3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 74, s. 80. woman. Court cannot order married woman to convey. this act, shall examine her, apart from her husband, touching her knowledge of such deed, and shall ascertain whether she freely and voluntarily consents to such deed, and, unless she freely and voluntarily consent to such deed, shall not permit her to acknowledge the same; and in such case such deed shall, so far as relates to the execution thereof by such married woman, be void (x). (x) See Reg. Gen. III. (Hil. T. 1834), p. 400, post, as to the examination of a married woman. No person connected with the husband ought to be present when a married woman's examination as to her consent is taken. (Re Bendyshe, 3 Jur., N. S. 727; 26 Law J., Chan. 814.) The court directed the officers to file an acknowledgment of a married woman who was deaf Acknowledgment and dumb. The nature of the transaction having been duly explained to by deaf and dumb her by signs, and she in like manner signifying her assent, and these facts appearing upon affidavit and also upon the certificate. (Re Harper, 7 Scott, N. R. 431; 6 Man. & G. 732.) The form of the certificate of acknowledgment by a deaf and dumb woman, and the affidavit to verify the same, are given in Macqueen on Husband and Wife, App. pp. 31-34, 1st ed. The Court of Chancery has no jurisdiction to compel a conveyance by a married woman pursuant to its decree. In Jordan v. Jones, (2 Phill. C. C. 170,) the plaintiff was equitable mortgagee of an estate by virtue of a deposit of title deeds made by Mrs. Jones when sole, she being at the time mortgagee in fee of the estates. The suit was for a foreclosure of the mortgage or a sale. By the decree it was ordered that the estate should be sold, and that all proper parties should join in the conveyance as the master should direct. The estate was accordingly sold, and the purchaser having paid his money into court was let into possession; but Mrs. Jones and her husband refused to execute the deed of conveyance; whereupon an order was made by Wigram, V.-C., that Mrs. Jones should execute a conveyance pursuant to the decree, and acknowledge it before a master or commissioner as required by this act. But, upon appeal, Lord Cottenham, C., reversed his Honor's order, being, after some hesitation, of opinion, "that the court had no authority to make such an order against a married woman." But she may be Where a ward of court married without consent, and after she attained her majority executed, by the direction of the Court of Chancery, a settlement of real estate to which she was equitably entitled, and did not acknowledge the deed under this act it was held, that the heir was not bound, as the court could not have compelled the wife to acknowledge the deed. (Field v. Moore, Field v. Brown, 7 De G., M. & G. 691.) In such cases, however, the married woman may usually be established declared a trustee. to be a trustee, and a vesting order obtained under the Trustee Act. (Daniell, Ch. Pr. 169; Dart, 1105.) A married woman, a party to a creditor's suit for the administration of the estate of a person of whom she was heir at law, was, by the decree in the cause, ordered to convey. She accordingly executed the deed but refused to acknowledge it under this statute. The purchaser, by his petition, prayed a reference to the master under the stat. 1 Will. 4, c. 60, to inquire whether she was a trustee, and the court referred it to the master to inquire whether the conveyance executed by her was a proper one to be executed and acknowledged by her under the decree, and if not, to approve of a proper conveyance. (Billing v. Webb, 12 Jur. 247; 1 De G. & S. 716.) As to the appoint Appointment of perpetual Commissioners. 81. For the purpose of providing convenient means of taking ment of perpetual acknowledgments by married women of the deeds to be executed by them as aforesaid, the Lord Chief Justice of the Court commissioners for each county or place, and the be c. 74, s. 81. making out and keeping of the missioners and the delivery of lists of the com copies. of Common Pleas at Westminster shall from time to time 3 & 4 Will. 4, appoint such proper persons as he shall think fit, for every county, riding, division, soke or place, for which there may a clerk of the peace, to be perpetual commissioners for taking such acknowledgments, and such commissioners shall be removable by and at the pleasure of the said Lord Chief Justice; and lists of the names of such commissioners for the time being, with the names of their place of residence, and the counties, ridings, divisions, sokes, or places for which they shall be respectively appointed to act, shall from time to time be made out and be kept by the officer of the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster with whom the certificates of the acknowledgments by married women are to be lodged as hereinafter mentioned; and such officer shall from time to time transmit, without fee or reward, to the clerk of the peace for each county, riding, division, soke or place, or his deputy, a copy of the list to be so from time to time made out for that county, riding, division, soke or place, and such officer shall deliver a copy signed by him, of the list for the time being for any county, riding, division, soke or place, to any person applying for the same; and the clerk of the peace for each county, riding, division, soke or place, or his deputy, shall deliver a copy, signed by him, of the list last transmitted to him as aforesaid to any person applying for the same (y). (y) By 23 & 24 Vict. c. 127, s. 30, every appointment made after 28th Appointment to August, 1860, of any attorney or solicitor, under this section, to be a perbe registered. petual commissioner for taking acknowledgments of married women under this act shall, before any such authority or appointment is acted upon, be brought to the registrar by the person to whom the same is granted, or some person on his behalf, and the registrar shall, in books to be kept for that purpose, enter the particulars of every such authority or appointment on payment of one shilling, and the registrar shall mark such authority or appointment as having been entered, and with the date of the entry; and such book shall at all times be open to public inspection during office hours without fee or reward. Power of perpetual Commissioners. 82. Provided always, and be it further enacted, that any person appointed commissioner for any particular county, riding, division, soke or place, shall be competent to take the acknowledgment of any married woman wheresoever she may reside, and wheresoever the lands or money in respect of which the acknowledgment is to be taken may be (z). (z) The two commissioners who take the acknowledgment in England must both be appointed for the county in which the acknowledgment is taken. (Webster to Carline, 4 Man. & G. 27; 1 Dowl. P. C., N. S. 678.) The commissioners for taking the acknowledgments of married women have a lien for their fees on the instruments in their joint possession, and if a deed were in the possession of one only, he might, if authorized by the other, detain the deed for that other's lien. (Ex parte Grove, 3 Bing. N. C. 364.) Power of persioners not confined to any par petual commis ticular place. S. сс 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 74, s. 83. If, from being beyond seas, &c. a married woman be prevented from making the acknowledgment, special commissioners to be appointed. Form of special commission. When time for returning commission will be enlarged. Variances between signatures of commissioners and names in commission. Special Commissioners. 83. In those cases where, by reason of residence beyond seas, or ill-health, or any other sufficient cause, any married woman shall be prevented from making the acknowledgment required by this act before a judge or a master in chancery, or any of the perpetual commissioners to be appointed as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, or any judge of that court, to issue a commission specially appointing any person therein named to be commissioners to take the acknowledgment by any married woman to be therein named of any such deed as aforesaid (a): provided always, that every such commission shall be made returnable within such time, to be therein expressed, as the said court or judge shall think fit. (a) The following is the form of a special commission issued under this section: "I [name of judge], one of the justices of her Majesty's Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, do, by virtue of the statute in that case made and provided, appoint A. B. and C. D. special commissioners, to take the acknowledgment of Ann the wife of E. F., now residing at —, in of any deed by which it is intended to pass the estate of her the said Ann [or to bar the dower of her the said Ann] as a married woman, pursuant to the statute 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 74. And I do order and direct that this commission shall be executed and returned to the proper officer of the court on or before the day of —, 187-. day of 187-." "Dated this "Entered." The court will not enlarge the time for returning a special commission for taking an acknowledgment of a married woman abroad, where it has been executed after the return day named therein. (Re Carter, 9 C. B., N. S. 701. See, however, Re Grierson, I. R., 4 C. L. 232.) The court will enlarge the time for returning a special commission for taking the acknowledgment of a married woman abroad where it has been duly executed, but its return has been unavoidably delayed until after the return day therein named. (Re Van Ufford, 9 C. B., N. S. 789.) The court will enlarge the time for returning a commission for taking the acknowledgment of a married woman abroad under this act, where, by reason of the remoteness of the residences of the parties, the time has proved to be too short. (Re Booth, 5 C. B., N. S. 540.) The acknowledgment of a married woman taken abroad under this act must be taken by the persons mentioned in the commission; and therefore, where there were variances between the names of the persons designated in the commission as commissioners and the names in the signatures attached, the court required that there should be an identification by affidavits of persons on the spot bearing positive testimony to the fact. A commission was directed to William Bates, lawyer, John Howey, wholesale grocer, and Alexander Cummins, wholesole grocer, all of Debuque, in the state Iowa, in the United States of America. The certificate of acknowledgment was signed by Andrew Cummins and John Hoey. The affidavit of verification was made by Hoey, who described himself as one of the commissioners, and stated the certificate was signed by Andrew Cummins, "the other commissioner." An affidavit was produced made by the solicitor who prepared and sent out the commission, who stated that "he verily believed that Andrew Cummins and John Hoey, who signed the certificate of acknowledgment, and John Hoey, who made the affidavit of the due taking thereof, were the persons to whom the commission was intended to be directed. The court refused to allow the documents to be received and filed without an affidavit by some person acquainted with the place, who could more clearly identify the parties for those intended. (Re Booth, 5 C. B., N. S. 541; 4 Jur., N. S. 1301; 28 L. J., C. P. 138.) A commission to take the acknowledgment of a deed by a married woman at Poonah, in the East Indies, was addressed to commissioners, one of whom was described as " Edward C. Jones," a collector and magistrate at that place. The acknowledgment was duly taken by Mr. Jones and one of the other commissioners, but Jones signed the certificate and affidavit of verification, "Edmund C. Jones." The court allowed the document to be received and filed upon the production of affidavits showing that Edmund C. Jones was the person to whom the commission was intended to go, that he had always been described in the register at the India House as "Edward C. Jones," and that there was no other collector of that name in the Company's service. (Re Price, 17 C. B. 708.) A commission for taking the acknowledgment of a married woman abroad, under this act, was addressed to "Robert Roger Strong, registrar of the Supreme Court of Wellington, New Zealand;" and on its return the acknowledgment was found to have been taken by "Robert Rodger Strang, registrar of the Supreme Court of Wellington:" it was held, that the objection might be got over by a slight explanation on affidavit showing the identity of the party. (Re Smith, 10 C. B., N. S. 344; 9 W. R. 556.) The court allowed a commission for taking the acknowledgment of a deed by a married woman at Sydney, in New South Wales, to go out with a blank for her christian name, which was unknown (In re Appleton, 1 C. B. 477), but when the commission is returned, the court will require strict proof of her identity. (In re Atherton, 3 Dowl. & L. 26.) The court allowed a commission for taking the acknowledgment of a married woman in Australia, under this section, to go out with a blank for a christian name of the husband, which (the marriage having taken place there) was unknown here. (In re Legge, 15 C. B. 364.) Where the acknowledgment of a married woman had been taken in a remote part of India, under peculiar circumstances, in the absence of all the commissioners, before two gentlemen who were not named in the commission, the court allowed the commission to be amended by inserting their names therein. (Re Stubbs, 4 Man. & G. 609.) It is not necessary to state in a certificate under this section the specific place at which the acknowledgment of a married woman has been taken; it is enough if the deed appear to have been executed within the terms of the commission. (Ex parte Hutchinson, 17 L. J., C. P. 111; 5 C. B. 499; 5 Dowl. & L. 523.) As to prima facie evidence of the sealing of a deed acknowledged by a married woman before special commissioners appointed under this section, see Re Sandilands, L. R., 6 C. P. 411. Memorandum of Acknowledgment. 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 74, s. 83. woman shall taking the ac 84. When a married woman shall acknowledge any such When a married deed as aforesaid, the judge, master in chancery or commis- acknowledge a sioners taking such acknowledgment, shall sign a memorandum, deed, the person to be indorsed on or written at the foot or in the margin of such knowledgment to deed, which memorandum, subject to any alteration which may dum to the effect from time to time be directed by the Court of Common Pleas, here mentioned: shall be to the following effect; videlicet, therein THIS deed, marked [here add some letter or other mark 'for the purpose of identification], was this day produced. before me [or us] and acknowledged by 'named to be her act and deed; previous to which acknowledgment the said was examined by me [or us] separately and apart from her husband, touching her knowledge of the contents of the said deed and her consent thereto, and declared the same to be freely and voluntarily executed by her.' sign a memoran 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 74, s. 84. and also sign a certificate of the taking of such acknowledgment to the effect here mentioned. Form of certificate. Certificate of Acknowledgment. And the same judge, master in chancery or commissioners, shall also sign a certificate of the taking of such acknowledgment, to be written or ingrossed on a separate piece of parchment, which certificate, subject to any alteration which may from time to time be directed by the Court of Common Pleas, shall be to the following effect; videlicet, 6 THESE are to certify that on the day of ' in the year one thousand eight hundred and was, at the 'time of her acknowledging the said deed, of full age and compétent understanding, and that she was examined by me '[or us] apart from her husband, touching her knowledge of 'the contents of the said deed, and that she freely and volun'tarily consented to the same' (b). (b) When the above form of certificate to be made by commissioners for taking the acknowledgments of married women will not suit the particular circumstances of the case, the Court of Common Pleas will make a special order for the alteration in that case. Thus where lands were vested in two infant females, one of whom was married, and a conveyance had been ordered to be made in pursuance of the stat. 11 Geo. 4 & 1 Will. 4, c. 60, ss. 6, 7, the commissioners for taking the acknowledgment having refused to take the acknowledgment, the court directed them to take it, and to omit the words "of full age" in the certificate. (Re Luke, 1 Scott, 80; S. C., 1 Bing. N. R. 265.) In general the certificate will not be filed unless the affidavit state positively that the woman is of full age. A statement of belief is not sufficient. (Re Coverley, 8 Scott, 147.) A certificate of acknowledgment of a deed by a married woman was allowed to be filed where, in lieu of the form given in this section, the commissioners merely certified that the lady was, as they believed, of full age. (Ex parte Wallis, 7 C. B., N. S. 303; 6 Jur., N. S. 201.) See Reg. Gen., Trin. T. 1834, I., p. 403, post. The certificate of the acknowledgments of two married women, taken |