New Statutes effecting Alterations in the Law. NEW STATUTES EFFECTING ALTE- LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS. 17 & 18 VICT. c. 112. 25 Institution may make byelaw to be enforced; s. 24. Members liable to be sued as strangers; s. 25. Members guilty of offences punishable as LANDS to be used as sites for institu- strangers; s. 26. tions; s. 1. Chancellor and Council of the Duchy of Lancaster empowered to grant lands for the site of an institution; s. 2. Officers of the Duchy of Cornwall empowered, upon sufficient authority, to grant land for the site of an institution; s. 3. If lands cease to be used for the purposes of the Act they shall revert; s. 4.. Persons not having legal estates empowered to convey lands for the purposes. of this Act without the concurrence of their trustees; s. 5. Corporation, justices, trustees, &c., to convey lands for the purposes of this Act; 5 & 6 Wm. 4, c. 69; s..6.. How such parties may convey; 7 Geo. 4, c. 18; s. 7. Where part only of lands subject to a rent under lease is conveyed, the rent and fine upon renewal of lease may be apportioned; s. 8. Liabilities of tenants, and remedies of landlords as to lands not conveyed; s. 9. Any number of sites may be granted for separate institutions; s. 10. Grants of site may be made to corporations or trustees to be held for the purposes of the institution; s. 11. 12. Incorporation of 13 & 14 Vict. c. 28; s. Application of purchase-money for land sold by any ecclesiastical or corporation sole; s. 16. Certain clauses of the 8 & 9 Vict. c. 18, rendered applicable to this Act; s. 17. Trustees may sell or exchange lands or buildings; or may let; s. 18. Trustees to be indemnified from charges; in default thereof empowered to mortgage or sell the premises; s. 19. Property of institution, how to be vested; s. 20. How suits by and against institutions to be brought; s. 21. Suits not to abate or discontinue; s. 22. How judgment to be enforced against; s. 23. Institutions enabled to alter, extend, or abridge their purposes; s. 27. Power to Board of Trade to suspend such alteration, if applied to by two-fifths dissentients; s. 28. Provision for the dissolution of institu tions and adjustment of their affairs; s. 29. Upon a dissolution, no member to receive profit. Proviso for joint-stock companies;, s. 30. s. Who is a member; s. 31. The governing body defined; s. 32: 33. Parish defined; s. 34. Short title of the Act; s. 35. The following are the title and sections of the Act: An Act to afford greater Facilities for the Es tablishment of Institutions for the Promo- Whereas it is expedient that greater facilities should be afforded for procuring and settling established for the promotion of literature, sites and buildings in trust for institutions science, or the fine arts, or for the diffusion of useful knowledge, and that other provisions should be made for improving the legal con dition of such institutions; be it therefore, en-. acted as follows: 1. Any person in England, Wales, or Ire land, being seised in fee simple, fee tail, or for life of and in any manor or lands of freehold, present beneficial interest therein, may grant, copyhold, or customary tenure, and having the convey, or enfranchise, by way of gift, sale, or exchange, in fee simple or for a term of years, any quantity not exceeding one acre of such land, whether built upon or not, as a site for any such institution as hereinafter described;. provided that no such grant made by any person seised only for life of and in any such manor or lands shall be valid, unless if there be any person next entitled to the same in remainder, in fee simple or fee tail, and if such person be legally competent, he shall be a party to and join in such grant; provided also, that where any portion of waste or commonable. land shall be gratuitously conveyed by any lord of a manor for any such purpose as aforesaid, the rights of all commoners and others. shall be barred and divested by such conveyhaving interest of a like nature in the said land ance. 2. The Chancellor and Council of her Ma 26 New Statutes effecting Alterations in the Law. jesty's Duchy of Lancaster for the time being, by any deed or writing under the hand and seal of the Chancellor of the said duchy for the time being, attested by the clerk of the council of the said duchy for the time being, for and in the name of her Majesty, her heirs and successors, may, if they see fit, grant, convey, or enfranchise, to or in favour of such institution, any land forming part of the possessions of the said duchy, not exceeding in the whole one acre in any one parish, upon such terms and conditions as to the said Chancellor and Council shall seem meet; and where any sum or sums of money shall be paid for the purchase or consideration for such land so to be granted, conveyed, or enfranchised as aforesaid, the same shall be paid into the hands of the receiver-general for the time being of the said duchy, or his deputy and shall be by him paid, applied, and disposed of according to the provisions and regulations contained in an Act of the 48 Geo. 3, c. 73, or any other Act or Acts now in force for that purpose. therein shall be vested in some trustee or trustees, it shall be sufficient for such person to convey the land proposed to be granted for the purpose of this Act, without the trustee or trustees being party to the conveyance thereof; and where it is deemed expedient to purchase for the purpose aforesaid any land belonging to or vested in any infant or lunatic, such land may be conveyed by the guardian or curator of such infant or the Committee of such lunatic respectively, who may receive the purchasemoney for the same, and give valid and sufficient discharges to the party paying such purchase-money, who shall not be required to see to the application thereof. 6. Any corporation, ecclesiastical or lay, whether sole or aggregate, and justices of the peace, trustees, Commissioners, holding land for public, ecclesiastical, parochial, charitable, or other purposes or objects, may, subject to the provisions hereinafter-mentioned, grant, convey, or enfranchise for the purpose of this Act such quantity of land as aforesaid, in any 3. Any three or more of the principal officers manner vested in such corporation, officers, of the Duchy of Cornwall, under the authority justices, trustees, or Commissioners: provided of a warrant issued for that purpose under the that no ecclesiastical corporation sole, being hands of any three or more of the Special below the dignity of a bishop, shall be authoCommissioners for the time being for manag-rised to make such grant without the consent ing the affairs of the Duchy of Cornwall, or in writing of the bishop of the diocese to whose under the hands of any three or more of the jurisdiction the said ecclesiastical corporation persons who may hereafter for the time being shall be subject; provided also, that no pahave the immediate management of the said duchy, if the said duchy shall be then vested in the Crown, or if the said duchy shall be then vested in a Duke of Cornwall, then under the hands of any three or more of the principal officers of the said duchy, or under the hands of any three or more of the persons for the time being having the immediate management of the said duchy, may, if they think fit, and are so authorised, by deed, grant, convey, or enfranchise to or in favour of any existing or intended institution any land forming part of the possessions of the said Duchy of Cornwall, not exceeding in the whole one acre in any one parish, upon such terms and conditions as to the said special Commissioners or principal officers, or such other person as aforesaid, shall seem meet. 4. Provided, that upon any land so granted by way of gift as aforesaid, or any part thereof, ceasing to be used for the purposes of the institution, the same shall thereupon immediately revert to and become again a portion of the estate or manor or possessions of the duchy, as the case may be, to all intents and purposes as fully as if this Act or any such grant as aforesaid had not been passed or made, except that where the institution shall be removed to another site the land not originally part of the possessions of either of the duchies aforesaid may be exchanged or sold for the benefit of the said institution, and the money received for equality of exchange or on the sale may be applied towards the erection or establishment of the institution upon the new site. 5. Where any person shall be equally entitled to any manor or land, but the legal estate rochial property shall be granted for such purpose without the consent of a majority of the ratepayers and owners of property in the parish to which the same belongs, assembled at a meeting to be convened according to the mode pointed out in the Act passed in the 5 & 6 Wm. 4, c. 69, intituled "An Act to facilitate the Conveyance of Workhouses and other Property of Parishes and of Incorporations or Unions of Parishes in England and Wales," and without the consent of the Poor Law Board, to be tes tified by their seal being affixed to the deed of conveyance, and of the guardians of the poor of the union within which the said parish may be comprised, or of the guardians of the poor of the said parish where the administration of the relief of the poor therein shall be subject to a board of guardians, testified by the guardians of such union or parish being the parties to convey the same; and that no property held upon trust for charitable purposes shall be granted without the consent of the Charity Commissioners. 7. Where any officers, trustees, or Commissioners, other than parochial trustees, shall make any such grant, it shall be sufficient if a majority or quorum authorised to act of such officers, trustees, or Commissioners, assembled at a meeting duly convened, shall assent to such grant, and shall execute the deed of conveyance, although they shall not constitute a majority of the actual body of such officers, trustees, or Commissioners; and the justices of the peace may give their consent to the making any grant of land or premises belonging to any county, riding, or division by vote at their General Quarter Sessions, and may direct New Statutes effecting Alterations in the Law. 27 the same to be made in the manner directed to 11. Where the institution shall not be incorbe pursued on the sale of the sites of gaols by porated, the grant of any land for the purpose an Act passed in the 7 Geo. 4, c. 18, intituled of such institution, whether taking effect under "An Act to authorise the Disposal of Unneces- the authority of this Act or any other authority, sary Prisons in England." may be made to any corporation sole or aggre8. If part only of any land held in fee sub-gate, or to several corporations sole, or to any ject to a perpetual rent, or comprised in a lease trustees whatsoever, to be held by such corpofor a term of years unexpired, shall be convey-ration or corporations or trustees for the pured or agreed to be conveyed for the purpose of pose of such institution. this Act, the rent payable in respect of the 12. The provisions of the 14 & 15 Vict. c: lands subject thereto, and any fine certain or 28, shall be applicable to the conveyances of fixed sum of money to be paid upon any re-lands in England, Wales, and Ireland made or newals of the lease, or either of such payments, to be made to trustees, not being corporations, may be apportioned between the part of the for the purposes of such institutions. said land so conveyed or agreed to be convey- 13. All grants, conveyances, and assurances ed and the residue thereof, and such appor- of any site for an institution under the protionment may be settled by agreement between visions of this Act may be made according to the parties following; that is to say, the person the form following, or as near thereto as the for the time being entitled to the rent where circumstances of the case will admit; (that is the land is held in fee or the lessor or other to say,) the owner subject to such lease of the lands "I, or we, [or the corporate title of a corpora comprised therein, the person entitled to the tion,] under the authority of an Act passed in fee subject to the rent, or the lessee or other the year of the reign of her Majesty party entitled to the land by virtue of such Queen Victoria, intituled do hereby lease or any assignment thereof for the residue freely and voluntarily, and without any valuof the term thereby created, and the party to able consideration [or do in consideration of whom such conveyance as aforesaid for the the sum of to me, or us, or the said purpose of this Act is made or agreed to be paid] grant and convey [add if nemade; and when such apportionment shall so cessary, enfranchise] to all] descripbe made it shall be binding on all under-lessees tion of the premises] and all [my, or our, or and other persons and corporations whatsoever, the right, title, and interest of the whether parties to the said agreement or not. and in the same and every part thereof, to hold unto and to the use of the said corporation and their successors, or of the said and his or their [heirs or executors or administrators or successors], for the purposes of the said Act, and to be applied as a site for 9. In case of any such apportionment as aforesaid, and after the lands so conveyed or agreed to be conveyed as aforesaid shall have been conveyed, the person entitled to the fee or other estate in the lands subject to the rent, the lessee, and all parties entitled under him to the lands not included in such conveyance, shall, as to all future accruing rent, and all future fines certain or fixed sums of money to be paid upon renewals, be liable only to so much of the rent or of such fines or sums of money as shall be apportioned in respect of such last-mentioned lands; and the party entitled to the rent charged or reserved shall have all the same rights and remedies for the recovery of such portion of the rent as last aforesaid as previously to such apportionment he had for the recovery of the whole rent charged or reserved; and all the covenants, conditions, and agreements, except as to the amount of rent to be paid, and of the fines or sums of money to be paid upon renewals, in case of any apportionment of the same respectively, shall remain in force with regard to that part of the land which shall not be so conveyed as aforesaid, in the same manner as they would have done in case such part only of the land had been subject to the rent or included in the lease. 10. Any person or corporation may grant any number of sites for distinct and separate institutions, although the aggregate quantity of land thereby granted by such person or corporation shall exceed the extent of one acre, provided the site of each institution do not exceed that extent. to and for no other purpose whatever; such to be under the management and control of [set forth the mode in which and the persons by whom the institution is to be managed and directed; in cases where the land is purchased, exchanged, or demised, usual covenants or obligations for the title may be added]. In witness whereof the conveying and other parties have hereunto set their hands and seals [or seals only, as the case may be], this day of Signed, sealed, of in the "And no and delivered by the said 14. Any deed executed for the purposes of any institution to which this Act applies, without any valuable consideration, shall continue valid, if otherwise lawful, although the donor or grantor shall die within 12 calendar months from the execution thereof. 15. Where land of copyhold or customary tenure shall have been or shall be granted for the purpose of such institution, the conveyance of the same by any deed wherein the copyholder shall grant and convey his interest, and the lord shall also grant and convey his interest, shall be deemed to be valid and sufficient 28 New Statutes effecting Alterations in the Law. to vest the freehold interest in the grantee or grantees thereof without any surrender or admittance or enrolment in the Lord's Court, but the fees (if any) payable by the custom of the manor upon enfranchisement shall be paid to the steward. 16. Where any land shall be sold by any ecclesiastical corporation sole for the purpose of this Act, and the purchase-money to be paid shall not exceed the sum of 201., the same may be retained by the party conveying for his own benefit, but when it shall exceed the sum of 201. it shall be applied for the benefit of the said corporation in such manner as the bishop in whose diocese such land shall be situated shall, by writing under his hand, to be registered in the registry of his diocese, direct and appoint; but no person purchasing such land for the purpose aforesaid shall be required to see to the due application of any such purchase-money. 17. In cases not otherwise provided for in this Act, the clauses 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, and 78 of the Lands' Clauses' Consolidation Act, 1945, being the 8 & 9 Vict. c. 18, shall apply in respect of the application of the purchasemoney of all sites purchased from incapacitated persons, corporations, and trustees hereby empowered to sell, other than the Chancellor and Council of the Duchy of Lancaster and the officers of the Duchy of Cornwall. gage or sell the same, or part thereof, free from the trust of the institution, and apply the amount obtained by such mortgage or sale to their reimbursement, and the balance (if any) to the benefit of the institution, subject to the restrictions herein before contained with regard to lands given and lands belonging to the duchies aforesaid. 20. Where any institution shall be incorporated, and have no provision applicable to the personal property of such institution, and in all cases where the institution shall not be incorporated, the money, securities for money, goods, chattels, and personal effects, belonging to the said institution, and not vested in trustees, shall be deemed to be vested for the time being in the governing body of such institution, and in all proceedings, civil and criminal, may be described as the moneys, securities, goods, chattels, and effects of the governing body of such institution by their proper title. person be not nominated to be the defendant. 21. Any institution incorporated which shall not be entitled to sue and be sued by any corporate name, and every institution not incorpoporated, may sue or be sued in the name of the president, chairman, principal secretary, or clerk, as shall be determined by the rules and regulations of the institution, and, in default of such determination, in the name of such person as shall be appointed by the governing 18. If it shall be deemed advisable to sell body for the occasion; provided, that it shall any land or building not previously part of the be competent for any person having a claim or possessions of the Duchy of Lancaster or Corn- demand against the institution to sue the prewall held in trust for any institution, or to ex-sident or chairman thereof, if, on application change the same for any other site, the trustees to the governing body, some other officer or in whom the legal estates in the said land or building shall be vested may, by the direction or with the consent of the governing body of the said institution, if any such there be, sell the said land or building, or part thereof, or exchange the same for other land or building suitable to the purposes of their trust, and receive on any exchange any sum of money by way of effecting an equality, and apply the money arising from such sale or given on such exchange in the purchase of another site, or in 23. If a judgment shall be recovered against the improvement of other premises used or to the person or officer named on behalf of the be used for the purposes of such trust; and institution, such judgment shall not be put in such trustees may, with like direction or con- force against the goods, chattels, or lands, or sent, let portions of the premises belonging to against the body of such person or officer, but the institution not required for the purposes against the property of the institution, and a thereof, for such term, and under such cove-writ of revivor shall be issued setting forth nants or agreements, as shall be deemed by such governing body to be expedient, and apply the rents thereof to the benefit of the institution. 22. No suit or proceeding in any civil Court shall abate or discontinue by reason of the person by or against whom such suit or proceedings shall have been brought or continued, dying or ceasing to fill the character in the name whereof he shall have sued or been sued, but the same suit or proceeding shall be continued in the name of or against the successor of such person. the judgment recovered, the fact of the party against whom it shall have been recovered having sued, or having been sued, as the case may be, on behalf of the institution only, and requiring to have the judgment enforced against the property of the institution only, and requiring to have the judgment enforced against the property of the institution. 19. The trustees of such institution who, by reason of their being the legal owner of the building or premises, shall become liable to the payment of any rate, tax, charge, costs, or expenses, shall be indemnified and kept harm- 24. In any institution the govering body, if less by the governing body thereof from the not otherwise legally empowered to do so, may, same, and in default of such indemnity shall at any meeting specially convened according be entitled to hold the said building or pre- to its regulations, made any byelaw for the mises and other property vested in them as a better governance of the institution, its memsecurity for their reimbursement and indemni-bers or officers, and for the furtherance of its fication, and, if necessity shall arise, may mort-purpose and object, and may impose a reason New Statutes effecting Alterations in the Law. $29 able pecuniary penalty for the breach thereof, that the proposition so carried is calculated to which penalty, when accrued, may be recovered prove injurious to the institution, they may, in any local Court of the district wherein the within three months after the confirmation defendant shall inhabit or the institution shall thereof, make application in writing to the be situated, as the governing body thereof shall Lords of the Committee of her Majesty's deem expedient: provided always, that no pe- Privy Council for Trade and Foreign Plantacuniary penalty imposed by any byelaw for tions, who, at their discretion, shall entertain the breach thereof shall be recoverable unless the application, and if, after due inquiry, they the byelaw shall have been confirmed by the shall decide that the proposition is then calcuvotes of three-fifths of the members present at lated to proved injurious to the institution, the a meeting specially convened for the purpose. same shall not be then carried into effect; but 25. Any member who may be in arrear of such decision shall not prevent the members his subscription according to the rules of the of such institution from reconsidering the institution, or may be or shall possess himself same proposition on a future occasion. of or detain any property of the institution in a manner or for a time contrary to such rules, or shall injure or destroy the property of the institution, may be sued in the manner hereinbefore provided; but if the defendant shall be successful in any action or other proceeding at the instance of the institution, and shall be adjudged to recover his costs, he may elect to proceed to recover the same from the officer in whose name the suit shall be brought, or from the institution, and in the latter case shall have process against the property of the said institution in the manner above described. 26. Any member of the institution who shall steal, purloin, or embezzle the money, securities for money, goods, and chattels of the institution, or wilfully and maliciously, or wilfully and unlawfully, destroy or injure the property of such institution, or shall forge any deed, bond, security for money, receipt, or other instrument, whereby the funds of the institution may be exposed to loss, shall be subject to the same prosecution, and if convicted shall be liable to be punished in like manner, as any person not a member would be subject and liable to in respect of the like offence. 27. Whenever it shall appear to the governing body of any institution (not having a royal charter, nor established by nor acting under any Act of Parliament), which has been established for any particular purpose or purposes, that it is advisable to alter, extend, or abridge such purpose, or to amalgamate such institution, either wholly or partially, with any other institution or institutions, such governing body may submit the proposition to their members in a written or printed report, and may convene a special meeting for the consideration thereof according to the regulations of the institution; but no such proposition shall be carried into effect unless such report shall have been delivered or sent by post to every member ten days previous to the special meeting convened by the governing body for the consideration thereof, nor unless such proposition shall have been agreed to by the votes of three-fifths of the members present at such meeting, and confirmed by the votes of threefifths of the members present at a second special meeting convened by the governing body at an interval of one month after the former meeting. 28. If any members of the institution, being no less than two-fifths in number, consider 29. Any number not less than three-fifths of the members of any institution may determine that it shall be dissolved, and thereupon it shall be dissolved forthwith, or at the time then agreed upon, and all necessary steps shall be taken for the disposal and settlement of the property of the institution, its claims and liabilities, according to the rules of the said institution applicable thereto, if any, and if not, then as the governing body shall find expedient; provided, that in the event of any dispute arising among the said governing body or the members of the institution the adjustment of its affairs shall be referred to the Judge of the County Court of the district in which the principal building of the institution shall be situated, and he shall make such order or orders in the matter as he shall deem requisite, or, if he find it necessary, shall direct that proceedings shall be taken in the Court of Chancery for the adjustment of the affairs of the institution. 30. If upon the dissolution of any institution there shall remain, after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities, any property whatsoever, the same shall not be paid to or distributed among the members of the said institution or any of them, but shall be given to some other institution, to be determined by the members at the time of the dissolution, or in default thereof by the Judge of the County Court aforesaid; provided, however, that this clause shall not apply to any institution which shall have been founded or established by the contributions of shareholders in the nature of a joint-stock company. 31. For the purposes of this Act, a member of an institution shall be a person who, having been admitted therein according to the rules and regulations thereof, shall have paid a subscription, or shall have signed the roll or list of members thereof; but in all proceedings under this Act no person shall be entitled to vote or be counted as a member whose current subscription shall be in arrear at the time. 32. The governing body of the institution shall be the council, directors, committee, or other body to whom by Act of Parliament, charter, or the rules and regulations of the institution, the management of its affairs is entrusted; and if no such body shall have been constituted on the establishment of the institution, it shall be competent for the members thereof, upon due notice, to create for itself a |