

[03/12, 10:52 pm] Leslie Boby Adv: a writ of execution against a judgment debtor's goods, property, or land, held by the judgment creditor until payment of the debt, as from rents on the land.

[03/12, 10:57 pm] Leslie Boby Adv: Elegit (Latin for he has chosen) was, in English law, a judicial writ of execution, given by the Statute of Westminster II (1285), and so called from the words of the writ, that the plaintiff has chosen (elegit) this mode of satisfaction. Previously to the Statute of Westminster II, a judgment creditor could only have the profits of lands of a debtor in satisfaction of his judgment, but not the possession of the lands themselves. But this statute provided that henceforth it should be in the election of the party having recovered judgment to have a writ of fieri facias unto the sheriff on lands and goods or else all the chattels of the debtor and the one half of his lands until the judgment be satisfied. By the Bankruptcy Act 1883 the writ of elegit extended to lands and hereditaments only.[1]

Writs of elegit were abolished on January 1, 1957, by the Administration of Justice Act 

[03/12, 10:57 pm] Leslie Boby Adv: judicial writ of execution by which a defendant's goods and if necessary his or her lands are delivered for debt to the plaintiff until the debt is paid

[03/12, 10:59 pm] Leslie Boby Adv:  full "writ of elegit". A writ of execution by which a creditor is put in possession of all or some of the goods and lands of a debtor, until his or her claim is satisfied.

The writ of elegit was established by the Statute of Westminster II (1285), c. 18, which specified that a creditor was entitled to all the goods (except for oxen and beasts of the plough) and half the lands of a debtor; in 1838 this was extended to all the lands, and in 1883 restricted to the lands alone. In the United Kingdom the writ was abolished by the Administration of Justice Act 1956.