Pensions Act 1839
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1839 c. 51 |
| Year | 1839 |
(2 & 3 Vict.) C A P. LI.
[17th August 1839]
'WHEREAS an Act was passed in the Fifty-ninth Year of the Reign of His late Majesty KingGeorge the Third, intituled : And whereas another Act was passed in the Sixth Year of the Reign of His late Majesty KingGeorge the Fourth, intituled Scotlandcertain Provisions of an Act for the Relief of the Poor, in so far as the same relate to Parochial Relief to Chelsea and other Pensioners : And whereas it is expedient to alter and amend the said Act of the Fifty-ninth Year of the Reign of His late Majesty King George the Third, and to repeal the said Act of the Sixth Year of the Reign of King George the Fourth, and to make other Provisions with relation to Army, Naval, and other Pensions;' be it 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, That from and after the First Day of One thousand eight hundred and forty, so much of the said Act of the Fifty-ninth Year of the Reign of His late Majesty KingGeorge the Third as directs or authorizes the Assignment of any Pension, Superannuation, or other Allowance granted in respect of Service in the Navy, Royal Marines, Army, or Ordnance for the Indemnity or Reimbursement of Parishes, and as directs or authorizes Justices to order Payment to Parish Officers of any such Pensions, upon any Pensioner or other Person entitled thereto leaving his Wife or Family chargeable to any Parish, and also the whole of the said Act of the Sixth Year of His late Majesty King George the Fourth, shall be and the same are hereby repealed.
II Guardians may require the Payment of Pensions to be made to them for Relief given by Admission of Pensioners into the Workhouse.
II. And be it enacted, That when Relief shall be given to any Person entitled to or in receipt of any Army or Naval Pension, or any Superannuation or other Allowance in respect of his Service in the Army, Navy, Marines, or Ordnance, or any other Branch of the Military Service, or in any Civil Branch of the Army, Navy, Marines, or Ordnance, or to his Wife, or to any Person whom he may be liable to maintain, by Admission of such Pensioner, his Wife, or Person, into the Workhouse of any Union or Parish, it shall be lawful for the Guardians of such Union, by Minute, in the Form in the Schedule to this Act annexed marked (A.) with respect to any Pension payable atChelsea Hospital, or payable out of any Funds intrusted to the Commissioners of Chelsea Hospital for the Payment of Pensions, and in the Form in the Schedule to this Act marked (B.) with respect to any Greenwich Out-pensions, and in the Form in the Schedule to this Act marked (C.) with respect to any other of the before-mentioned Pensions, Superannuation, or Allowance, to require that the next Payment which shall become due of such Pension or Allowance shall be made to such Guardians, who shall transmit a Copy of such Minute, attested by their Clerk, at least One Month before such Payment shall become due, and addressed, as to Pensions or Allowances payable at Chelsea Hospital or by the Commissioners of the said Hospital, to the Secretary of Chelsea Hospital, with the Words ‘Chelsea Pension’ written thereon, and as to Greenwich Out-pensions to the Paymaster General, Out-pension Office, Tower Hill , with the Words ‘Greenwich Out-pension’ written thereon, and as to all other the before-mentioned Pensions to the Paymaster General, Whitehall, London ; and the Commissioners of Chelsea Hospital and Her Majesty's Paymaster General respectively shall thereupon, and upon the like Proof being given as is herein-after directed with respect to Assignments, cause Payment to be made to such Guardians; and the said Guardians shall thereupon enter upon their Minutes the Nature and Amount of Relief actually given to such Pensioner, or his Wife or other Person, and upon Application made by the said Pensioner to the Clerk of the said Guardians shall inform the said Pensioner of the Amount thereof; and the said Guardians so receiving any Pension or Allowance shall retain and apply so much thereof as will repay the Cost of Relief actually given as aforesaid for the Use and Indemnity of the Union or Parish, and shall pay the Surplus (if any) to the Pensioner or Person entitled thereto; and upon the Receipt of any such Minute as aforesaid the Payment of the Pension or other Allowance mentioned therein shall be suspended until sufficient Proof shall have been given to entitle the Guardians named in such Minute to receive the Money thereby required to be paid to them; provided that where such Relief shall not be given to the Pensioner himself the said Guardians, before transmitting any such Minute as aforesaid, shall obtain satisfactory Proof that the Person to whom such Relief shall be given is the lawful Wife of the said Pensioner, or a Person whom such Pensioner is by Law liable to maintain, which Proof shall also be entered upon the Minutes of the said Board of Guardians.
III Authorizing Assignment of Pension in certain Cases.
III. And be it enacted, That when any Pensioner, or Person entitled to or in receipt of any Pension or other Allowance as aforesaid, shall apply for temporary Relief to the Guardians of any Union or Parish inEngland or Ireland , or to the Churchwardens or Overseers of any Parish in which the Administration of the Relief of the Poor has not been directed to be governed by a Board of Guardians, or not situate within any Union, so long only as such Parish is not governed by such Guardians, nor situate within any Union, or to the Heritors and Kirk Session in Scotland , or shall receive Relief from the said Guardians, Churchwardens and Overseers, or Heritors and Kirk Session, it shall be lawful for the said Guardians, or Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor, and Heritors and Kirk Session, but not compulsory upon them, to grant such Relief in such Case, or in the event of any Pensioner receiving Relief without previous Application on his Part, and to require the Pensioner applying for or receiving the same to assign to them respectively his next quarterly Payment of Pension or other Allowance, to the Intent that such Guardians, or Churchwardens and Overseers, or Heritors and Kirk Session respectively, may receive the same, and retain for the Use of the said Union or Parish so much thereof as shall have been by them respectively advanced for the temporary Relief of such Pensioner, or of his Wife or Family residing with him in such Union or Parish; and every Assignment to be made of any such Pension or other Allowance for the Purposes and according to the Tenor of this Act shall be exempt from Stamp Duty, and shall, as to any Pensions payable atChelsea Hospital or by the Commissioners thereof, be in the Form set out in the Schedule to this Act marked (D.), and as to Greenwich Out-pensions in the Form set out in the Schedule to this Act marked (E.), and as to all other the before-mentioned Pensions and Allowances payable by Her Majesty's Paymaster General in the Form set out in the Schedule to this Act marked (EE.); and every Assignment shall be certified by the Chairman and Clerk of the said Union at some Meeting of the Board of Guardians, or by a Churchwarden or Overseer of such Parish, or One of the Heritors, and shall be attested by One of Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace; and every such Assignment shall be transmitted, within Seven Days after the same shall have been executed, and at least One Month before the Payment thereon shall become due, under Cover, addressed, as to Pensions payable at Chelsea Hospital or by the Commissioners of the said Hospital, to the Secretary of Chelsea Hospital, with the Words ‘Chelsea Pensioner’ written thereon, and with respect to Naval Pensions to the Paymaster General, Out-pension Office, Tower Hill , with the Words ‘Greenwich Out-pension’ written thereon, and as to all other the before-mentioned Pensions, to the Paymaster General, Whitehall , London , who shall thereupon respectively cause the Payment thereof to be made to the said Guardians of the Union or Parish, or to the Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor of the Parish, or to the Overseers of the Poor alone where there are no Churchwardens, or Heritors and Kirk Session, for whose Security the Assignment shall have been made, in the same Manner as the said Payment would have been made to the Person assigning the same if no such Assignment had been made; and such Guardians, or Churchwardens and Overseers, or Heritors and Kirk Session, are hereby authorized to receive the same, and to retain thereout, for the Use of the said Union or Parish, so much as shall have been advanced and paid on Security thereof; and the said Guardians, Churchwardens and Overseers, or Heritors and Kirk Session respectively, shall keep an Account in Writing of the Sum or Sums so advanced, and also, immediately upon the Receipt of the said Pension, shall pay the Residue thereof (if any) to the Pensioner by whom such Assignment shall have been made; and if any Question shall arise between the Pensioner making any such Assignment, and the Guardians, or Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor, or Heritors and Kirk Session, receiving the same, touching the Amount which shall be due and payable to them respectively by virtue of any such Assignment, the same shall be determined in a summary Way by One of Her Majesty's Justices...
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