The Incorporated Church Building Society v Coles
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 02 May 1855 |
| Date | 02 May 1855 |
| Court | High Court of Chancery |
English Reports Citation: 43 E.R. 895
BEFORE THE LORD CHANCELLOR LORD CRANWORTH.
S. C. 1 K. & J. 145; 24 L. J. Ch. 713; 1 Jur. (N. S.), 761.
[324] the incorporated church building society v. coles. Before the Lord Chancellor Lord Cranworth. May 2, 1855. [S. C. 1 K. & J. 145; 24 L. J. Ch. 713; 1 Jur. (N. S.), 761.] A testator, by his will, executed three calendar months before his death, devised two houses in Brighton to trustees, upon trust to sell and invest the purchase-money, and to pay the dividends to his wife during her life, and at her death to make over and transfer the principal sum so invested to the treasurer for the time being of the Incorporated Society for Promoting the Enlargement, Building and Repairing of Churches and Chapels, to be applied to the uses and purposes of that society. Held, that such a gift was not within the scope of the Act 43 Geo. 3, c. 108, and could not be sustained either in its entirety or as a gift of the proceeds of the sale to the extent of 500, but was void under the Act 9 Geo. 2, c. 36. The Act 43 Geo. 3, c. 108, was passed with a view of authorizing limited dispositions of land by deed or will in favour of the charitable uses therein specified, but the intent of the Legislature was, that the gift should be of specific lands for one or other of the specific purposes indicated in that Act, and therefore a gift of the proceeds of land is not within the protection of that Act, but is obnoxious to the provisions of the Statute of Mortmain, 9 Geo. 2, c. 36. Robert James Harrison, by his will dated February 1838, gave to his wife Lucy Harrison, Neville Read, and Michael Hinton Castle and the survivor, and the heirs and assigns of such survivor, his two freehold houses in Sillwood Place, Brighton, upon trust to sell and invest the purchase-money in Government securities or public funds of Great Britain, and to pay the dividends arising therefrom half-yearly to his wife for her sole use and benefit during her life, and at her death to make over arid transfer the principal sum so invested in Government securities or the public funds of Great Britain to the treasurer for the time being of the Incorporated Society for Promoting the Enlargement, Building and Repairing of Churches and Chapels, to be applied to the uses and purposes of that society. The testator lived more than three calendar months after the execution of his will, and died leaving two sisters, Harriet the wife of the Defendant Cator, and Elizabeth Harrison, his co-heiresses at law. Elizabeth Harrison died leaving the Defendant Wilson her heir [328] at law. The testator's widow, who afterwards married the Defendant the Rev. John Coles, was the survivor of the three trustees named in the will. The Plaintiffs in this suit were the Incorporated Society for Promoting the Enlargement, Building and Repairing of Churches and Chapels, and were incorporated by the Act 9 Geo. 4, c. 42. The bill was filed by them against the Rev. John Coles and Lucy his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Cator and Mr. Wilson. The bill submitted that the trusts for the benefit of the Plaintiffs were not void by virtue of the Act 9 Geo. 2, c. 36, but valid; and in particular that by virtue of the Act 43 Geo. 3, c. 108, the testator was authorized to devise the houses and premises in the manner mentioned arid the Plaintiffs to receive the benefit of the same ; and...
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Wilson v Coles
...in favor of the charity was declared void under the Mortmain Act. (The incorporated Church Buikling Society v. Coles, 1 Kay & J. 145; 5 De G. M. & G. 324.) In 1857 the testator's widow, as surviving trustee, sold the two freehold houses lor 1650. She died in 1859. Eliza F. Wilson had died i......