Downing College
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 01 January 1837 |
| Date | 01 January 1837 |
| Court | High Court of Chancery |
English Reports Citation: 40 E.R. 785
HIGH COURT OF CHANCERY
In the Matter of downing college. March 22, April 5, Aug. 11, 1837. Upon the true construction of the charter and statutes of Downing College, Cambridge, a person who is in holy orders is not ineligible to the office of master of the college, provided he has the other qualifications thereby prescribed. The charter declared that the number of fellows should be sixteen, two of whom should be in holy orders, and the rest should bo laymen; it then nominated three persons as fellows, all of whom were laymen ; and it provided that the remaining thirteen should not be nominated until after the completion of the college buildings : tiernbk, It is not absolutely necessary that a vacancy in one of these three original fellowships, prior to the completion of the College buildings, should be supplied by the election of a lay fellow. Effect of long and undisturbed possession in influencing the decision of a visitor, in a case where the right may be doubtful. The petition in this case was presented by Alfred Power, Esq., barrister-at-law, late one of the lay fellows in Downing College in the University of Cambridge ; and it was addressed to the King's most Excellent Majesty in his High Court of Chancery, as visitor of the college. [643] The charter for the erection and incorporation of Downing College was f ranted by His Majesty George the Third, and bore date the 22(1 of September 1800. t recited the will of Sir George Downing, Baronet, dated the 20th of December 1717, by which he gave and devised his real estates therein mentioned to certain trustees, all of whom died in his lifetime, upon trust to found and endow a college within the University of Cambridge, to be called Downing College, wherein should be professed and taught such useful learning as his trustees or their heirs, by and with the consent and approbation of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the Masters of St. John's College and Clare Hall, in the University of Cambridge, in being at the time of the founding of the college, should direct and prescribe. It then recited the death of Sir George Downing in the year 1749 and certain proceedings by information in the Court of Chancery (see Attorney-General v. Bowi/er, 3 Ves. 714), and the decree pronounced therein : That in pursuance of that decree, a piece of land called Doll's Close, within the town of Cambridge, had been purchased as a site for the intended college, by Sir George Cornewall, Bart., and Dame Catherine, his wife, Mary Goate, Francis Aunesley, and William Henry Scourfield, who were the then heirs at law of Sir George Downing, to whom the same was afterwards duly conveyed: That Sir George Cornewall and Dame Catherine, his wife, Mary Goate, Francis Annesley, and William Henry Scourfield had prepared and submitted to the then Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the masters of St. John's College and Clare Hall, a scheme for the foundation of the intended college, which scheme had been approved of by the said Archbishops,, and the masters of the said colleges, and also by the Lord Chancellor: That Sir George Cornewall and Dame [644] Catherine, his wife, Mary Goate, Francis Annesley, and William Henry Scourfield, on the 3d of September 1798, presented their petition to His Majesty, praying that a charter might be granted to the proposed college, according to the scheme so approved, which scheme was annexed to their petition. After these recitals, the charter proceeded to ordain, constitute and declare, that upon the piece of ground called Doll's Close, so purchased, there should be erected and established cue perpetual college, for students in law, physic, and other useful arts and learning, which college should be called by the name of " Downing College in 786 DOWNING COLLEGE CASE 2 MY. & OR. 646. the University of Cambridge," and should consist of one master, two professors (that is to say), a professor of the laws of England, and a professor of medicine, and sixteen fellows, two of whom should be in holy orders, and the rest should be laymen, and of such a number of scholars as should thereafter be agreed on and settled by the statutes of the college. The charter then declared and established the master, professors, fellows and scholars of the college, and their successora for ever, a body corporate, by the name and style of " The Master, Professors, Fellows, and Scholars of Downing College in the University of Cambridge;" and the powers incident to a body corporate were thereby given to and vested in them. And it was thereby ordered and directed that the master, professors, fellows, and scholars of the college, and their successors, should be regulated and governed, according to the statutes, rules and ordinances, which should ba made and framed by the heirs at law of Sir George Downing, with the consent and approbation of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the masters of St. John's College and Clare Hall, or the major part of them; as well [645] concerning divine service in the new college, as also concerning the good government, regulation, and residence of the master, professors, fellows, and scholars of the same, and the management of the lands and tenements, chattels, possessions, and revenues of the master, professors, fellows and scholars; and likewise concerning the salaries, stipends and other necessaries, for the scholars of the college, which were not thereby settled or provided for, and for the chaplains, officers, ministers, and other persons who should from time to time dwell and be supported in the college; and also concerning any other matter or thing, as to them should seem useful and agreeable to the charter and to the will of Sir George Downing; provided that the statutes, rules and ordinances, so to be framed and constituted, were not repugnant to the laws of the realm. And the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the masters of St. John's College and Clare Hall, and of the intended college, for the time being, or the major part of them, were thereby authorised and empowered (at the request of the master, professors, and five senior fellows of the college, for the time being, to be signified in writing, under their respective hands) from time to time to revoke, repeal, alter, or make new all or any of the statutes, rules, ordinances, and constitutions, as to them or the major part of them should seem expedient; but so, nevertheless, that the same should be not repugnant to the charter, or to the will of Sir George Downing, or to the laws of the realm; all which statutes, rules, ordinances, and constitutions, so to be framed and made, His Majesty, for himself, his heirs, and successors, commanded to be strictly and inviolably observed and performed, so long as they should respectively remain in full vigour, under the penalties to be thereby or therein inflicted or contained. [646] The charter then nominated and appointed Francis Annesley, Doctor of Laws in the University of Cambridge, First and Modern Master of the college, Edward Christian, Master of Arts in the same university, barrister-at-law, to be the First Professor of the Laws of England, and Busick Harwood, Doctor in Physic, to be the First Professor of Medicine in the college. It also nominated and appointed John Lens, serjeant-at-law, and William Meek, barrister-at-law, Masters of Arts, and William Frere .Bachelor of Arts, and such thirteen other persons, to be qualified in manner thereafter prescribed respecting the election of the future fellows of the college, as His Majesty should, after the necessary buildings for the college should be erected, by writing under his sign manual, nominate and appoint, to be the First and Modern Fellows of the college. And His Majesty, by the charter, further declared and directed that Francis Annesley, Edward Christian, Busick Harwood, John Lens, William Meek and William Frere should immediately thenceforth commence and be masters, professors, and fellows of the college, in order to constitute a body corporate, for the several purposes of taking possession of the estates devised by, and to be purchased pursuant to, the will of Sir George Downing, and of administering the revenues thereof, and of superintending the erection of the necessary buildings of the college, and for the other necessary purposes; and that the remaining thirteen fellows, so to be nominated as aforesaid, should not be nominated, or commence, or become fellows of the college until after the erection of the necessary buildings for the same. And His Majesty thereby further willed, declared, and directed that the future 2 MY. & CK. 647. DOWNING COLLEGE CASE 787 masters of the college should be chosen from amongst those who should have been pro-[647]-fessors or fellows of the college, and should be elected by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the masters of St. John's College and Clare Hall, for the time being, and that the future professors of the college should be elected by the same archbishops and masters, and the master of the intended college for the time being, from among persons qualified in the manner therein particularly described. The charter further directed that the future fellows of the college, except those to be first named by His Majesty, should be elected by the master, professors, and such fellows of the college as should lie of the degree of Master of Arts, from among persons who should have taken a degree in arts, physic, or civil law, in one of the two universities : provided that the person to be elected to either of the said two clerical fellowships should have taken the degree of Bachelor of Arts and should be in holy brclers at the time of his election, or if not then in holy orders should enter into holy orders within six calendar months after his election, and if he should not so do his fellowship should become and lie vacant from and after the expiration of...
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Downing College Case
...the rule is to allow only two counsel or, under special circumstances, three. On the dismissal of the petition in this matter (see 2 Mylne & Craig, 642), the costs of all parties, taxed as between solicitor and client, were directed to be paid out of the funds of the college, as in the Quee......