Attorney General v Dalton
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 01 January 1850 |
| Date | 01 January 1850 |
| Court | High Court of Chancery |
English Reports Citation: 51 E.R. 55
ROLLS COURT
S. C. 20 L. J. Ch. 569; 15 Jur. 412.
[141] attorney-general v. dalton. March 18, 19, 20, 21, 1850 ; Jan. 13, Feb. 24, 25, 1851. [S. C. 20 L. J. Ch. 569; 15 Jur. 412.] The right of selecting new trustees of a parish charity held to belong to the ratepayers in vestry, and not to the surviving trustees. In 1671 an estate was purchased out of parish funds, and was conveyed to the rector, churchwardens, and twelve parishioners, for the relief of the poor inhabitants. The deed was lost. New trustees were appointed by deed, dated in 1701, which recited that the deed of 1671 provided, that when the trustees were reduced to five, they should convey the premises to themselves and eleven other parishioners. In 1725, 1769, 1782, and 1806, new trustees were appointed by the parishioners, but the deeds executed in 1769, 1872, and 1806 contained a proviso that the new trustees should be nominated by the five survivors. In 1831 and 1842 new trustees were appointed by the old trustees. Held, upon the whole, that the last appointments were invalid, and that the right of nominating new trustees belonged to the parishioners, and not to the surviving trustees. The legal estate was presumed to be vested in the persons to whom it was purported to be conveyed, notwithstanding some irregularities. Special directions were asked to be given to the Master as to taking the provisions of the Church Building Acts into consideration in settling the scheme, the parish being divided into eight separate districts, and the money being to be distributed 56 ATTORNEY-GENERAL V. DALTON 1J BEAT. 1. by the rector and churchwardens: and it was also asked, that directions should be given as to the mode of distribution in each district of the portion allotted to it. The former was refused, and it was held, that the Master could take the latter into consideration without any special direction. This case, which was one of considerable local importance, was argued by Mr. Turner and Mr. Bagshawe, for the relators. Mr. Roupell and Mr. W. M. James, for the late churchwardens. Mr. Giffard, for the present churchwardens. Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Rogers, for the district incumbents. [142] Mr. Forster, for Mr. Dalton, the rector. Mr. Humphry, Mr. Walpole, and Mr. Younge, for the alleged trustees. Mr. Turner, in reply. As to the parish property being vested in the churchwardens and overseers, under the 59 G. 3, c. 12, s. 17, Rumball v. Munt (8 Q. B. Rep. 382), Doe d. Jackson v. Hiley (10 B. & C. 885), Attorney-General v. Lewin (8 Simons, 366), The King v. The Inhabitants of Halesworth (3 B. & Ad. 717) were cited. And as to the power of appointing new trustees, the cases of Attoi'ney-General v. Flayer (2 Vernon, 748), Doe dem. Dupleix v. Eoe (1 Anst. 86), Doe dem. Head v. Godwin (1 Dowl. & R. 259), Attorney-General v. Cuming (2 Y. & Col. (C. C.) 139), and Foley v. Wmtner (2 Jac. & W. 245), were cited. The Attorney-General v. Bovill (1 Phillips, 762) was also referred to. the master OF the rolls reserved his judgment. Jan. 13, 1851. the master of the rolls [Lord Langdale]. Thii information was filed by the Attorney-General, at the relation of certain inhabitants of the parish of Lambeth, against the rector and churchwardens of the same parish, the incumbents of the ecclesiastical districts into which the parish has been divided, under the Church Building Acts, the churchwardens of those districts, and against Charlea Field and others, who [143] claim to be trustees of the property or estate which, in the pleadings of this cause, is called "Hayle's estate." The estate was comprised in and conveyed to trustees by an indenture dated the 1st day of December 1671; and the information prays, that an account may be taken of the hereditaments therein comprised, and for a declaration that the same were purchased out of the funds of the parish of Lambeth, for the general purposes of the parish and for the benefit of the poor inhabitants thereof: that there are no duly or legally appointed trustees thereof: that it is doubtful in whom the legal estate of the same hereditaments is now vested, and who was the last surviving and duly appointed trustee of the same. The information then prays, that new trustees may be appointed by this Court, and that the lands may be vested in such trustees, when appointed, upon the several trusts to which the same are subject: that the present rector may be appointed one, and...
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Re Hayle's Estate
...1818, when the remaining five trustees claimed the right of doing so. This gave rise to a suit entitled The Attorney-General v. Dalton (13 Beav. 141), in which a decree was made on the 13th of January 1851, by which it was declared that there ought to be seventeen trustees, consisting of th......