Vincent v The Bishop of Sodor and Man and Others
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 12 November 1849 |
| Date | 12 November 1849 |
| Court | Court of Common Pleas |
English Reports Citation: 137 E.R. 764
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
[905] vincent v. the bishop of sodor and man and others. Nov. 12, 1849. Certain estates were settled, by deed, to the use of such person or persons, in such parts, shares, &c., as S. S. should, by deed, as therein mentioned, or by her last will and testament in writing, or any writing purporting to be, or in the nature of, her last will and testament, " to be by her signed and published in the presence of, and attested by, two or more credible witnesses, direct or appoint."-S. S. made a will, which was signed and sealed by her in the presence of two witnesses, to whom she at the time declared it to be her last will and testament. The attestation clause was thus:-"signed and sealed in the presence of A. B., C. D.:"-Held, that this was a sufficient "publication," and consequently that the power had been well executed. The following case was sent by Vice-Chancellor Wigram for the opinion of the judges of this court:- Prior to, and in contemplation of, the marriage then intended, and shortly after solemnizedj between the Rev. John Ireland, clerk (and afterwards Dean of Westminster), deceased, and Susanna Short, spinster, also deceased, by indentures of lease and release and settlement,-the release and settlement bearing date the 28th of January, 1794,-a certain freehold estate held for certain lives still in existence, and limited in its creation to the lessee, his executors, administrators, and assigns, was conveyed to the trustees of the said settlement, their executors, administrators, and assigns, to certain uses in favour of the said John Ireland and Susanna Short, and their issue, which have since-failed; and, after the determination thereof, to the uses following, that is to say, to the use of such person or persons, in such parts, shares, and proportions, manner and form, and for such ends, intents and purposes, and under and subject to such powers, provisoes, and limitations, as the said Susanna Short should, at any time or times during, and notwithstanding, her intended coverture, by any deed or deeds, writing or writings, with or without power of revocation, to be by her sealed and [906] delivered in the presence of, and attested by, two or more credible witnesses, or by her last will and testament in writing, or any writing purporting to be, or in the nature of, her last will and testament, to be by her signed and published in the presence of, and attested by, the like number of witnesses,-and which deed or deeds and will she was thereby authorised to make and execute, notwithstanding her said intended coverture,-direct or appoint; and in default of, and subject to, such direction or appointment, to the use of the said John Ireland, his executors, administrators, or assigns, for their own use and benefit, and to no other use and intent or purpose whatsoever. The said Susanna Ireland, formerly Susanna Short, made and executed her last 8C.B.907. VINCENT V. THE BISHOP OF SODOR AND MAN 765 will and testament in writing, or appointment in writing in nature of a will, dated the 17th of February, 1826, whereby she devised the said estate comprised in the said settlement, after the death of her said husband, to certain of her relations in her said will named. And she appointed her executors, and concluded her said will in the words and figures and form following, that is to say,- " I appoint for executors of this my will, the Kev. Thomas Vowler Short, the Kev. William Short (my two nephews), and Ralph Barnes, Esq., attorney-at-law, executor. "Feb. 17th, 1826. "susanna ireland (L.S.). " Signed and sealed in the presence of "Humphrey Pritchett, Apothecary, 13 Great Queen St. Westminster. " Mary Eames, housekeeper to Mrs. Ireland." The said Susanna departed this life on the 1st of November, 1826, and in the lifetime of her said husband, without having altered or revoked her said will,-which has been duly proved, pursuant to an order of Her Majesty in Council, made on the 4th of March [907] 1847, confirming a report of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, in a case of appeal from a sentence of the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The said John Ireland has also departed this life. In a suit which is depending in the court of Chancery between the executors of the said John Ireland, and the executors of the said Susanna Ireland, and other persons interested in their respective estates, it has become necessary to determine whether the said will of the said Susanna Ireland is a valid exercise of the power of appointment of the said estate, which was so given or limited to her by the said release and settlement of the 28th of January, 1794, as aforesaid. Humphrey Pritchett, one of the attesting witnesses to the said will of the said Susanna, departed this life on or about the 16th of August, 1828, leaving Mary Eames, the other attesting witness to the said will, him surviving,-who is still living. Certain witnesses were examined in the said appeal, and their testimony has been made evidence in this cause; and, by the testimony of two of such witnesses, the handwriting of the said Humphrey Pritchett was proved. The said Mary Eames, one of such witnesses, deposed as follows :- "Third. To the third article.-I lived as housekeeper with Mrs. Ireland, the deceased in this cause, from the 19th of March, 1817, until her death, on the 9th of December, 1826. During that period, I acted as housekeeper to her husband, the late Dr. Ireland, and herself ; and I always attended upon the deceased, and was her confidential servant. Between Christmas, 1825, and the 17th of February, 1826, the deceased said to me several times, that she should make her will, and that the dean (meaning her husband, Dr. Ireland, who [908] was Dean of Westminster,) wished her to make her will. The said deceased suffered from dropsy; and, after Christmas, 1825, she was under the impression that she should not live very long. Immediately prior to the said 17th of February, the deceased said to me, 'Eames, I shall make my will; but I cannot write it all at once,'-from which I infer (though I have no further knowledge of the fact,) that she was occupied more than one day in so doing, exclusive of the said 17th of February. At about ten o'clock in the morning of that day, I went to the deceased, in the drawing-room of the deanery-house, Westminster, where she and the dean were then residing, to receive orders for her dinner: and she then said to me,-' Eames, I have a right to make my will, under my marriage-settlement;' adding,-'Do not go out of the way this morning, as I shall want you to sign it.' At about between 12 and 1 o'clock that day, Mr. Pritchett, the deceased's medical attendant (and who was in attendance on her as such at that time), called on the deceased, and saw her in the drawing-room. I thereupon went in the drawing-room to the deceased and Mr. Pritchett. The deceased had told me in the morning at 10 o'clock, that she should want me to sign her will when Mr. Pritchett came; and that was the reason why I then went up to the drawing room. I went into the drawing-room at the same time that Mr. Pritchett did so: and the deceased, thereupon, addressing both of us, said,-'I wish you to sign my will, as I have the power of making my will under my marriage-settlement, or words to that effect. Mr. Pritchett then sat down; and I stood at the table. The deceased, who was sitting at the table, 766 VINCENT V. THE BISHOP OF SODOR AND MAN 8 C. B.909. with her will before her, then finished her will, by writing two or three lines at the end of it. I think she must have written as much as two or three lines; for, it took her some little time to do it. As soon as [909] the deceased had finished writing, she said to Mr. Pritchett and me,-'Look, and see me sign my will.' She then wrote her name at the end of her will. She then put her finger on the seal on the will, and said to us,-' This is my last will and testament.' I have left out one word; for, what she thus said to us was,-' I declare this to be my last will and testament.' The deceased then asked Mr. Pritchett to sign her will; and he did so. Then she asked me to sign her will; and I signed it after Mr. Pritchett: and, as I was doing so, Mr. Pritchett asked me to name that I was Mrs. Ireland's housekeeper; and I did so, by adding the words,-' Housekeeper to Mrs. Ireland,'-to my signature on the will. As soon as this was done, the deceased folded up the will, and inclosed it in a piece of writing paper, and sealed it up, and wrote on the paper thus inclosing it, ' My will,' and placed it in her writing-desk; saying to me, as she did so,-' When I am dead, Eames, tell the dean where to find my will.' Mr. Pritchett then asked the deceased how she was, and, finding that she had had nothing at that moment to say to him about her health, took his leave. I remained with the deceased a short time afterwards, and she gave me some domestic orders, after which I also left her, and went down stairs. No one was present on the occasion, besides the deceased, Mr. Pritchett, and myself. The deceased was of perfectly sound mind at the time, and perfectly capable of making her will. She, at that time, and at all other times of my acquaintance with her, until within a fortnight of her death, used to manage her household affairs, and to settle her weekly bills with me in the most correct manner possible : and I then, and at all other times of my acquaintance with her, considered her perfectly capable of managing her own affairs. There was some sealing-wax on the will before I saw it; and, when the deceased sealed it, as I [910] have deposed, she put a little more sealing-wax on it, using for that purpose a small taper which stood on the drawing-room mantel-piece; and, in the sight of Mr. Pritchett and myself, she made the impression of her initials on the sealing-wax, with a small...
To continue reading
Request your trial