Heath v Chapman
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 22 July 1854 |
| Date | 22 July 1854 |
| Court | High Court of Chancery |
English Reports Citation: 61 E.R. 781
HIGH COURT OF CHANCERY
S. C. 23 L. J. Ch. 947. See In re Fleetwood, 1880, 15 Ch. D. 609.
Superstitious Uses. Charity. Masses.
[417] heath . chapman. July 19, 20, 22, 1854. [S. C. 23 L. J. Ch. 947. See In re Fleetwood, 1880, 15 Ch. D. 609.] Superstitious Uses. Charity, Masses. Trusts declared for certain Roman Catholic chapels, for saying masses and requiems for the souls of the donor and for other souls, and for the souls of the "poor dead," and for other pious purposes. Held, that the gift for masses, &c., for the dead were superstitious and void; that the , pious uses could not, as religious uses, be separated from the others, and were therefore also bad; and that the words pious uses could not be construed charitable uses ; consequently, the property given to these uses went to the residuary legatees of the donor. This case came on upon the certificate of the Chief Clerk; and the questions principally discussed, and on which the material part of the judgment was given, turned on the effect of certain trusts declared by the late Domenico Dragonetti (who was a Roman Catholic) during his lifetime. The certificate of the Chief Clerk was as follows on the material points:- Domenico Dragonetti, the testator in the pleadings named, shortly before his death was desirous of bequeathing by his will the several annuities hereinafter mentioned, that is to say :- 1st. An annuity of 25 to be paid to Signor Giovanni Zimolo of Venice (the husband of the testator's late sister Marietta Zimolo) for his life, and after his decease to be paid in perpetuity every year to the Church at. Mestre, near Venice, where the said Marietta Zimolo was buried, for masses and requiems for the souls of the testator and the said Marietta Zimolo. 2d. An annuity of 20 in perpetuity to the Cathedral Church of St. Mark at Venice, for masses and requiems [418] for the souls of the said testator and the poor . dead, and for other pious uses. 3d. An annuity of 20 in perpetuity to the Roman Catholic Church in Moorfields in London, for the purpose of having masses and requiems said and performed for 782 HEATH"V. .CHAPMAN 2DREWKY.419. the benefit of the soul of the said testator and the souls of the poor dead, and for other pious uses; and . ' ' 4tlL An annuity of 10 per annum to the Defendant, Mary Chapman, during her life. And having been informed by his solicitor that bequests for pious uses and masses for the dead were contrary to the spirit of the English law, and that difficulties must arise in supporting or carrying out trusts for such a purpose in this country, and that if he, the said testator, determined to carry into effect the gifts which he intended to make for those purposes, the same could only be done either by actual transfer of a sufficient amount of stock in his (the testator's) lifetime into the names of trustees, to carry out his intentions, or by the actual payment of the necessary amount of money; the said testator a few days afterwards had communications and interviews with the Plaintiffs severally as to the transfer into their names by him of Bank annuities, and the application thereof by them for the purposes he was so as aforesaid desirous to effect; and the Plaintiffs at such interviews severally promised to the said testator that they would perform the trusts so to be reposed in them; and on the 1st day of April 1846 the testator accordingly transferred 3023, Os. 4d., three pounds five shillings per cent, annuities, then'standing in his name in the books of the Governor and...
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