Edwin Ward Scadding, - Plaintiff in Error; Louis Lorant, - Defendant in Error
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 11 July 1851 |
| Date | 11 July 1851 |
| Court | House of Lords |
English Reports Citation: 10 E.R. 164
House of Lords
Mews' Dig. v. 1461; xi. 1550. S.C. 15 Jur. 955; and, in Q.B., 13 Q.B. 687. Distinguished in Ainsworth v. Creeke, 1868, L.R. 4 C.P. 485.
Poor Rate - Vestry - Adjournment - Vestrymen de facto - Pleading.
Ill H.L.C., 418 ' SCADDIN& 1). LORANT [1851] [418] EDWIN WARD SCADDING,-Plaintiff in Error; LOUIS LORANT,- Defendant in Error [July 9, 11, 1851]. [Mews' Dig. v. 1461; xi. 1550. S.C. 15 Jur. 955; and, in Q.B., 13 Q.B. 687. Distinguished in Ainsworth v. Creeke, 1868, L.R. 4 C.P. 485.] Poor Bate-Vestry-Adjournment-Vestrymen de facto-Pleading. A rate for the relief of the poor, which is lawfully made in other respects, is not rendered invalid by the circumstance that some of the vestrymen, who concurred in making it, were vestrymen de facto, and not de jure. Where notice of the purpose of a vestry meeting has been duly given, and that meeting has begun but not completed a certain business, and the meeting is regularly adjourned, such business may lawfully be completed at the adjourned meeting, though the notice for summoning such adjourned meeting does not state the purpose for which it is summoned. A vestry, duly assembled by notice for that purpose, on the 12th of August, resolved " That a rate of one shilling in the pound be made, and the same is hereby made and laid, and is to be collected forthwith." This resolution was signed by the requisite number of vestrymen ; but one of the persons SO1 acting was not at that time a vestryman de jure. The parish was so large that the estimate of the assessments required by the 6 and 7 Wm. 4, c. 96 (Parochial Assessments Act), could not be prepared and signed at that vestry. It was resolved " that the vestrymen be summoned for the 4th of September, to elect a director of the poor in the place of," etc., and the vestry then adjourned to the 4th of September. A special meeting of the vestry was held on the 28th of August, when the minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed, and other business was transacted. On the 4th of September there was a general meeting of the vestrymen, pursuant to adjournment from the 12th of August, when the minutes of the last vestry were read and confirmed, and the vestry was occupied with hearing applications from poor parishioners for relief from payment of the poor-rate. This meeting adjourned to the 9th of September. On the 9th of September, another general meeting of the vestry was held, when the minutes of the last vestry were read and confirmed; the vestry was occupied as before, and adjourned to the 14th. On the 14th of September, the vestrymen again met, having received a summons; which, however, did not state the purpose of the intended meeting; and four [419] volumes, arranged in continuous alphabetical order, like one book, were produced, containing the particulars of the assessment required by the 6 and 7 Wm. 4, c. 96, and the last of these books was duly signed, and the rate thus completed, was allowed by the Justices: Held, that the rate thus made was a valid rate. In replevin for seizing the plaintiff's goods under a distress for this rate, an avowry alleged that a poor-rate had been made after the passing of a certain specified Local Act, and before the taking of the said goods, and whilst the property of the plaintiff was, and the plaintiff in respect thereof was, liable to be rated, to wit, on the 12th August, 1839 : Held, that this was a good avowry, and was proved by the facts above stated. This was an action of replevin. The declaration was in the ordinary form, and averred the taking and detaining of the goods and chattels of the plaintiff. To this declaration the defendant made avowry, as one of the collectors of the poor-rates of the parish of Saint Pancras, acting in execution of the warrant of distress mentioned in the latter part of the avowry. The avowry stated, that the plaintiff was the occupier of two houses in the parish of Saint Pancras, Nos. 2 and 4, Gordon Street, and as such liable to be rated to the relief of the poor: that, after the passing of the Local Act, 59 Geo. 3, c. xxxix., and whilst the property of the plaintiff, and the plaintiff in respect thereof, were liable to be rated, to wit, on the 12th day of August, in the year of our Lord 1839, a meeting of vestrymen of the parish was held in pursuance of the above Act, to wit, for the purpose of making one such general rate or assessment as by the laws then in force church- 164 SCADDING V. LORANT [1851] III H.L.C., 420 wardens and overseers of the poor then were enabled or empowered to make, as the said vestrymen, or any seven or more of them, should judge or determine to be necessary for the purposes specified: [420] that more than, seven, to wit, twenty-two vestrymen (whose names were set out) were then and there present at that meeting: that copies of notice of such meeting, and the purpose thereof, were duly affixed on the several churches and chapels in the parish, duly signed: that a chairman was duly elected at such meeting in the absence of the vicar: that, at such meeting, a rate or assessment of one shilling in the pound was judged and determined to be necessary, and was then and there unanimously agreed upon and made', by all the vestrymen present at such last-mentioned meeting, upon all the property within the parish liable to be rated to the relief of the poor, and upon an estimate of the net annual value of the hereditaments rated, with deductions of annual cost of repairs, etc.: that such rate, in addition to every other particular which the form of making out such rate required to be set forth, contained an account of every particular set forth, at the head of the respective columns in the form given in the schedule annexed to the 6 and 7 Wm. 4, c. 96, so far as could be ascertained; and which said rate or assessment then was such a general rate or assessment as, by the several laws then in force, churchwardens and overseers of the poor then were enabled or empowered to make: that after the making of the said rate, and before its allowance by two justices, to wit, on the 14th of September, in the year of our Lord 1839, a certain other meeting of the vestrymen was held, at which more than seven, to wit, thirteen vestrymen (whose names were specified) we're pre-sent: that the vestrymen present at the meeting of the 12th of August having adjourned themselves to meet on the 14th of September, a printed notice of the said last-mentioned meeting so to be held by adjournment as aforesaid, with the name of the vestry clerk subjoined, was left at the usual place of abode of every vestryman, three days previous to the day appointed for such [421] meeting: that at the said meeting a chairman was elected, and the said rate so agreed upon and made at the said first-mentioned meeting was then and there duly signed by eight vestrynien (whose names were set out) present at the lastnmentioned meeting, and who had also been, present at the said firs1 mentioned meeting, and at the time the said rate was so unanimously agreed to and made as aforesaid: that at the said last-mentioned meeting, after the signing of the said rate, and before the allowance by two justices afterwards mentioned, the same eight vestrymen signed the declaration required by the 6 and 7 Wm. 4, c. 96, to wit, at the foot of the said rate,-that is to say (a declaration in writing particularly described in the avowry) : that proper entries were made in the proper book of the names of all the vestrymen attending the said meetings, and of all orders and proceedings at such meetings: that, after the making of the rate, and before the allowance by two justices, a special meeting of the vestrymen was summoned, and held 011 the 28th of August, in the year aforesaid, at which eighteen vestrymen (whose names were set forth) were present; of which meeting and of the purpose thereof a printed notice, with the name of the vestry clerk subjoined, was left at the abode of each vestryman fourteen days previously: that such meeting was the next subsequent meeting to the first-mentioned meeting: that the said rate, so agreed upon and made at the said first-mentioned meeting, was then and there unanimously confirmed, and entry of such confirmation made in a proper book: that proper entries of the names of all the vestrymen attending the meeting, and of all proceedings at the meeting, had been made in a proper book. The avowry then stated the allowance and confirmation of the rate by two justices, and notice thereof on the church doors, and notice to the plaintiff of the premises. It then alleged the rating of the plaintiff, in the sum [422] of 11, demand of payment, and refusal to pay; and, distress. The plaintiff pleaded in bar de injuria, upon which issue was joined. Upon the trial of the cause before Mr. Justice Wightman, a verdict was found by consent for the plaintiff, subject to a special case to be stated for the opinion of the Court of Queen's Bench, with liberty for either party to turn that case into a special verdict. The Court of Queen's Bench, after taking time to consider, on the 3rd day of February, 1847, gave judgment for the plaintiff (13 Q.B. Rep. 687). The special case was then turned into a special verdict, by which the jury found that the parish of Saint Panoras, from the year 1819 to the year 1832, was governed by the Local Act 59 Geo. 3, c. xxxix.: that in the year 1832 the parish adopted the Act of 1 and 2 Wm. 4, c. 60, which was the law in the parish for the election of vestrymen 165 Ill H.L.C., 423 SCADDING V. LORANT [1851] from that time to the commencement of the suit: that the election took place annually, one-third of the vestrymen going out by rotation annually, and vacancies from death or other causes being filled up at the same time: that the number of householders exceeded ten thousand : that on the 6th day of May, 1839, an election...
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