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No. 7. Act 3 & 4 W. 4, c. 27.

No arrears of

to be recovered

for more than

six years.

arrears or dower, nor any damages on account of such arrears, shall be recovered or obtained by any action or suit for a longer period than six years next before the commencement of such action or suit.

XLII. And be it further enacted, That after the said Thirty-first rent or interest day of December, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, no arrears of rent or of interest in respect of any sum of money charged upon or payable out of any land or rent, or in respect of any legacy, or any damages in respect of such arrears of rent or interest, shall be recovered by any distress, action, or suit, but within six years next after the same respectively shall have become due, or next after an acknowledgment of the same in writing shall have been given to the person entitled thereto, or his agent, signed by the person by whom the same was payable, or his agent: Provided nevertheless, that where any prior mortgagee or other incumbrancer shall have been in possession of any land, or in the receipt of the profits thereof, within one year next before an action or suit shall be brought by any person entitled to a subsequent mortgage or other incumbrance on the same land, the person entitled to such subsequent mortgage or incumbrance may recover in such action or suit the arrears of interest which shall have become due during the whole time that such prior mortgagee or incumbrancer was in such possession or receipt as aforesaid, although such time may have exceeded the said term of six years.

Act to extend to

the Spiritual Courts.

Act not to extend to

Scotland, nor to advowsons in

Ireland.

Act may be amended.

No. 8.

Act 3 & 4 W. 4, c. 106.

Meaning of words in the Act:

"Land."

XLIII. And be it further enacted, That after the said thirtyfirst day of December, One thousand eight hundred and thirtythree, no person claiming any tithes, legacy, or other property for the recovery of which he might bring an action or suit at law or in equity shall bring a suit or other proceeding in any spiritual Court to recover the same but within the period during which he might bring such action or suit at law or in equity.

XLIV. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That this Act shall not extend to Scotland, and shall not, so far as it relates to any right to permit to or bestow any church, vicarage, or other ecclesiastical benefice, extend to Ireland.

XLV. And be it further enacted, That this Act may be amended, altered, or repealed during this present Session of Parliament.

No. 8.-Wm. 4, ch. 106. An Act for the Amendment of the Law of
Inheritance. (29th August, 1833.)

BE

E it enacted by the King'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 the words and expressions hereinafter mentioned, which in their ordinary signification have a more confined or a different meaning, shall in this Act, except where the nature of the provision or the context of the Act shall exclude such construction, be interpreted as follows; (that is to say,) the word "land" shall extend to manors, advowsons, messuages, and all other hereditaments, whether corporeal or incorporeal, and whether freehold or copyhold, or of any other tenure, and whether descendible according to the common law, or according to the custom of gavelkind or borough English, or any other custom, and to money

No. 8. Act 3 & 4

W. 4, c. 106.

to be laid out in the purchase of land, and to chattels and other personal property transmissible to heirs, and also to any share of the same hereditaments and properties, or any of them, and to any estate of inheritance, or estate for any life or lives, or other estate transmissible to heirs, and to any possibility, right, or title of entry or action, and any other interest capable of being inherited, and whether the same estates, possibilities, rights, titles, and interests, or any of them, shall be in possession, reversion, remainder, or contingency; and the words "the "The purpurchaser" shall mean the person who last acquired the land chaser." otherwise than by descent, or than by any escheat, partition, or inclosure, by the effect of which the land shall have become part of or descendible in the same manner as other land acquired by descent; and the word "descent" shall mean the title to inherit land "Descent." by reason of consanguinity, as well where the heir shall be an ancestor or collateral relation, as where he shall be a child or other issue; and the expression "descendants" of any ancestor shall extend to all persons who must trace their descent through such ancestor; and the expression "the person last entitled to land shall extend to the last person who had a right thereto, whether he entitled." did or did not obtain the possession or the receipt of the rents and profits thereof; and the word " assurance shall mean any deed "Assurance." or instrument (other than a will) by which any land shall be conveyed or transferred at law or in equity; and every word importing Number and the singular number only shall extend and be applied to several gender. persons or things as well as one person or thing; and every word importing the masculine gender only shall extend and be applied to a female as well as a male.

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II. And be it further enacted, That in every case descent shall be traced from the purchaser; and to the intent that the pedigree may never be carried further back than the circumstances of the case and the nature of the title shall require, the person entitled to the land shall, for the purposes of this Act, be considered to have been the purchaser thereof, unless it shall be proved that he inherited the same, in which case the person from whom he inherited the same shall be considered to have been the purchaser, unless it shall be proved that he inherited the same; and in like manner the last person from whom the land shall be proved to have been inherited, shall in every case be considered to have been the purchaser, unless it shall be proved that he inherited the same. III. And be it further enacted, That when any land shall have been devised by any testator who shall die after the Thirty-first day of December, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, to the heir or to the person who shall be the heir of such testator, such heir shall be considered to have acquired the land as a devisee, and not by descent; and when any land shall have been limited, by any assurance executed after the said Thirty-first day of December, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, to the person or to the heirs of the person who shall thereby have conveyed the same land, such person shall be considered to have acquired the same as a purchaser by virtue of such assurance, and shall not be considered to be entitled thereto as his former estate or part thereof. IV. And be it further enacted, That when any person shall have acquired any land by purchase under a limitation to the heirs or to the heirs of the body of any of his ancestors, contained in an

"Descendants."

"Person last

Descent shall
always be
traced from the
purchaser, but
the last owner

shall be con-
sidered to be
the purchaser,

unless the contrary be proved.

Heir entitled

under a will shall take as

devisee, and

a limitation to

the grantor or his heirs shall create an estate by purchase.

Where heirs take by pur

chase under limitations to

No. 8.

Act 3 & 4 W. 4, c. 106.

the heirs of their ancestor, the land shall descend as if the ancestor had been the purchaser. Brothers, &c., shali trace

descent through their parent.

Lineal ancestor may be heir in preference to collateral persous claiming through him.

assurance executed after the said thirty-first day of December, One thousand eight hundred and Thirty-three, or under a limitation to the heirs or to the heirs of the body of any of his ancestors, or under any limitation having the same effect, contained in a will of any testator who shall depart this life after the said Thirty-first day of December, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, then and in any of such cases such land shall descend, and the descent thereof shall be traced as if the ancestor named in such limitation had been the purchaser of such land.

V. And be it further enacted, That no brother or sister shall be considered to inherit immediately from his or her brother or sister, but every descent from a brother or sister shall be traced through the parent.

VI. And be it further enacted, That every lineal ancestor shall be capable of being heir to any of his issue; and in every case where there shall be no issue of the purchaser, his nearest lineal ancestor shall be his heir in preference to any person who would have been entitled to inherit, either by tracing his descent through such lineal ancestor, or in consequence of there being no descendant of such lineal ancestor, so that the father shall be preferred to a brother or sister, and a more remote lineal ancestor to any of his issue, other than a nearer lineal ancestor or his issue.

The male line VII. And be it further enacted and declared, That none of the to be preferred. maternal ancestors of the person from whom the descent is to be traced, nor any of their descendants, shall be capable of inheriting until all his paternal ancestors and their descendants shall have failed; and also that no female paternal ancestor of such person, nor any of her descendants, shall be capable of inheriting until all his male paternal ancestors and their descendants shall have failed; and that no female maternal ancestor of such person, nor any of her descendants, shall be capable of inheriting until all his male maternal ancestors and their descendants shall have failed.

The mother of more remote male ancestor to be preferred to the mother of the less

remote male ancestor.

Half-blood, if
on the part of
a male ancestor,
the whole-blood

to inherit after

of the same degree; if on the part of a female ancestor, after her.

VIII. And be it further enacted and declared, That where there shall be a failure of male paternal ancestors of the person from whom the descent is to be traced, and their descendants, the mother of his more remote male paternal ancestor, or her descendants, shall be the heir or heirs of such person, in preference to the mother of a less remote male paternal ancestor, or her descendants; and where there shall be a failure of male maternal ancestors of such person, and their descendants, the mother of his more remote male maternal ancestor, and her descendants, shall be the heir or heirs of such person, in preference to the mother of a less remote male maternal ancestor, and her descendants.

IX. And be it further enacted, That any person related to the person from whom the descent is to be traced by the half-blood shall be capable of being his heir; and the place in which any such relation by the half-blood shall stand in the order of inheritance, so as to be entitled to inherit, shall be next after any relation in the same degree of the whole-blood and his issue, where the common ancestor shall be a male, and next after the common ancestor where such common ancestor shall be a female, so that the brother of the half-blood on the part of the father shall inherit next after the sisters of the whole-blood on the part of the father and their issue, and the brother of the half-blood on the part of the mother shall inherit next after the mother.

No. 8. Act 3 & 4 W. 4, c. 106. After the death

X. And be it further enacted, That when the person from whom the descent of any land is to be traced shall have had any relation who, having been attainted, shall have died before such descent shall have taken place, then such attainder shall not prevent any person from inheriting such land who would have been capable of of a person inheriting the same, by tracing his descent through such relation, attainted, his if he had not been attainted, unless such land shall have escheated descendants in consequence of such attainder, before the First day of January, may inherit. One thousand eight hundred and thirty-four.

XI. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall not extend to any descent which shall take place on the death of any person who shall die before the said First day of January, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-four.

XII. And be it further enacted, That where any assurance executed before the said First day of January, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, or the will of any person who shall die before the same First day of January, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, shall contain any limitation or gift to the heir or heirs of any person, under which the person or persons answering the description of heir shall be entitled to an estate by purchase, then the person or persons who would have answered such description of heir if this Act had not been made shall become entitled by virtue of such limitation or gift, whether the person named as ancestor shall or shall not be living on or after the said First day of January, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-four.

Act not to extend to any descent before

Jan., 1834. Limitations made before

the 1st Jan., 1834, to the

heirs of a person then living, shall take effect

as if the Act had not been

made.

No. 9.

Act 6 & 7

No. 9.-6 & 7 Wm. 4, ch. 111. An Act to prevent the Fact of a previous Conviction being given in Evidence to the Jury on the Case before them, except when Evidence to Character is given. W. 4, c. 111. (20th August, 1836.)

WHO HEREAS by an Act passed in the seventh and eighth years 7 & 8 G. 4, of the reign of King George the Fourth, entitled, "An Act c. 28. for further improving the Administration of Justice in Criminal Cases," provision is made for the more exemplary punishment of offenders who shall commit any felony not punishable with death after a previous conviction for felony; And whereas, since the passing of the said Act the practice has been on the trial of any person for any such subsequent felony to charge the jury to inquire at the same time concerning such previous conviction; And whereas A previous doubts may be reasonably entertained whether such practice is conviction not consistent with a fair and impartial inquiry as regards the matter to be given in charge or read of such subsequent felony, and it is expedient that such practice to the jury until should from henceforth be discontinued; Be it therefore enacted after the finding by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and for a subsequent consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in felony; except this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That from and after the passing of this Act it shall not be lawful on the trial of any person for any such subsequent felony to charge the jury to inquire concerning such previous conviction, until after they shall have inquired concerning such subsequent felony, and shall have found such person guilty of the same; and whenever in any indictment such previous conviction shall be

when evidence as to good character is given.

No. 9. Act 6 & 7 W. 4, c. 111.

No. 10.

Act 6 & 7 W. 4, c. 114.

All persons tried for felony after 1st October

next may make

stated, the reading of such statement to the jury as part of the indictment shall be deferred until after such finding as aforesaid: Provided nevertheless, that if upon the trial of any person for any such subsequent felony as aforesaid, such person shall give evidence of his or her good character, it shall be lawful for the prosecutor, in answer thereto, to give evidence of the indictment and conviction of such person for the previous felony before such verdict of guilty shall have been returned, and the jury shall inquire concerning such previous conviction for felony at the same time that they inquire concerning the subsequent felony.

No. 10.—6 & 7 Wm. 4, ch. 114. An Act for enabling Persons indicted of Felony to make their Defence by Counsel or Attorney. (20th Aug., 1836.)

WHEREAS it is just and reasonable that persons accused of

answer and defence to all that is alleged against them; Be it therefore enacted by the King'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 authotheir defence by rity of the same, That from and after the First day of October next all persons tried for felonies shall be admitted, after the close of the case for the prosecution, to make full answer and defence thereto, by counsel learned in the law, or by attorney in Courts where attorneys practise as counsel.

Counsel or
Attorney.

No. 11. Act 1 Vic.

c. 28.

3 & 4 W. 4, c. 27.

Mortgagees within the definition in 3 & 4 W. 4, c. 27, s. 1, may bring

actions to recover land

within 20 years

after last payment of principal or interest.

No. 11.-1 Vic. ch. 28. An Act to amend an Act of the Third and
Fourth Years of His late Majesty, for the Limitation of Actions
and Suits relating to Real Property, and for simplifying the
Remedies for trying the Rights thereto. (3rd July, 1837.)

W

HEREAS doubts have been entertained as to the effect of a certain Act of Parliament made in the third and fourth years of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, entitled, " An Act for the Limitation of Actions and Suits relating to Real Property, and for simplifiing the Remedies for trying the Rights thereto," so far as the same relates to mortgages; and it is expedient that such doubts should be removed; Be it 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 it shall and may be lawful for any person entitled to, or claiming under any mortgage of land, being land within the definition contained in the first section of the said Act, to make an entry or bring an action at law or suit in equity to recover such land at any time within Twenty years next after the last payment of any part of the principal money or interest secured by such mortgage, although more than Twenty years may have elapsed since the time at which the right to make such entry, or bring such action or suit in equity shall have first accrued, anything in the said Act notwithstanding.

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