OF LAW CASES AFFECTING FRIENDLY SOCIETIES CONTAINING MOST IMPORTANT DECISIONS, WITH COPIOUS INDEX OF PRACTICAL POINTS, TABLE OF CASES, REFERENCES TO ACTS OF PARLIAMENT TOGETHER WITH THE POOR LAW AMENDMENT ACT, 1879, ALSO THE PROVIDENT NOMINATIONS AND SMALL INTESTACIES ACT, 1883. STANFORD COMPILED BY JOHN DIPROSE, P.G.M., ASSISTED BY JOSEPH GAMMON, P.P.G.M. MANCHESTER: PUBLISHED BY THE GRAND MASTER AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE ODDFELLOWS' OFFICES:- 97, GROSVENOR STREET, CHORLTON-UPON-MEDLOCK. 1897. PRINTED BY BEN JOHNSON & Co. AMPERZAND WORKS, YORK. PREFACE. The Grand Master and Board of Directors having entrusted me with the duty of revising the last publication of Law Cases compiled by P.G.M. Louis E. Wollstein, (which has long since been out of print), I deemed it necessary to obtain the assistance of P.P.G.M. Joseph Gammon, a clerk in the Chambers of The Hon. Mr. Justice Kekewich, at the Royal Courts of Justice. Bro. Gammon's knowledge of and experience in connection with the subject especially qualified him for the work, and he at once agreed to undertake in conjunction with myself the preparation of the volume. JOHN DIPROSE. Since the previous publication many cases have formed the subject of judicial decisions in which well established principles have been applied under novel and complex conditions. At the Board Meeting, held in August last, we submitted for the approval of the Directors, a large number of short headnotes of cases for their perusal and approval, with the result that we were instructed to reproduce the reports, condensing the same wherever it was found practicable. Numerous disputes have been adjudicated upon by the various Courts of Law since that time, and we now place before the Unity 262 cases (or nearly 3 times the number previously published), many of which are of vital importance to Friendly Societies generally and the Manchester Unity in particular. The production of this compilation has necessitated research through hundreds of volumes of legal publications, and in its arrangement we have endeavoured to collect the cases under comprehensive titles. By this means nearly all the cases bearing on any particular subject will be found (where possible so to arrange them) close to one another, and the cases themselves are distinguished by head notes so that lay members as well as the legal practitioner may readily find the point for which he happens to be in search. cases It has been found necessary to reprint several old and to add others-which perhaps might be thought obsolete,-as they are of importance for collateral purposes upon the ground that new principles are often best explained by reference to the old decisions. Considerable care has been taken in the selection of the cases, and neither time nor labour has been spared to make the compilation complete and accurate, and special attention has been devoted to the Index with the desire of making it thoroughly comprehensive. A Table of Cases, giving a reference to the source from which each particular report was obtained, will be found at the commencement of the Book, and the abbreviations are explained on the preceding pages. It has been found impossible to give the dates of many of the old cases, as they were not inserted in the volume from which they have been re-printed. Where any case is affected by a particular statute a foot-note will be found giving a reference to the Act or Acts governing the case quoted. For convenience of reference the Friendly Societies Act, 1896(59 & 60 Vic., cap. 25); Poor Law Amendment Acts, 1876 and 1879 (so far as they affect Friendly Societies); and the Provident Nominations and Small Intestacies Act, 1883, will be found at the end of the book. We desire to tender our grateful acknowledgments to Mr. Baden Fuller whose excellent treatise on the law of Friendly Societies has done much to reduce the labour of research, heavy as it has been. We also desire to acknowledge the kindness and courtesy of Mr. R. Riches, the librarian of the Inns of Court Bar Library, Royal Courts of Justice, who has done much to aid our efforts, and to express our great indebtedness to Mr. Arthur Smith, Assistant Superintendent, Royal Courts of Justice, for valuable help rendered. Having completed to the best of our ability the responsible duty entrusted to us, a labour which has been lightened by the hope we entertain that these pages will prove instructive as well as useful to our fellow members, we trust that by their perusal much friction and unnecessary expense in litigation may be avoided. If this, our earnest desire, be achieved, we feel we shall have done something to promote the best interests of our members and the society to which we have the honour to belong. JOHN DIPROSE, P.G.M. JOSEPH GAMMON, P.P.G.M. May, 1897. |