No private erected. Section 7 enacts,' that no private building or buildings shall building to be be made or erected upon any of the lands vested in Her Majesty, as aforesaid; and that the whole profits arising, or that shall thereafter arise from the same, be thereby appropriated and applied for and towards the erection and reparations of the respective fortifications of each place; and all and singular the premises shall be thereby enacted and declared to be unalienable from the Crown, neither shall any part of the premises be demised or demisable, otherwise than during pleasure only. Vesting Acts of Geo. III.'s Reign. Vesting Acts of Geo. 11.'s Reign. 1780. The Seven Years' War was the next occasion when recourse was had to these extraordinary powers. The preamble of the 31 Geo. II., cap. 39, states, "that the great preparations made by France for invading these realms" had obliged the officers of the Ordnance to enter upon private lands for erecting and making fortifications and intrenchments thereon to protect the dockyards and these lands (which were specified in the preamble) were vested in the Speaker and other persons upon the usual trusts. By this and by later Acts not only the owners of lands which were so taken but of other lands adjoining were authorised to come before the Commissioners for compensation for any damage received by them from making and raising the intrenchments, lines, and fortifications. The next Act (2 Geo. III., cap. 374) states in its preamble. that as the coasts of Sussex, Kent, and Southampton were exposed to hostile invasion, the late King had ordered the Ordnance officers to erect forts and batteries there, which having been done with the landowners consent, these sites (12 in number and enumerated) were vested by the Act in the usual manner. The apprehension of invasion from the allied forces of France and Spain in 1780, and the continuance of the then war led to 1 This section is found in some of the later Vesting Acts, and a popular view United Land of the subject was that it gave the successors in title, and also the adjacent owners, a Company ". right to insist upon its observance by the Crown; in effect that it was a trust declared Great Eastern for their benefit. In a recent case, where a Railway Company urged this restriction Railway Comas limiting a right of way for non-building purposes, the late Lord Justice Mellish pany, 10 Law observed, "What has been said about the statute of Anne really has nothing to do Reports with the case. Of course that restriction was not passed for the benefit of the (Char. App.) company, and the company are not entitied to the benefit of it. The only effect of that restriction was that the Crown could not part with the land without obtaining an enabling Act of Parliament, but it was no part of the bargain with the company that the Commissioners of the Office of Woods would not obtain such an Act. The lands became useless for the purpose of defence, and the Crown never bargained with the company that it would not part with them, and that it would not sell the lands for the best price, or have them employed in any manner which might be most suitable. "Therefore I am of opinion that there is nothing to restrain the Crown from selling the land for any purpose it thought fit, and nothing to restrain the purchasers from the Crown from using these rights of way across the level crossings for any purpose that may be convenient for the enjoyment of the land." 2 Carried out by 32 Geo. II., cap. 30 and 33 Geo. 2, cap. 11. 3 See sec. 9 of 20 Geo. III., cap. 38, and sec. 10 of ib., cap. 49. p. 591, Geo. III., c. 12. several Vesting Acts' being passed. In the second group of In the third group a somewhat different method of procedure Officers of ration, to specify the be wanted for The sections for these objects were as follows: The Master29 (Sess. 2). General or Principal Officers of His Majesty's Ordnance shall, fore Jan. 1, and he or they is and are hereby required, on or before the 1785, in a 1st January 1785, to make a declaration in writing, signed by written declahim or them, or any three of them, wherein shall be specified the particular parts or parcels of the lands, tenements, and heredita- particular ments hereby vested, which shall be wanted for the purposes vested lands, aforesaid; and of such declaration, on or before the time afore- &c., which will said, to give or leave notice in writing, to or at the most usual the purposes place or places of abode of the several owners or proprietors aforesaid. thereof respectively; and such or the like notice shall be affixed on the church doors of the several parishes wherein the lands, tenements, and hereditaments, to be comprised or mentioned in such notice, shall respectively lie: and that all and singular the lands, tenements, and hereditaments hereby vested in trustees for specified shall the purposes aforesaid, whereof no such declaration shall be made, be revested in and notice given as aforesaid, shall be, and the same are hereby the former declared to be, from and after the said 1st January 1785, revested proprietors. in the several owners and proprietors thereof respectively, for such estates and interests as they had therein respectively before the passing of this Act (subject nevertheless to such restriction as is next hereinafter mentioned); anything herein contained to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding. bid, s. 13. And all the lands not so And whereas certain parts of the lands, tenements, and Clause relahereditaments, vested by this Act, may be wanted only for the tive to lands, purpose of restraining the proprietors thereof from erecting any only for rebuilding, structure, or edifice thereon, which, from their too straining the 1 1st Group.--20 Geo. III., cap. 38 and 49, which were carried out by 21 Geo. III., cap. 10, and 22 Geo. III., cap. 12, as amended by 21 Geo. III., cap. 61., and 24 Geo. III., cap. 29 (Sess. 2). 2 2nd Group.-22 Geo. III., cap. 80, carried out by 23 Geo. III., cap. 71, as to Chatham. 33rd Group.-23 Geo. III., cap. 87, amended by 24 Geo. III., cap. 29 (Sess. 2), and carried out by 26 Geo. III., cap. 94. &c., wanted proprietors from building thereon. great vicinity may be prejudicial to the said fortifications erected, or to be erected, for the defence of the said docks, ships, and stores; be it therefore enacted, that no private building, structure, or edifice (other than and except barns, hovels, or other buildings to be composed of wood only) shall at any time or times after the passing of this Act be made or erected upon any of the lands so vested by this Act as aforesaid; and that upon such declaration being made and signed, and notice thereof given and affixed as is hereinbefore mentioned and directed, the jury so to be empanelled as aforesaid shall thereupon assess, instead of the value of the lands hereby vested, which shall not be contained or specified in such declaration, the damages which in their estimation such proprietor or proprietors shall or may sustain by reason of such restriction as aforesaid; and that the damages so to be assessed by the jury for such restriction shall be paid to the several owners and proprietors of such lands respectively, out of the aids to be granted in Parliament, in the same manner as is herein before directed respecting the payment to be made for the absolute purchase of the lands, tenements, and hereditaments which shall be appropriated for the public service hereinbefore mentioned; and if any person or persons shall, after the assessment of such damages, erect, or cause to be erected, on any parts of such lands, any building, structure, or edifice (other than as aforesaid), then, and in every such case, the Master-General or Principal Officers of His Majesty's Ordnance for the time being, or any person or persons authorised by him or them, shall, and he or they is and are hereby empowered to abate or pull down the same, and level the ground on which such building, structure, or edifice shall have been so erected.1 1 The Portsmouth Commissioners made this award of compensation, under sec. 13, in respect of these lands (see Judgments & Decrees, vol. 3, pp. 71-73) : We also find that the said Henry Abraham is the proprietor of all that piece or parcel of land commonly called or known by the name of "the Bishops," containing by estimation three acres and one rood, or thereabouts, bounded as in the said Act mentioned, and that the damages which in our estimation the said Henry Abraham will sustain, by reason of such restriction, from erecting any buildings except as in the said Act is mentioned, on the said piece or parcel of land called "the Bishops," are 137. We further find that Samuel Marshall, Esq., and Thomas Geary, Esq., are the proprietors in undivided moieties, subject as hereinbefore mentioned, of all that piece or parcel of land commonly called or known by the name of the "Outer Sluice Cuts," containing by estimation five acres and nine perches, or thereabouts, and which, with another piece of land called the "Inner Sluice Cuts," hereinbefore mentioned, is bounded as in the said Act mentioned, and that the damages which in our estimation will be sustained by reason of such restriction from erecting any buildings (except as in the said Act mentioned) on the said piece of land called the "Outer Sluice Cuts," are 281. 8s. 9d. We further find that Alexander Chorley, Esq., is the proprietor of all that piece or parcel of land commonly called or known by the name of the "Eleven Acres," containing by estimation eight acres, two roods, and twenty-nine perches, or thereabouts, bounded as in the said Act mentioned, and also of all that other or remaining part, containing two acres, two roods, and seven perches, or thereabouts, of all those two pieces or parcels of land adjoining to each other, commonly called or known by the names of the "Great Kiln Close" and "Little Kiln Close," herein before mentioned, and that the damages which in our estimation the said Alexander Chorley will sustain by reason of such restriction from erecting any buildings (except as in the said Act is mentioned) on the said lands lastly above described, are 631. 2s. 8d. The French revolutionary war obliged the Government to have recourse to Parliament for the further acquisition of land on the south coasts of Kent and Devon, and under the Acts then passed the camp at Shorncliffe was acquired and Woolwich Arsenal enlarged.1 5 During the war commencing in 1802 large acquisitions of 1802 to 1815. land were made and several Vesting Acts were passed. In 1802-4, Woolwich was largely increased. In 1804, Weedon3 and Warley were acquired for ordnance store purposes, and the lines at Chatham were extended. In 1806, Portsmouth was better secured, and the Dover lines extended. In 1807, the lands for the formation of the Royal Military Canal and Road were purchased. And lastly, in 1814-15, large tracts of land were acquired for the extension of the Hilsea and Portsmouth lines." In the year 1821, these and all other lands which at various times had been purchased for the use of the Ordnance, and had been conveyed to different persons in trust for His Majesty and placed under the charge of the Department were, by the 1 and 2 Geo. IV., c. 69, vested in the Principal Officers of the Ordnance for the time being and their successors in trust for the Crown. Statutory powers were also thereby given to the Ordnance Board for the management of this property, which were extended by the 2 Wm. IV., c. 25, and remained in force until the law was consolidated by the Defence Act, 1842, the provisions of which statute have been already set forth in the earlier part of this work. III. THE STATUTES UNDER WHICH THE BAR- I. As to Barracks in England." 1792. In 1792 a Barrack-Master-General was appointed by the MasterCrown, under circumstances of which the history is to be found General. elsewhere, and in 1805 it was stated in the preamble of the Geo. III 45 Geo. III., cap. 69, to be expedient that the messuages, lands, 59., sec. 1 tenements, and hereditaments, which had at various times been purchased for the service of the Barrack Department, or which were then held by or vested in the late Barrack-Master-General, 134 Geo. III., cap. 76, and 37 Geo. III., cap. 66, carried out by 38 Geo. III., cap. 34. 2 44 Geo. III., cap. 79, carried out by 46 Geo. III., cap. 130. 42 Geo. III., cap. 89., 43 Geo. III., cap. 35-65, carried out by 44 Geo. III., cap. 107. 3 43 Geo. III., cap. 66, 44 Geo. III., cap. 78. 4 44 Geo. III., cap. 79, carried out by 46 Geo. III., cap. 130. 554 Geo. III., cap. 43, carried out by 55 Geo. III., cap. 123. 6 46 Geo. III., cap. 105, carried out by 49 Geo. III., cap. 39. 7 As to the history of this establishment, Military Forces, vol. i., p. 240, et seq. All premises Master General, &c., for the and all other Master General for or the present Barrack-Master-General, or any other person or persons for the use of the said service; and also that all messuages, lands, tenements, and hereditaments, which might thereafter be purchased for the said service, should be vested in the Barrack-Master-General for the time being, and his successors in the said office, in trust for His Majesty, his heirs and successors, and for the purposes of the said service, or for such other public service or services as His Majesty may from time to time direct. The Act then enacted, that all and singular the messuages, lands, tenements, and hereditaments, which had been conveyed to or were thus vested in Lieutenant-General Oliver De Lancey, late Barrack-Master-General, or Lieutenant-General George Hewitt, now Barrack-Master-General, or any other person or persons in trust for His Majesty, his heirs and successors, for the service of the Barrack Department, and all erections and buildings Barrack- erected and built thereon, together with the rights, members, Department, easements, and appurtenances to the same respectively bepremises here- longing (other, than and except such messuages, lands, teneafter to be ments, and hereditaments, as may be of copyhold tenure), and, purchased for from and after the purchase and conveyance, grant or demise that Department, shall be thereof, all other messuages, lands, tenements, and hereditavested in the ments, which should at any time or times thereafter be purchased Barrack- by the Barrack-Master-General for the time being, for the service of the Barrack Department, and all erections and buildings erected the time being, and built thereon, with the rights, members, easements, and appurtenances to the same respectively belonging, should be and become and remain and continue vested in the Barrack-MasterGeneral for the time being, and his successors in the said office, according to the nature and quality and estate and interest of and in the same hereditaments and premises respectively; and that upon the death, resignation, or removal of the present and every future Barrack-Master-General, all such messuages, lands, tenements, and hereditaments respectively (other than and except as aforesaid) should become vested in and be held by the succeeding Barrack-Master-General, and so in perpetual succession according to the nature and quality and estate and interest of and in the same respectively, in trust for His Majesty, his heirs and successors, for the service of the Barrack Department, or for such other public service or services as His Majesty, his heirs and successors, shall from time to time be pleased to direct. in trust for His Majesty, for public purposes. 1808. Commis sioners. In or prior to the year 1808 the affairs of the Barrack DeThe Barrack partment were transferred to Commissioners appointed by the Crown, and it became necessary that all the messuages which by the last-mentioned Act had been vested in the BarrackMaster-General, and all other messuages in any manner used and occupied for the service of the Barrack Department, should be vested in the said Commissioners. Thereupon the 48 Geo. III., cap. 122, was passed, which vested these estates in Commissioners and gave them powers to sell the property, with Treasury sanction, and to bring and defend actions under their official title. |