Scheme to be posted on Church Doors, &c. Parties interested may show Cause against Scheme. If no sufficient Cause shown, Commissioners to certify to Queen in Council. Proviso. Protests against the Scheme may be considered by Judicial Com mittee. Union of contiguous Benefices. ferred and annexed to such other specified Benefice having no Provision or competent Provision belonging thereto, as an Endowment or a further Endowment for the same, the Church Building Commissioners, with the Consent of the Patron or Patrons of the Benefices proposed to be united, may entertain or propose a Scheme or Plan for such Rentcharge or Transfer and Annexation: Provided always, that the Consents of such Patrons shall be signified in Writing, and that in any Case where the Patronage of any such Benefice may be vested in any Individual not wholly entitled to dispose of the same, the Consent of the next Heir, being of full Age, to the Right of such Patronage, shall also be signified in Writing. IV. The Church Building Commissioners, so soon as they shall have prepared a Scheme for the Purpose of more effectively carrying out the proposed Union of Benefices, or a Scheme for the Transfer of Surplus Revenues, shall seal the same with their Seal, and shall cause to be affixed on or near to the principal outer Door of the Church or Churches of the Parishes proposed to be united, and in the usual Place of Notice in the said Parishes, a Copy or Copies of such Scheme, and shall deliver Copies of the same to the Bishop of the Diocese, and to the Patrons, Ministers, Churchwardens, Överseers, and Vestry Clerks of the Benefices proposed to be united, together with a Notice to any Person or Persons interested, that they or any of them may within Two Months show Cause to the said Commissioners against the proposed Union of Benefices, or the Transfer of surplus Revenues, or as to any Part or Parts of any Scheme relating thereto; and if within such Period of Two Months no Cause be shown, or if upon Consideration of any Objection, the Church Building Commissioners shall be of opinion that the Cause shown is not sufficient, the said Commissioners shall then certify the Statement and Certificate of the Bishop as aforesaid, together with their Scheme, to Her Majesty in Council, and thereupon it shall be lawful for Her Majesty in Council to make and issue any Order or Orders for uniting such Benefices into One Benefice with Cure of Souls for Ecclesiastical Purposes, and for such other Purposes as are herein provided: Provided always, that if any Petition or Statement is lodged by way of Protest, or any Appeal is made against the Scheme or any Part thereof, as herein-after is provided, no such Order or Orders in Council shall be made or issued until such Petition or Statement has been duly considered, or the Parties to such Appeal have been duly heard. V. It shall and may be lawful for any Person or Persons interested, who may have been heard by the said Commissioners against the proposed Union of any Benefices, or against subjecting the Endowments or Revenues thereof, or any Part of them, to any Rentcharge or Transfer or Annexation, or against any Part or Parts of any Scheme certified by them to Her Majesty in Council, to appeal to Her Majesty in Council against such Scheme or any Part thereof, in the usual Manner, or such Person or Persons may, at their Option, state in Writing, by way of Protest, his, her, or their Objections to such Union or any Part or Parts thereof, and the Union of contiguous Benefices. the Commissioners shall annex such written Statement or Protest to their Certificate to the Queen in Council, and Her Majesty in Council may order and direct that such Objections shall be considered by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council; and the said Judicial Committee shall make Report to Her Majesty in Council thereupon, and may propose to Her Majesty in Council to affirm, vary, or dismiss the Scheme certified by the Commissioners, or to return the same to the said Commissioners for Alteration or Amendment; and Her Majesty in Council may affirm, vary, or dismiss the Scheme accordingly, or return the same to the Commissioners to be reconsidered as to any Parts thereof. VI. It shall be lawful for Her Majesty in Council, by any Order or Orders affirming or approving any Scheme of the Commissioners, and directing a Union of any Parishes, or by any other Order or Orders, to direct that such or such Part of any Lands, Tithes, Tenements, or Hereditaments, or other permanent Endowments of the Benefices proposed to be united, shall be subject to such Rentcharge, or excepted out of such Benefice when united, and be transferred and annexed to such other specified Benefice, and upon the Order or Orders directing such Rentcharge or Transfer and Annexation coming into operation the Lands, Houses, Tithes, Tenements, or Hereditaments, or other permanent Endowments, so directed to be subject to such Rentcharge, or to be transferred and annexed, shall, without any further Deed, Transfer, or other Assurance, become and be for ever subject to such Rentcharge or annexed to such Benefice, as the Case may be, and shall be held and enjoyed by the Incumbent thereof for the Time being as the Endowment or a Part of the Endowment thereof, subject and without Prejudice nevertheless, to all Leases, Grants, Rents, Charges, and Incumbrances existing at the Time of such Rentcharge or Transfer and Annexation legally affecting the same, except so far as any such Apportionment as aforesaid may affect the same respectively; and all such Lands, Houses, Tithes, Tenements, and Hereditaments, or other permanent Endowments, when so transferred or annexed as aforesaid, shall belong to and the same and the Rents and Profits thereof shall be recoverable by the Incumbent of such Benefice for the Time being, in the same Manner and by the same Remedies as were applicable thereto before such Transfer and Annexation. Queen in Council may make Orders affirm. ing or approv ing any Scheme. to have Force of Law. VII. The Order or Orders in Council affirming any Scheme, or Orders in directing any Union of Parishes, Rentcharge, Transfer, or An- Council to be nexation as aforesaid, shall, as soon as may be after the making gazetted and registered, and thereof by Her Majesty in Council, be inserted and published in the London Gazette, and shall be registered in the Registry of the Diocese, and the Registrar of the Diocese is hereby required to make such Registry; and such Order in Council, so soon as the same shall have been gazetted, shall have full Force and Effect of Law in all respects and as to all Things therein contained, any Law, Statute, Canon, Grant, Usage, or Custom to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided always, that nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to affect the Rights and Interests of any of the Incumbents of Benefices united under the Provisions thereof who, Commissioners may propose Scheme for Erection of new Church or Parsonage, Removal of old Church or Par sonage, Sale of Site, &c., for Purposes of this Act. No Burial Ground, &c. to be sold under this Act. Vaults and Church and standing to be Parishes. Union of contiguous Benefices. who, at the Time of the making such Order in Council, were in possession respectively of such Benefices, without the Consent of such Incumbent expressed in Writing. VIII. If for the Purposes and Objects of this Act it shall be found necessary or desirable to provide for the Erection of any new Church or Parsonage House, for the pulling down or Removal of any existing Church or Parsonage House, in either of the Benefices proposed to be united, for the Sale of the Materials or Site of the same, for the Appropriation of any Plate or other Property held in trust by the Churchwardens of any Church to be pulled down, for the Disposal of any Organ in such Church, for the Appropriation or Re-appropriation of any Pews or Sittings in the Church of the united Benefice left standing, for the Transfer of any Lectureships, the Sale of any Parsonage Houses, with their Appurtenances, for Compensation to Parish Clerks or other Officers, for Arrangement with respect to Fees or Vestry-rooms, it shall and may be lawful for the Church Building Commissioners to make Proposals thereupon as Part of their Scheme, and such Proposals or any of them shall be subject to Objection and Protest as herein provided Provided nevertheless, that nothing in this Act contained shall authorize the Sale of any Plate heretofore used for the Purposes of the Holy Communion, but the same shall be transferred, with the Consent of the Bishop of the Diocese, to the Church of the united Benefice, or if such Plate be not needed for such Church then to any other Church or Chapel or Churches or Chapels within the Diocese which the said Bishop may select. IX. Nothing in this Act contained shall be taken or construed to legalize the Sale or letting of any Burial Ground or Churchyard, or of the Site of any Church to be pulled down, if there shall have been any Interments or Deposits in any Grave or Vault under the Site of such Church; and if there shall be any Tablets or Monuments erected in such Church, such Tablets or Monuments, if not removed by the legal Representatives of the Parties to whom the same were erected, shall be carefully removed, at the Cost and Charge of the Parties removing the Church, and shall be fixed by them in some convenient Part of the Church thereafter to be constituted the Church of the united Parishes. X. From and after the Union of any Two or more Benefices under this Act, the Church left standing and remaining within such united Benefice shall be the Church of the united Parishes, and all Meetings of Vestry for Ecclesiastical Purposes within such Parishes shall be Vestry Meetings of the Parishes united under this Act; and the Vestry-room of the Church left standing within such united Parishes shall be held to be the Vestry-room of the united Parishes for the Use of the Parishioners thereof, and also the Vestry-room for secular Purposes for the Parishioners of each of the Parishes forming the united Parish, and for the Care and Preservation of the Deeds, Muniments, and Records belonging to the same: Provided always, that nothing in this Act contained shall be taken or construed to interfere with any Privileges or Liberties whatsoever reserved to any Parishes in the City of 22 Car. 2. c. 11. London by an Act of the Twenty-second Year of His Majesty Union of contiguous Benefices. King Charles the Second, commonly called the City of London . XI. And whereas by the Act of the Session holden in the 6 & 7 Vict. c. 77. Sixth and Seventh Years of Her Majesty, Chapter Seventy- Bishop of Lonseven, it was enacted, that out of the Proceeds of any Lands, don may, under Tithes, Tenements, or other Hereditaments in the Principality certain Circumof Wales, vested or to be vested in the Ecclesiastical Commis- stances, appro'sioners for England by or under the Provisions of the said priate for Serrecited Acts or that Act, it should be lawful, by the Authority a Church in therein mentioned, to make Provision, in whole or in part, for London otherthe competent Maintenance of any Spiritual Person or Persons wise to be (being a Native or Natives of the Principality aforesaid) who pulled down. might be licensed by the Bishop of the Diocese for the Time being to officiate in any Church or Chapel within London or 'Westminster or the Suburbs thereof, duly consecrated for the Performance of Divine Service according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the United Church of England and Ireland, in the Welsh Language, and such Bishop was thereby authorized to license any Spiritual Person or Persons accordingly' It shall be lawful for the Bishop of London, if he sees fit, to appropriate for the Performance of Divine Service in the Welsh Language, so long as such Provision shall continue to be made by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England, One of the Churches within his Diocese which might under this Act be pulled down : Provided always, that before such Appropriation sufficient Provision shall be made to the Satisfaction of the said Bishop for the Repairs, Maintenance, and Support of the Fabric of the Church, so long as such Church remains so appropriated. 6 vice in Welsh prepare a Transference of XII. And whereas Difficulties might arise in the Case of Bishop may} 'endowed Lectureships, when the Lectures have been customarily preached in a Church which may be taken down under the Authority of this Act:' It shall therefore be lawful for the Bishop of any Diocese for the Time being to prepare from Time Churches to be to Time under his Hand and Seal a Scheme or Schemes for pulled down. transferring such Lectures to other Churches, to be preached 16 & 17 Vict. therein at such Times as to the said Bishop may appear conve- c. 137. nient; and such Scheme shall be submitted by the said Bishop to the Charity Commissioners under the "Charitable Trusts Act, 1853," and such Scheme, if approved of by them, or subject to such Alterations therein as may appear to the said Commissioners advisable, and as shall be approved of by the said Bishop, shall be valid for effecting the Purposes therein mentioned, and shall be registered in the Registry of the Diocese: Provided nevertheless, that nothing in this Act contained shall give the Bishop any Power respecting the Appointment of a Lecturer without the Consent of the Incumbent of the Church in which such Lecturer is to officiate. XIII. When any Church is pulled down, under the Provisions Commissioners of this Act, Her Majesty's Commissioners for building new may reapproChurches, with the Consent of the Bishop of the Diocese or priate Pews of Chancellor Churches left standing in united Benefices. Sites of Churches to be pulled down to vest in Commissioners, in trust to sell, and apply the Pro ceeds to certain Purposes. Union of contiguous Benefices. Chancellor of the Diocese under his Hand and Seal, shall and they are hereby authorized to alter and readjust the Pews or Seats and the Appropriation thereof in the Church of the united Benefice left standing, so that not less than One Third of the Sittings in such Church shall be free and unappropriated, and the Remainder be placed at the Disposal of the Churchwardens, under the Control and Direction of the Bishop, of such Church, for the Use of the Parishioners of such united Benefice. XIV. After any Order in Council under this Act shall have obtained full Force of Law, the Fee Simple and Inheritance of the Site of any Church or Parsonage House by such Order in Council directed to be pulled down, and of the Building Materials of such Church or Parsonage House, shall, without any further Transfer, Conveyance, or other Form of Law being had, observed, or required, belong to and be vested in Her Majesty's Commissioners for building new Churches, in trust to make Sale or dispose of such Sites and Materials or any Part thereof, where the same may be sold, under the Powers and for the Purposes of this Act, and in further trust to apply the Proceeds of such Sale or Sales from Time to Time to such of the same Purposes as in Commissioners the said Order in Council may be indicated; and the said Commay make valid missioners, with the Consent of the Bishop of the Diocese under Conveyances of his Hand and Scal, may make a valid Conveyance in Fee Simple such Sites. to any Body or Person of the Site of any Church or Parsonage House pulled down under this Act, or by virtue of any Order in Council authorized hereby: Provided always, the said Commissioners shall give Two Calendar Months Notice in the London Gazette previous to the Sale or Disposal of such Site or any Part thereof, in order that thereby Facilities may be afforded for appropriating such Site to sanitary Purposes, public Improvements, or the Improvements of public Streets in the Vicinity; and if within Two Months from the Time such Notice shall have been inserted in the London Gazette the said Commissioners shall not receive an Offer which in their Judgment shall be satisfactory for the Purchase of such Land for the Purposes aforesaid, it shall be lawful for them to make Sale or to dispose of such Ground, at such Time and at such Prices and in such Manner as in their Discretion shall seem fit, and to apply the Proceeds of such Sale or Sales, from Time to Time, for or towards the Purposes hereinbefore mentioned. Proviso. Commissioners to report. Extent of Act. Continuance of XV. The Church Building Commissioners shall make an annual Report to Parliament respecting their Proceedings in pursuance of this Act. XVI. This Act shall extend only to that Part of the United Kingdom called England and Wales. XVII. The Operation of this Act shall be limited to Five Years from the Date of the same receiving the Royal Assent. CAP. |
