Literary and Scientific Institutions Act 1854

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citation1854 c. 112
Anno Regni VICTORI, Britanniarum Regin,Decimo Septimo & Decimo Octavo. An Act to afford greater Facilities for the Establishment of Institutions for the Promotion of Literature and Science and the Fine Arts, and to provide for their better Regulation.

(17 & 18 Vict.) C A P. CXII.

[11th August 1854]

'WHEREAS it is expedient that greater Facilities should be afforded for procuring and settling Sites and Buildings in trust for Institutions established for the Promotion of Literature, Science, or the Fine Arts, or for the Diffusion of useful Knowledge, and that other Provisions should be made for improving the legal Condition of such Institutions:' Be it therefore enacted by the Queen'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, as follows:

S-I Lands to be used as Sites for Institutions, &c.

I Lands to be used as Sites for Institutions, &c.

I. Any Person inEngland, Wales , or Ireland , being seised in Fee Simple, Fee Tail, or for Life of and in any Manor or Lands of Freehold, Copyhold, or Customary Tenure, and having the present beneficial Interest therein, may grant, convey, or enfranchise, by way of Gift, Sale, or Exchange, in Fee Simple or for a Term of Years, any Quantity not exceeding One Acre of such Land, whether built upon or not, as a Site for any such Institution as herein-after described; provided, that no such Grant made by any Person seised only for Life of and in any such Manor or Lands shall be valid, unless, if there be any Person next entitled to the same in Remainder, in Fee Simple or Fee Tail, and if such Person be legally competent, he shall be a Party to and join in such Grant; provided also, that where any Portion of Waste or Commonable Land shall be gratuitously conveyed by any Lord of a Manor for any such Purpose as aforesaid, the Rights of all Commoners and others having Interest of a like Nature in the said Land shall be barred and divested by such Conveyance.

S-II Chancellor and Council of the Duchy of Lancaster empowered to grant Lands for the Site of an Institution.

II Chancellor and Council of the Duchy of Lancaster empowered to grant Lands for the Site of an Institution.

II. The Chancellor and Council of Her Majesty's Duchy ofLancaster for the Time being, by any Deed or Writing under the Hand and Seal of the Chancellor of the said Duchy for the Time being, attested by the Clerk of the Council of the said Duchy for the Time being, for and in the Name of Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, may, if they see fit, grant, convey, or enfranchise, to or in favour of such Institution, any Land forming Part of the Possessions of the said Duchy, not exceeding in the whole One Acre in any One Parish, upon such Terms and Conditions as to the said Chancellor and Council shall seem meet; and where any Sum or Sums of Money shall be paid for the Purchase or Consideration for such Land so to be granted, conveyed, or enfranchised as aforesaid, the same shall be paid into the Hands of the Receiver General for the Time being of the said Duchy, or his Deputy, and shall be by him paid, applied, and disposed of according to the Provisions and Regulations contained in an Act of the Forty-eighth Year of the Reign of His late Majesty KingGeorge the Third, Chapter Seventy-three, or any other Act or Acts now in force for that Purpose.

S-III Officers of the Duchy of Cornwall empowered, upon sufficient Authority, to grant Land for the Site of an Institution.

III Officers of the Duchy of Cornwall empowered, upon sufficient Authority, to grant Land for the Site of an Institution.

III. Any Three or more of the Principal Officers of the Duchy ofCornwall , under the Authority of a Warrant issued for that Purpose under the Hands of any Three or more of the Special Commissioners for the Time being for managing the Affairs of the Duchy of Cornwall , or under the Hands of any Three or more of the Persons who may hereafter for the Time being have the immediate Management of the said Duchy, if the said Duchy shall be then vested in the Crown, or if the said Duchy shall be then vested in a Duke of Cornwall , then under the Hands of any Three or more of the Principal Officers of the said Duchy, or under the Hands of any Three or more of the Persons for the Time being having the immediate Management of the said Duchy, may, if they think fit, and are so authorized, by Deed grant, convey, or enfranchise to or in favour of any existing or intended Institution any Land forming Part of the Possessions of the said Duchy of Cornwall , not exceeding in the whole One Acre in any One Parish, upon such Terms and Conditions as to the said Special Commissioners or Principal Officers, or such other Person as aforesaid, shall seem meet.

S-IV If Lands cease to be used for the Purposes of the Act they shall revert.

IV If Lands cease to be used for the Purposes of the Act they shall revert.

IV. Provided, That upon any Land so granted by way of Gift as aforesaid, or any Part thereof, ceasing to be used for the Purposes of the Institution, the same shall thereupon immediately revert to and become again a Portion of the Estate or Manor or Possessions of the Duchy, as the Case may be, to all Intents and Purposes as fully as if this Act or any such Grant as aforesaid had not been passed or made, except that where the Institution shall be removed to another Site, the Land not originally Part of the Possessions of either of the Duchies aforesaid may be exchanged or sold for the Benefit of the said Institution, and the Money received for Equality of Exchange or on the Sale may be applied towards the Erection or Establishment of the Institution upon the new Site.

S-V Persons not having legal Estates empowered to convey Lands for Purposes of this Act without the Concurrence of their Trustees.

V Persons not having legal Estates empowered to convey Lands for Purposes of this Act without the Concurrence of their Trustees.

V. Where any Person shall be equitably entitled to any Manor or Land, but the legal Estate therein shall be vested in some Trustee or Trustees, it shall be sufficient for such Person to convey the Land proposed to be granted for the Purpose of this Act, without the Trustee or Trustees being Party to the Conveyance thereof; and where it is deemed expedient to purchase for the purpose aforesaid any Land belonging to or vested in any Infant or Lunatic, such Land may be conveyed by the Guardian or Curator of such Infant or the Committee of such Lunatic respectively, who may receive the Purchase Money for the same, and give valid and sufficient Discharges to the Party paying such Purchase Money, who shall not be required to see to the Application thereof.

S-VI Corporation, Justices, Trustees, &c. to convey Lands for the Purposes of this Act.

VI Corporation, Justices, Trustees, &c. to convey Lands for the Purposes of this Act.

VI. Any Corporation, Ecclesiastical or Lay, whether sole or aggregate, and any Officers, Justices of the Peace, Trustees, or Commissioners, holding Land for public, ecclesiastical, parochial, charitable, or other Purposes or Objects, may, subject to the Provisions herein-after mentioned, grant, convey, or enfranchise for the Purpose of this Act such Quantity of Land as aforesaid, in any Manner vested in such Corporation, Officers, Justices, Trustees, or Commissioners; provided, that no Ecclesiastical Corporation Sole, being below the Dignity of a Bishop, shall be authorized to make such Grant without the Consent in Writing of the Bishop of the Diocese to whose Jurisdiction the said Ecclesiastical Corporation shall be subject; provided also, that no Parochial Property shall be granted for such Purpose without the Consent of a Majority of the Ratepayers and Owners of Property in the Parish to which the same belongs, assembled at a Meeting to be convened according to the Mode pointed out in the Act passed in the Sixth Year of the Reign of His late Majesty, intituled Englandand Wales, and without the Consent of the Poor Law Board, to be testified by their Seal being affixed to the Deed of Conveyance, and of the Guardians of the Poor of the Union within which the said Parish may be comprised, or of the Guardians of the Poor of the said Palish where the Administration of the Relief of the Poor therein shall be subject to a Board of Guardians, testified by the Guardians of such Union or Parish being the Parties to convey the same; and that no Property held upon Trust for charitable Purposes shall be granted without the Consent of the Charity Commissioners.

S-VII How such Parties may convey.

VII How such Parties may convey.

VII. Where any Officers, Trustees, or Commissioners, other than Parochial Trustees, shall make any such Grant, it shall be sufficient if a Majority or Quorum authorized to act of such Officers, Trustees, or Commissioners, assembled at a Meeting duly convened, shall assent to such Grant, and shall execute the Deed of Conveyance, although they shall not constitute a Majority of the actual Body of such Officers, Trustees, or Commissioners; and the Justices of the Peace may give their Consent to the making any Grant of Land or Premises belonging to any County, Riding, or Division by Vote at their General Quarter Sessions, and may direct the same to be made in the Manner directed to be pursued on the Sale of the Sites of...

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