Tithe Act 1836
(6 & 7 Will. 4) C A P. LXXI.
[13th August 1836]
'WHEREAS it is expedient to amend the Laws relating to Tithes inEngland and Wales , and to provide the Means for an adequate Compensation for Tithes, and for the Commutation thereof:' Be it therefore enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, Thatit shall be lawful for One of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State to appoint Two fit Persons to be Commissioners to carry this Act into execution, and for the Archbishop ofCanterbury , under his Hand and Archiepiscopal Seal, to appoint One fit Person to be a Commissioner to carry this Act into execution, and for the said Archbishop and Secretary of State, at their joint Pleasure, to remove any One or more of the Commissioners so appointed; and upon every Vacancy in the Office of Commissioner some other fit Person shall be appointed to the said Office in the same Manner and by the same Authority as the Commissioner whose Vacancy is thereby supplied; and until such Appointment it shall be lawful for the continuing Commissioners or Commissioner to act as if no such Vacancy had occurred.
II Style of Commissioners.
II. And be it enacted, That the said Commissioners shall be styled ‘The Tithe Commissioners forEngland and Wales ,’ and shall have their Office in London or Westminster , and they or any Two of them may sit from Time to Time, as they deem expedient, as a Board of Commissioners for carrying this Actinto execution, and the said Commissioners shall cause to be made a Seal of the said Board, and shall cause to be sealed or stamped therewith all Agreements and Awards confirmed by the said Commissioners in pursuance of this Act; and all such Agreements and Awards and other Instruments proceeding from the said Board, or Copies thereof purporting to be sealed or stamped with the Seal of the said Board, shall be received in Evidence without any further Proof thereof; and no Agreement or Award shall be of any Force unless the same shall be sealed or stamped as aforesaid.
III Commissioners to report to Secretary of State.
III. And be it enacted, That the said Commissioners shall from Time to Time give to any One of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State such Information respecting their Proceedings or any Part thereof as the said Principal Secretary of State shall require, and shall once in every Year send to One of the PrincipalSecretaries of State a general Report of their Proceedings; and every Year such general Report shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within Six Weeks after the Receipt of the same by such Principal Secretary of State if Parliament be sitting, or if Parliament be not sitting then within Six Weeks after the next Meeting thereof.
IV Power to appoint Assistant Commissioners, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, &c.
IV. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Commissioners from Time to Time to appoint a sufficient Number of Persons to be Assistant Commissioners, and also a Secretary and Assistant Secretary, and all such Clerks, Messengers, and Officers as they shall deem necessary, and to remove such Assistant Commissioners, Secretary, or Assistant Secretary, Clerks, Messengers, or Officers, or any of them, and on any Vacancy in any of the said Offices to appoint some other Person to the vacant Office; and the Persons so appointed shall assist in carrying this Act into execution at such Places and in such Manner as the said Commissionersmay direct: Provided always, that the said Commissioners shall not appoint more than Twelve such Assistant Commissioners to act at any One Time, unless the Lord High Treasurer, or any Three or more of the Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, shall, in the Case of each such Appointment, consent thereto; provided further, that the Number of such Clerks, Messengers, and Officers shall be subject to the like Consent.
V Commissioners not to sit in H.C.
V. And be it enacted, That no Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner appointed as aforesaid shall during his Continuance in such Office be capable of being elected or of sitting as a Member of the House of Commons.
VI Duration of Act as to Appointment of Commissioners, &c.
VI. And be it enacted, That no Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, or other Officer or Person so to be appointed, shall hold his Office for a longer Period than Five Years next after the Day of the passing of this Act, and thenceforth until the End of the then next Session of Parliament; and after the Expiration of the said Period of Five Years, and of the then next Session of Parliament, so much of this Act as authorizes any such Appointment shall cease.
VII Salaries of and Allowances to Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners, Secretary, and other Officers.
VII. And be it enacted, That the Salaries of the Commissioners, the Allowance to the Assistant Commissioners, and the Salaries of the Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Clerks, Messengers, and other Officers to be appointed under this Act, shall be from Time to Time regulated by the Lord Treasurer or the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, or any Three of them: Provided always, that the Salary of a Commissioner shall not exceed the Sum of One thousand five hundred Pounds a Year, nor the Allowance to an Assistant Commissioner the Sum of Three Pounds for every Day that he shall be actually employed or travelling in the Performance of the Duties of his Office, nor the Salaries of the Secretary or Assistant Secretary the Sum of Eight hundred Pounds a Year; and that the Salaries of the Clerks, Messengers, and other Officers shall be in fit Proportion: Provided also, that the said Lord Treasurer or Lords Commissioners may allow to any Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Clerk, Messenger, or other Officer, any such reasonable travelling and other Expences as may have been incurred by him in the Performance of his Duties under this Act, in addition to his Salary or Allowance respectively.
VIII Such Salaries, &c. how to be paid.
VIII. And be it enacted, That the Salaries, Allowances, and travelling and other Expences of the Commissioners, Assistant Commissioners, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Clerks, Messengers, and Officers as aforesaid, and all other incidental Expences of carrying this Act into execution, not herein otherwise provided for, shall be paid by the Lord Treasurer or the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury out of the Consolidated Fund.
IX Oath of Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners.
IX. And be it enacted, That every such Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner shall, before he shall enter upon the Execution of his Office, take the following Oath before One of the Judges of His Majesty's Court of King's Bench or Common Pleas, or one of the Barons of the Court of Exchequer; (that is to say,)
'IA.B. do swear, That I will faithfully, impartially, and honestly, according to the best of my Skill and Judgment, fulfil all the Powers and Duties of a Commissioner [or Assistant Commissioner, as the Case may be ,] under an Act passed in the Year of King William the Fourth, intituled [here set forth the Title of this Act ].'
And the Appointment of every such Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner, with the Time when and the Name of the Judge or Baron before whom he shall have taken the Oath aforesaid, shall be forthwith published in theLondon Gazette .
X Commissioners or Assistant Commissioner may summon and examine Witnesses.
X. And be it enacted, That the said Commissioners, or any Assistant Commissioner, may, by Summons under their or his Hand, require the Attendance of all such Persons as they or he may think fit to examine upon any Matter brought before them or him as herein-after mentioned relating to the Commutation of Tithes, and also make any Inquiries and call for any Answer or Return as to any such Matter, and also administer Oaths, and examine all such Persons upon Oath, and cause to be produced before them or him upon Oath all Books, Deeds, Contracts, Agreements, Accounts, and Writings, Terriers, Maps, Plans, and Surveys, or Copies thereof respectively, in anywise relating to any such Matter: Provided always, that no such Person shall be required, in obedience to any such Summons, to travel more than Ten Miles from the Place of his Abode, or to produce any Deeds, Papers, or Writings relating to the Title of any Lands or Tithes.
XI Commissioners may delegate Powers to Assistant Commissioners, except the Powers to be exercised...
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