Tithe Act 1839
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1839 c. 62 |
(2 & 3 Vict.) C A P. LXII.
[17th August 1839]
'WHEREAS an Act was passed in the Seventh Year of the Reign of His late Majesty KingWilliam the Fourth, intituled Englandand Wales: And whereas an Act was passed in the First Year of the Reign of Her present Majesty to amend the recited Act: And whereas an Act was passed in the Second Year of the Reign of Her present Majesty, intituled : And whereas it is expedient to explain and amend the said Acts in certain respects:' Be it therefore declared and 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 in every Casewhere any Tithes or Rent-charge shall have been or shall hereafter be released, assigned, or otherwise conveyed or disposed of under the Provisions of the said Acts, or any of them, or of this Act, for merging or extinguishing the same, the Lands in which such Merger or Extinguishment shall take effect shall be subject to any Charge, Incumbrance, or Liability which lawfully existed on such Tithes or Rent-charge, previous to such Merger to, the Extent of the Value of such Tithes or Rent-charge; and any such Charge, Incumbrance, or Liability shall have Priority over any Charge or Incumbrance existing on such Lands at the Time of such Merger taking effect; and such Lands, and the Owners thereof for the Time being, shall be liable to the same Remedies for the Recovery of any Payment and the Performance of any Duty in respect of such Charge, Incumbrance, or Liability, or of any Penalty or Damages for Nonpayment or Nonperformance thereof respectively, as the said Tithes or Rent-charge, or the Owner thereof for the Time being, were or was liable to previous to such Merger.
II Power for special Apportionment of such Charge on Lands being of Three Times the Value of the Charge.
II. And be it enacted, That every Person entitled to exercise the Powers for Merger of Tithes or Rent-charge in Land under the said Acts or any of them, or of this Act, may, with the Consent of the Tithe Commissioners for the Time being under their Hands and Seal of Office, and of the Person to whom the Lands in which such Merger or Extinguishment shall take effect shall belong, either by the Deed or other Instrument or Declaration by which such Merger shall be effected, or by any separate Deed, Instrument, or Declaration, to be made in such Form as the Commissioners shall approve, specially apportion the Whole or any Part of any such Charge, Incumbrance, or Liability affecting the said Tithes or Rent-charge so merged or extinguished, or proposed to be merged or extinguished in such Lands, upon the same or any Part thereof, or upon any other Lands of such Person held under the same Title and for the same Estate in the same Parish, or upon the several Closes or Portions of such Lands, or according to an acreable Rate or Rates upon Lands of different Quality, in such Manner and Proportion, and to the Exclusion of such of them, as the Person intending to merge the same, with such Consent as aforesaid, may by any such Deed, Instrument, or Declaration direct: Provided always, that no Land shall be so exclusively charged unless the Value thereof shall in the Opinion of the said Commissioners be at least Three Times the Value of the Amount of the Charge, Incumbrance, or Liability charged or intended to be charged thereon, over and above all other Charges and Incumbrances, if any, affecting the same.
III Name of each Occupier, &c. to be specified by Assessor, on Notice from Owner.
III. And be it enacted, That the Assessor or Collector of any Rate or Tax shall, within Forty Days after the Receipt of a Notice in Writing signed by any Land Owner or Tithe Owner interested therein, specify in his Assessment made for the Purpose of collecting and levying such Rate or Tax the Names of the several Occupiers of Tithes, Lands, and Tenements subject to such Rate or Tax, as well as the Sum assessed on the Tithes, Lands, or Tenements held by each such Occupier.
IV Power of special Apportionment on Tithes or Rent-charge.
IV. And be it enacted, That where the whole of the Great Tithes or the whole of the Small Tithes, or the respective Rent-charges in lieu thereof, shall be lawfully subject to any such Charge, Incumbrance, or Liability, and the Person entitled to such Tithes or Rent-charge respectively shall be desirous of apportioning such Charge, Incumbrance, or Liability respectively exclusively upon any Part of such Tithes or Rent-charge, although such Person has not the Power or does not intend to merge the same under the said Acts or this Act, such Person may, with the like Consent of the said Commissioners, and in such Manner as they shall see fit and prescribe, and also with the Consent of the Bishop of the Diocese, specially apportion such Charge, Incumbrance, or Liability respectively upon any Part or Portion of the Tithes or Rent-charge respectively subject thereto, not being in the Opinion of the said Commissioners less than Three Times the Value of the said Charge, Incumbrance, or Liability, or of such Part thereof as shall be so apportioned thereon, or intended so to be.
V Expences of special Apportionment.
V. And be it enacted, That in every such Case of special Apportionment the Costs and Expences of or incident thereto shall be borne by the Part at whose Instance the same shall have been made, and shall be recoverable as other Costs of Apportionments are recoverable under the Provisions of the said recited Acts or either of them, or of this Act.
VI Tithes and Rent-charge of Glebe may be merged.
VI. And be it declared and enacted, That the Provisions of the said Acts and this Act for Merger or Extinguishment of Tithes or Rent-charge instead of Tithes in the Lands out of which such Tithes shall have been issuing, or whereon such Rent-charge shall be fixed, do and shall extend to Glebe or other Land, in all Cases where the same and the Tithes or Rent-charge thereof shall belong to the same Person in virtue of his Benefice, or of any Dignity, Office, or Appointment held by him.
VII Provision for deducting Value of Tithes and Rent-charge from arbitrary Fines in Cases of Merger in Copyholds, 1 & 2 Vict. c. 64. s. 4.
VII. And be it enacted, That in every Case of Merger of Tithes or Rent-charge issuing out of Land of Copyhold Tenure, and subject to arbitrary Fine, it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners, on the Application of the Owner of such Land, to ascertain, by such Ways and Means as they shall think fit, the annual Value of the Tithes or Rent-charge so merged or intended to be merged; and the said Commissioners shall in such Case cause to be endorsed on the Deed, Declaration, or other Instrument effecting such Merger a Certificate under their Hands and Seal, setting forth such annual Value so ascertained; and in every Case of future Assessment of Fine on the Lands which before such Merger were subject to such Tithes or Rent-charge, the Parties entitled to such Fine shall assess the same as if such Lands were subject to the Tithes or Rent-charge of which the annual Value shall be so endorsed; and the Production of such Deed, Declaration, or Instrument of Merger, or of a Duplicate thereof, with such Certificate endorsed, or of an Office Copy of such Deed, Declaration, or Instrument and Certificate endorsed thereon, shall be sufficient Evidence of the annual Value of such Tithes or Rent-charge.
VIII Power to make Award by way of Supplement to Parochial Agreement in Cases of Fraud, &c.
VIII. And be it enacted, That, notwithstanding any thing in the said Acts or any of them contained, in any Case where a Parochial Agreement for Rent-charge or for giving Land instead of Tithes, or any compulsory Award, has been duly confirmed by the said Commissioners, and it shall appear to them, at any Period before the Confirmation of the Apportionment of such Rent-charge, that by reason of Fraud, or by the Omission or Insertion through Error of the Tithes or Lands of any Party thereto, or of the Name of any Person, whether as Tithe Owner or Land Owner, who ought, or, as the Case may be, who ought not, to have been Party thereto, or any other manifest Error, that such Agreement or Award would be unjust, and that if such Fraud, Omission, Insertion, or other manifest Error had not occurred the said Commissioners would have come to a different Conclusion in respect of such Agreement or Award, and would have declined to confirm or would have varied the same previous to such Confirmation, it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners, if they shall see fit, and in their sole Discretion, but...
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