to send it. Where the personalty does not exceed 2007., and the real property is under 300l. (§ 54), the judge of the County Court in whose district the deceased had a settled residence at the time of his death is to have jurisdiction in contested cases; and on a decree being made by him (§ 55), the registrar of the County Court is to transmit to the district registrar a certificate of the decree for the grant or revocation of the probate or administration, upon which decree the district registrar is to act, the judge of the County Court (§ 56) being empowered to decide causes and enforce his judgments. Affidavits (§ 57), as to the place of abode and amount of property, giving jurisdiction to the County Court, are to be deemed conclusive unless disproved while the matter is pending. Parties dissatisfied with the judgment of the County Court (§58) may appeal to the Court of Probate, subject to such orders as the Court may issue, and its judgment is to be final. It is not obligatory to apply to any district registry (§ 59), but parties may in any case apply to the principal registry; but if the case is contested, and the property is below the specified amount, the case is to be transmitted to the County Court of the district. By § 60 power is given to the Court of Probate to make notes and orders for its proceedings. Where a will affecting real property (§ 61) is proved in solemn form, or where it is the subject of a contentious proceeding, the heir-at-law, or persons claiming to be interested in the real estate, are to be cited, and may be permitted to become parties, to intervene for their respective interests in such estates; but when probate is granted after the will is proved in such solemn form (§ 62), or when its validity is otherwise decided on, the decree of the court is to be binding on the persons interested in the real estate; yet when the probate does not affect the real estate (§ 63), such heir-at-law or other persons interested need not be cited. In any action at law or suit in equity (§ 64), the probate or office copy of the will is to be received in evidence concerning real estates, except where the validity of the will is to be questioned, of which previous notice must be given; and where the original will has to be produced (§ 65), the judge is to direct by which party the costs of producing it shall be paid. One building (§ 66) is to be provided at such place in London or Middlesex as her Majesty by Order in Council may direct for all original wills, and to be under the control of the Court of Probate, where they may be inspected subject to the rules of the Court. Calendars (§ 67) are to be made from time to time, and to be printed; such calendars to contain a note of every probate or administration granted, setting forth the dates of the grants, the registry in which they were made, the names of the testators and intestates, the place and time of death, the names and descriptions of the executors and administrators, and the value of the effects; a printed copy of every calendar (§ 68) is to be sent to every district registry, to the Prerogative Office in Dublin, the office of the Commissioners of the county of Midlothian in Edinburgh, and such other offices as the Court of Probate may direct, and may be inspected by any person on payment of a shilling without reference to the number of calendars inspected; and an official copy (§ 69) of the whole or any part of a will, or of the grant of letters of administration, may be obtained on payment of such fees as shall be fixed.

Pending any suit as to the validity of a will (§ 70), the Court of Probate may appoint an administrator, or, in cases of real estate (§ 71), a receiver, who is to be remunerated (§ 72) as the court shall direct out of the estate of the deceased. The Court (§ 72) has also power to appoint an administrator to an intestate estate, or where the executor is

G

out of the country, or by reason of the insolvency of the estate or from other causes declines to accept the office; the administrator so appointed is to give security, and to be limited as the Court shall direct; the provisions of the 38 Geo. III., cap. 87 (§ 84) are extended to administrators out of the jurisdiction of the Court. After grant of administration (§ 85) no person to have power to be as an executor unless such administration be revoked; the revocation of temporary grants (§ 86) not to prejudice actions or suits, which, if commenced, may be continued by or against the new executor or administrator; and payments (§ 87) under revoked probates or administrations are to be valid. Persons or corporations (§ 88) making payments or permitting transfers upon probates granted for the estate of any deceased person are to be indemnified and protected, notwithstanding any defect in the validity of such probate. An executor (§ 89) renouncing probate of the will is to cease to have any right to act under it as if he had not been named. §§ 80 to 83 provide for the taking of bonds from administrators for the due performance of the duties.

All suits (§ 84) pending at the time when the Act comes into operation, relating to grant of probate or administration, are to be transferred to the Court of Probate, except appeals to her Majesty in Council; but in cases standing for judgment (§ 85) the judge whose jurisdiction is determined may deliver a written judgment within six weeks. Grants of probates and administrations (§ 86) made before the passing of this Act are not to be invalidated on the ground that the Court issuing them had not jurisdiction; but this is not to render valid such grants if they would have been otherwise invalid, nor is it to suspend proceedings respecting the validity of any grant. Probates and administrations (§ 87) granted before the commencement of this Act are to remain in force, subject to such additional stamp-duty, if any, as would have been chargeable in respect of the personal estate not covered by the grant; and where the deceased (§ 88) had personal estate in England, not within the limit of such probate, a limited probate may be granted by the Court for such estate as was not covered by it.

§§ 89 to 102 provide for the present judges of the Ecclesiastical Courts transmitting all wills to the principal registry, with penalty for default; for allowing the wills of living persons to be deposited in safe custody; for the continuance of the stamp-duties on probates, &c.; for the delivery by the registrars of copies of all wills to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue; for the repealing of a part of an Act confining the business of procuring probate, &c., to a proctor; for empowering the Court to regulate fees; for the taxing of costs; for fees being paid in stamps only, and that no document be received unless stamped; for punishment of officers for fraud or wilful neglect in relation to stamps, and for the mode of paying salaries; for the compensation for the various officers of the Ecclesiastical Courts, and of the proctors, who are to receive for their natural lives one-half of the average profits of their business, calculated from the five years preceding the commencement of this Act; for the publication of accounts; for the sale of the buildings of the College of Proctors of Law, and the dissolution of the corporation; for the providing of new buildings for the registries; and for the laying of the rules and orders before Parliament.

JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES.

[20 and 21 Victoriæ, cap. 78.-August 25, 1857.]

An Act to amend the 7 and 8 Vict., cap. 111, for facilitating the Windingup of the Affairs of Joint-Stock Companies unable to meet their Pecuniary Engagements, and also The Joint-Stock Companies Winding-up Acts, 1848 and 1849.'

In all cases in which an order has been or shall be made for the dissolution or winding-up of a Company, the judge or master (§ 1) is empowered to call a meeting, by advertisement, of the creditors, of whom two-thirds in value are to choose some person or persons to represent all the creditors, subject to the approval of the judge; after such advertisement the creditors are to be deemed parties to the winding-up; but if the Company be adjudged bankrupt, the assignees are to be considered the representatives. When the Company has been declared bankrupt, and no winding-up order has been made (§ 2), the assignees are empowered to compromise with the shareholders, so as to bind all the creditors, the Court of Bankruptcy giving to the shareholders a certificate of discharge on the report of the assignees that the sum agreed upon has been paid. Representatives of creditors (§ 3) have a similar power given them; but no such compromise to be valid (§ 4) unless made with leave of the judge or master, who may permit the official manager to be heard thereon. No compromise (§ 5) is to prejudice the right of any creditor against any person other than a member of the company. All orders, directions, &c. (§ 6), may be appealed against according to the provisions of The Joint-Stock Companies Winding-up Acts, 1848 and 1849,' after a company has been adjudicated bankrupt (§ 7), or if not declared bankrupt, as soon as the judge by advertisement has called upon the creditors to choose a representative. No creditor is to sue any member of the company at law without leave of the judge; such delay to be reckoned no part of the time within the Statute of Limitations. Any creditor (§ 8) applying for leave to commence or continue a suit may be refused if the person proceeded against shall give security for the payment of such moneys, and on such terms, as the judge may require. Creditors (§ 9) are to be at liberty to attend the proceedings and to inspect the books of the Company. The judge (§ 10) may appoint commissioners for receiving evidence in Ireland; and the rights of creditors (§ 11) under judgments obtained in Ireland are not to be affected by this Act. By § 12 petitions for winding-up certain mining companies are to be still presented to the Stannaries Court; but in cases where such petitions (§ 13) are certified by the vice-warden as being beyond his power, they may be filed in Chancery, the proofs of debts, sales of effects, &c., still to be effected through the Court of Stannaries. This Act (§ 14) is to be deemed a part of The Joint-Stock Companies Winding-up Acts, 1848 and 1849,' and be called 'The Joint-Stock Companies Winding-up Amendment Act, 1857.'

PROBATES AND LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION (IRELAND). [20 and 21 Victoriæ, cap. 79.-August 25, 1857.]

An Act to amend the Law relating to Probates and Letters of Administration in Ireland.

This Act is similar in purport, and very like in the details, to cap. 77, for the same purposes in England. The chief difference is the substitution of the Court of the Assistant-Barrister for the County Court. Salaries and compensations are granted in the same way. District

registries are established at Londonderry, Belfast, Armagh, Ballina, Cavan, Tuam, Mullingar, Kilkenny, Waterford, Limerick, and Cork. The chief office is to be in Dublin. Probates granted in England are to be of force in Ireland on being re-sealed, and the Treasury is to provide a building for the deposit of wills. The salary of the judge, who is also, on the occurrence of a vacancy, to be judge of the Admiralty Court, is to be 3,500l. a-year; the salaries of the chief registrars, who are to be two, are to be 1,000l. each; of the record keeper 4501.; and of the clerk of the seal 3007.

JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES AMENDMENT ACT.

[20 and 21 Victoria, cap. 80.-August 25, 1857.]

An Act to amend' The Joint-Stock Companies Amendment Act,' 1856. By this Act it is provided that 'The Joint-Stock Companies Amendment Acts, 1856 and 1857,' are not to be taken as repealing the Act 7 and 8 Vict., cap. 110, so far as relates to Insurance Companies; but if any such companies in the interval shall have acted under the impression that it was repealed, then, as far as relates to the mutual rights and relations of such company, the directors and officers, and late and present shareholders, they are exempted from penalties, and the Act, during the interval, is to be taken as repealed.

BURIAL ACTS' AMENDMENT.

[20 and 21 Victoria, cap. 81.-August 25, 1857.]

An Act to amend the Burial Acts.

The amendments in this Act are of considerable interest. By § 1 it is provided that acts done by a Burial Board acting for more than two parishes, requiring the sanction or authority of the vestries, may be done with the sanction of a majority of the vestries. Where one or more parishes (§ 2) have agreed to provide one burial ground, such union may be dissolved at any time before the ground is provided. By § 3 any Burial Board may, if they see fit, with the approval of one of the Secretaries of State, provide more than one burial ground, and instead of setting apart a portion as unconsecrated ground, may provide separate grounds to be used as consecrated and unconsecrated. Local Boards of Health (§ 4), or Commissioners of Ratepayers, under any local act for the improvement of any town or borough (where the district is coextensive with the district for which it is desired to form a Burial Board, and if there is no Burial Board within any part of the district), may be constituted a Burial Board by order in council, and no approval or sanction of their acts by any vestry shall be necessary but this is not to apply to any district consisting wholly or in part of any one corporate borough within the meaning of 'The Public Health Act, 1848. Any new parish or other district (§ 5) not separately maintaining its own poor, and having had no separate burial ground, may appoint a Burial Board. Where the guardians of any parish or union (§ 6) are possessed of suitable land, the ordinary of the diocese may consecrate the whole or part of it for the burial of the poor, according to the rites of the Church of England, but no person to be buried therein whose relatives have expressly desired the burial to take place elsewhere. § 7 provides for the transfer to a Burial Board of any burial ground provided under the Church Building Act, and § 8 enables the vestry of any parish in which a burial ground has been closed, not

belonging to the parish, to purchase the same, subject to all the conditions affecting burial grounds. Where two or more parishes have been united so as to have one church or one vestry (§ 9), if one has a separate burial ground it is not to be united with the other or others for the purpose of appointing a Burial Board for the whole without the consent of the Secretary of State. Orders in Council (§ 10) may be issued from time to time for the regulation of cemeteries, in order to protect health and maintain public decency in respect to all burials in common graves; the violation of such orders to render the offender liable to a penalty on summary conviction not exceeding 10l. By § 11 it is declared "not necessary to erect or maintain any wall or fence between the consecrated and the unconsecrated portion of any burial ground," but where there is no wall or fence boundary, marks of stone or iron are to be placed and maintained, so as to show the respective boundaries. When a Burial Board (§ 12) have announced in writing to the bishop of the diocese that a burial ground is in a fit condition for interment according to the rites of the Church of England, if the bishop refuses to consecrate it, the Burial Board may appeal to the archbishop; if the archbishop decide in favour of the Board, he is to communicate his decision to the bishop, and if he do not consecrate it within one month, the archbishop is to grant a license for the interment of bodies, which shall operate to make lawful the use of the same as if it had been consecrated; and any incumbent or curate (§ 13) is empowered to bury in ground certified by the Secretary of State prior to consecration. By 14, from and after July 1, 1858, or from and after the earlier termination of any lease of tolls, funerals are exempted from tolls in burial grounds provided by the parish, though the burial ground may not be within its limits. Persons wilfully destroying, injuring, falsifying, or forging copies of the registry of burials (15) are declared guilty of felony. By § 16 so much of a former Act is repealed as made it necessary for any minister other than the incumbent of a parish performing the burial ceremony to transmit a certificate to the incumbent. No fees (§ 17) for service done in the unconsecrated ground are to be charged except such as are identical in amount with those charged in the consecrated portion, less the portion of such corresponding fees as may be received on account of any incumbent, churchwarden, clerk, or sexton. §§ 18 to 21 relate to the borrowing of money, paying off mortgages, &c. By § 22 power is given to councils of boroughs to make a separate rate for burial purposes and expenses. Orders in Council (§ 23) may be issued to prevent vaults or places of burial from becoming dangerous to the public health, the expense of executing such orders to be defrayed out of the poor-rate. The trustees of closed cemeteries (§ 24) are empowered, with the sanction of the Secretary of State, to let or sell such portions as have not received interments. Bodies (§ 25) are not to be removed from burial-grounds, except under faculty granted by the ordinary, without the licence of the Secre tary of State, and with such precautions as may be prescribed; a removal without permission, or neglect of the precautions, subjects the offender to a penalty not exceeding 10l. Where the land of a closed cemetery (§ 26) may be desirable for the buildings or approaches to a new burial-ground, the Burial Board, with the approval of the vestry, may purchase it. The remaining clauses provide that resolutions of vestries are not to be void by reason of irregularities of notices, &c.; define the terms; and declare that this Act is to be construed with the previous Burial Acts.