dependencies thereof, certain duties of Customs were imposed and charged upon various goods, wares, and merchandise imported and brought into Port Natal in South Africa aforesaid, and also a certain duty of 3s. per ton upon vessels entering the said port: And that doubts have arisen as to the sufficient legal authority of such proclamations for imposing of the said duties:__ It is Enacted, 1. That the various duties so imposed and charged are hereby declared to have been due and payable. II. That the Governor for the time being of the said castle, town, and settlement, and its dependencies, and the respective collectors and other officers of the Customs in the same, and all persons whatever acting or having acted under their orders and directions, shall be and are hereby indemnified for having caused such duties to be levied. CAP. LVII. AN ACT to amend an Act passed in the Sixth Year of the Reign of His Majesty King George the Fourth, for granting certain Powers and Authorities to the Van Diemen's Land Company. (25th June 1847.) ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENTS. 1. Letters patent, dated the 10th of November 1825, incorporating the Van Diemen's Land Company. 2. Her Majesty, by warrant under the sign manual, may grant lands to the company, freed and discharged from quit rents, &c. in the charter expressed. 3. Power to the company, at any special general meeting, to reduce the number of directors. 4. Public Act. 5. Act may be amended, &c. By this ACT, After reciting that by 6 Geo. 4. c. 39, it was amongst other things enacted, that in case His Majesty should, within three years after the passing of the said Act, be pleased by charter under the Great Seal of Great Britain to declare and grant that such and so many persons as should be named therein, and all and every such other persons and person as should from time to time be admitted members into their corporation, should be a body politic and corporate by the name of "The Van Diemen's Land Company," and to declare that the said corporation so to be made and created should be established for the purpose of culti vating waste lands in the said island of Van Diemen's Land, and in any islands or territories which might at any future time be made dependent thereupon, and for such other lawful purposes as to His Majesty might seem meet, then and in that case it should and might be lawful for the said corporation to hold to them and their successors such lands, tenements, and hereditaments within the said island of Van Diemen's Land, and such dependencies thereof as aforesaid, as should or might be granted by His Majesty to them and their successors within the said island or its dependencies, or as should be contracted for and purchased or acquired by them therein, and to hold, alienate, sell, exchange, and dispose of all such lands, tenements, and hereditaments upon, under, and subject to such conditions, provisoes, limitations, and restrictions as His Majesty by such his charter might impose, direct, or prescribe: And that in pursuance of the said Act, his said Majesty was pleased, by his letters patent or charter, under the Great Seal of Great Britain, dated at Westminster, the 10th of November 1825, to grant and declare that certain persons therein named, and all and every such other persons and person as from time to time should be admitted members into their corporation, should be a body politic and corporate, in name and in deed, by the name of "The Van Diemen's Land Company," and should by that name have perpetual succession and a common seal, with power to break or alter such seal, and by that name should and might sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded at law or in equity; and it was thereby further declared, that such lands, tenements, and hereditaments within the said island of Van Diemen's Land, and its dependencies aforesaid, as should or might be granted by His Majesty, his heirs or successors, to the said company and their successors should by them be held, alienated, sold, exchanged, and disposed of, upon, under, and subject to such conditions, provisoes, limitations, and restrictions as thereinafter mentioned; (that is to say,) firstly, that all grants of land in the said island of Van Diemen's Land, or its dependencies aforesaid, which might be made to the said company by His Majesty, his heirs or successors, should be passed under the Great Seal of the said island and its dependencies, in pursuance of warrants under the royal sign manual of His Majesty, his heirs or successors; secondly, that for and in respect of all such lands within the said island, or its dependencies aforesaid, as might be granted by His Majesty, his heirs or successors, to the said company in fee simple, to be holden by them in free and common socage, there should be reserved and paid and payable to His Majesty, his heirs and successors, an annual quit rent, which should amount to the sum of 30s. and no more, for each and every parcel of the said lands of 1007. sterling; thirdly, that no quit rents should accrue due or be payable by the said company for or in respect of any such lands as aforesaid during the term of five years, to be computed from the date of any grant in and by which such lands might be so granted; fourthly, that upon giving six months' notice in writing, under their common seal, to the governor, lieutenant governor, or other person administering the government of the said island and its dependencies, it should be lawful for the said company to redeem the quit rents, or any part thereof, upon payment into the treasury of the said island and its dependencies, in British sterling money, of a capital sum equal to twenty times the amount of the rent so to be redeemed; provided always, that the redemption of any portion of the said quit rents should not exonerate or discharge any part of the said lands so to be granted to the said company from the payment of the whole or any part of the quit rents remaining unredeemed; fifthly, that the said company should employ upon the lands so to be granted to them such a number of convicts as should at the least be equal to the number of free labourers employed thereupon, if the governor, lieutenant governor, or other person administering the government for the time being of the said island and its dependencies should be able and willing to supply a sufficient number of convicts for that purpose; sixthly, that the said company should at their own expense employ fit and proper persons, not being or having been convicts, to act as superintendents of the convicts so to be employed by them, in the proportion at least of one such superintendent to every 50 convicts; seventhly, that no land granted to the said company by His Majesty, his heirs or successors, should by the said company be granted, bargained, sold, conveyed, demised, or alienated for or during a period of five years, to be computed from the date of the grant from His Majesty, his heirs or successors, in which any such lands might be comprised; and if any such grant, bargain, sale, conveyance, demise, or alienation should during any such period as aforesaid be made or executed, the lands therein comprised should be and become absolutely forfeited to and vested in His Majesty, his heirs or successors; eighthly, that the said lands to be granted to the said company by His Majesty, his heirs or successors, should be held by them in mortmain, and be absolutely inalienable by them, except upon the terms and conditions following; (that is to say,) that it should be lawful for the governor, lieutenant governor, or other person administering the government of the said island and its dependencies, and the executive council thereof, and they were thereby required, upon application to them for that purpose made by the said company, to direct the surveyor general or deputy surveyor general for the time being for the said island and its dependencies, to inquire and report whether the sum of 2,5007. sterling had been laid out and expended by the said company in the formation of roads, the erection of buildings, the cultivation, clearing, fencing, draining, or other improvements of any such lands; and if the said surveyor general or deputy surveyor general should report to the said governor, lieutenant governor or other person administering the government of the said island, and the said executive council thereof, that the sum of 2,5001. sterling had been so expended, it should be and become competent to the said company, without licence from His Majesty, his heirs or successors, to alienate and convey in fee simple, but subject to the quit rents aforesaid, any part or parts of the lands so granted to them, not exceeding 12,500 acres in the whole; and such and the same proceedings should from time to time take place upon each successive application of the said company for the purpose aforesaid to the said governor, lieutenant governor, or other person administering the government of the said island and its dependencies, and the said executive council thereof; and upon each successive report so made as aforesaid of the further expenditure upon any such lands of any further sum of 2,500l. sterling as aforesaid, the said company should be and become competent to alienate 12,500 acres, or any smaller quantity, of the lands to be granted to them, until one moiety or equal half part of such lands should, in manner aforesaid, become alienable; provided always, that every such report as aforesaid should be inrolled in the Supreme Court of Van Diemen's Land; provided also, that it should be lawful for the said company to alienate any of the lands to be granted to them as aforesaid, upon obtaining a special licence for that purpose from His Majesty, his heirs or successors, through one of his or their principal Secretaries of State; provided further, that every grant or conveyance of lands to be made by the company should be absolutely null and void unless the same should expressly refer to and particularize the surveyor general's or deputy surveyor general's report, or the licence from His Majesty, his heirs or successors, as the case might be, under the authority of which the same might be so granted or conveyed; provided nevertheless, that nothing therein contained should extend to or prevent any demise of any such lands made by the said company for any term not exceeding twenty-one years, without any covenant of renewal, so as that not more than one moiety of the lands so to be granted as aforesaid be demised within twenty years next succeeding the date of any such grant; ninthly, that the quit rents to accrue due upon any lands to be granted to the said company by His Majesty, his heirs or successors, for and during the term of five years, to commence and be computed from and after the expiration of the first five years next following the date of any such grant, should not be actually collected and received until the expiration of such second term of five years, and that at that time all quit rents then due and in arrear by the said company should be remitted if 150 convicts should have been regularly employed and maintained by the said company for and during the greater part of such second term of five years; tenthly, that the said quit rents to accrue due for and during the further term of five years, to commence and be computed from and after the expiration of the second term of five years next following the date of any such grant should not be actually collected and received until the expiration of such third term of five years, and that at that time all quit rents accrued due and then in arrear by the said company in respect of such third term of five years should be remitted, if 250 convicts should have been regularly employed and maintained by the said company for and during the greater part of the said third term of five years; eleventhly, that the said quit rents to accrue due for and during the further term of five years, to commence and be computed from and after the expiration of the said third term of five years next following the date of any such grant, should not be actually collected until the expiration of the fourth term of five years, and at that time all quit rents accrued due and then in arrear by the said company in respect of the said fourth term of five years should be remitted if 350 convicts should have been regularly employed and maintained by the said company for and during the greater part of such fourth term of five years; twelfthly, that if at any time within twenty years next after the date of any such grant it should be made to appear to the satisfaction of His Majesty, his heirs or successors, or of the governor, lieutenant governor, or other person administering the government for the time being of the said island and its dependencies, that the said company had by the employment of convicts exonerated the Treasury from a charge equal in the whole to the sum of 25,0001. sterling, then the lands which might by His Majesty, his heirs or successors, have been granted to the said company, should be for ever discharged of and from the quit rents thereafter to accrue due in respect thereof, and in calculating the amount of the sums from which the said Treasury had been so exonerated it should be assumed and taken that the said Treasury had been saved the sum of 167. sterling for each and every convict who should appear to have been maintained during one whole year by the said company, and in such proportion for a lesser term than one year that each and every convict should have been so maintained by the said company; and it was further declared that in any grants to be made by His Majesty, his heirs or successors, to the said company of any lands situate in the said island of Van Diemen's Land or its dependencies, all necessary covenants should be made and entered into by the said company for insuring the due observance and performance on their part of the several covenants, provisoes, and restrictions aforesaid: And that by divers instructions which have issued from time to time by order of His said Majesty King George the Fourth and of His late Majesty King William the Fourth to the governor, lieutenant governor, or other person adminis tering the government of the said island of Van Diemen's Land and its dependencies, the said company have been authorized to take possession of several portions of land and other hereditaments situate in the said island and its dependencies, and have, with the assent of the governor, lieutenant governor, or other person administering the government for the time being of the said island and its dependencies, entered into and taken possession of the said lands and hereditaments, and the said company have ever since been and now continue in the possession thereof, but no grant thereof has been made to the said company: And that the said company have from time to time employed and maintained upon the said lands very large numbers of convicts, and the company have by such employment and maintenance of convicts as aforesaid exonerated Her Majesty's Treasury from a charge exceeding in the whole sum of 15,000l. sterling, and the said company have also laid out large sums of money in the improvement of divers parts of the said lands and hereditaments: And that the said company have, by the means afore. said and otherwise, substantially fulfilled the material conditions contained in the said letters patent or charter on their part to be observed and performed, and by reason of the lapse of time and the alteration of circumstances others of the said conditions have become immaterial, and it is just and expedient that Her Majesty should be authorized, if she should so please, to grant to the said company lands and hereditaments in the said island and its dependencies, freed from the quit rents and the other restrictions and conditions in the said letters patent or charter contained, and that other powers should be granted to the said company; but the same cannot be effected without the authority of Parliament: It is Enacted, 1. That it shall be lawful for Her said Majesty, her heirs or successors, from time to times and at all times hereafter, by warrant under the royal sign manual, to authorize and empower the governor, lieutenant governor, or other person for the time being administering the government of the said island of Van Diemen's Land and its dependencies, to execute a deed or deeds, under the great seal of the said island and its dependencies, granting to the said company any lands, tenements, and hereditaments in the said island and its dependencies, freed and for ever discharged of and from the quit rents, conditions, provisoes, limitations, and restrictions in the said letters patent or charter expressed and hereinbefore recited, or such of them, or such parts thereof, as Her Majesty, her heirs or successors, shall in and by the said grant or warrant or grants or warrants direct; and it shall be lawful for the said company to hold, alienate, sell, and dispose of all or any part or parts of the said lands so to be granted, subject only to such conditions and restrictions, if any, as shall be stipulated in and by the grant or grants thereof to the said company, and to hold, alienate, sell, and dispose of all lands purchased or to be purchased by the said company, freed from the conditions and restrictions imposed by the said letters patent or charter. And after reciting that it was by the said letters patent or charter declared, that the two persons therein named should be the governor and deputy governor of the said company, and that such two persons, together with eighteen other persons therein named, should be the first directors of the said company, and that after the period therein named, six of the said eighteen directors, or their successors, should go out of office annually, and their places be from time to time supplied: And that it is expedient that power should be given to the said company to reduce the said number of directors ; It is Enacted, 11. That it shall be lawful for the said company from time to time, at any special general meeting, to resolve and declare that at a time or times to be fixed at such meeting or meetings the number of the directors of the said company shall be reduced to any number they may think proper, not being less than nine exclusive of the said governor and deputy governor, and to fix the mode in which such reduction shall take place, and thereupon at the time or times fixed at such meeting or meetings the number of the said directors shall be reduced accordingly; and after any such reduction shall have taken place, the number of directors to go out of office as aforesaid shall be one third of the whole number of directors, exclusive of the said governor and deputy governor, instead of the said number of six directors as aforesaid. III. That this Act shall be deemed and taken to be a public Act, and shall extend to and be in force in the said island of Van Diemen's Land and its dependencies, and shall be judicially taken notice of as such. IV. That this Act may be amended or repealed by any Act to be passed in this present session of Parliament. CAP. LVIII. AN ACT to remove Doubts as to Quakers and Jews Marriages solemnized before certain Periods. By this ACT, ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENT. Marriages of Quakers and Jews solemnized before certain dates declared valid. (2nd July 1847.) After reciting that doubts have been entertained as to the validity of marriages amongst the people called Quakers and amongst persons professing the Jewish religion, solemnized in England before the 1st of July 1837, or in Ireland before the 1st of April 1845, according to the usages of those denominations respectively: And that it is expedient to put an end to such doubts ; It is Enacted, That all marriages so solemnized as aforesaid were and are good in law to all intents and purposes whatsoever, provided that the parties to such marriages were both Quakers, or both persons professing the Jewish religion respectively. CAP. LIX. AN ACT for amending an Act, intituled An Act for amending, explaining, and reducing into One Act of Parliament the Laws relating to the Government of His Majesty's Ships, Vessels, and Forces by Sea. (2nd July 1847.) ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENTS. 1. Courts-martial to have a discretionary power in awarding sentence in all cases except murder. 2. Court-martial may take cognizance of manslaughter. 3. Oath to be administered to members of courts martial.-Oath to be administered to Judge-advocate. 5. Act may be amended, &c. By this ACT, After reciting that by 22 Geo. 2. c. 33. courts-martial holden and appointed by virtue of that Act are, in certain cases, authorized and required to pronounce judgment of death; and it is expedient that in all cases (except murder and buggery or sodomy with man or beast), such courts-martial shall be authorized to abstain from pronouncing judgment of death, if such courtsmartial shall think fit, and to impose such other punishment as the nature and degree of the offence shall be found to deserve;It is Enacted, 1. That it shall and may be lawful for any such court-martial, holden and appointed as aforesaid, either to pronounce judg ment of death in all cases in which by law such court is now authorized or required so to do, or, if such Court shall so think fit, in all such cases (except murder and buggery or sodomy with man or beast) to impose such other punishment as the nature and degree of the offence shall be found to deserve. II. That it shall be lawful for any such court-martial, holden and appointed as aforesaid, to try any person, who at the time of the offence committed shall be in actual service and full pay in the fleet or ships of war of Her Majesty, for manslaughter, whether committed within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty or out of any part of Her Majesty's dominions on shore, and to impose upon every such person, so convicted of manslaughter by the sentence of such court, such punishment other than death as the degree of the offence shall be found to deserve. III. That upon all trials of offenders by any court-martial, holden and appointed as aforesaid, all the officers present who are to constitute such court shall, before they proceed to such trial, take the oath hereinafter mentioned before the Court instead of the oath appointed by the said Act, which oath the Judge Advocate or his deputy, or the person appointed to officiate as such, is hereby authorized and required to administer in the words following; (that is to say,) 'I do swear, That I will duly administer justice, according to the laws in force for the government of Her Majesty's ships, vessels, and forces by sea, without partiality, favour, or affection; and if any case shall arise which is not particularly mentioned in any such laws, I will duly administer justice according to my conscience, the best of my understanding, and the custom of the navy in like cases; and I do further swear, that I will not on any account at any time whatsoever disclose or discover the vote or opinion of any particular member of this court-martial, unless thereunto required in 'due course of law. 'So help me GOD.' And so soon as the said oath shall have been administered to the respective members the president of the Court is hereby authorized and required to administer to the Judge Advocate or his deputy, or the person officiating as such, instead of the oath appointed by the said Act, an oath in the following words: 'I do swear, That I will not upon any account at any time whatsoever disclose or discover 'the vote or opinion of any particular member of the court-martial, unless thereunto required in due course of law. IV. That this Act shall take effect from the 1st of January 1848. 'So help me GOD.' v. That this Act may be altered, amended, or repealed by any Act to be passed in this session of Parliament. CAP. LX. AN ACT to abolish One of the Offices of Master in Ordinary of the High Court of Chancery. (2nd July 1847.) ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENTS. 1. Recites 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 94. appointing Masters and giving salaries, &c. to their clerks.-5 Vict. c. 5. abolishing Master of Ex chequer and appointing Mr. Richards.-Resignation of Mr. Lynch.-One mastership abolished. 2. Chief and second clerks retained for period not exceeding twelve months. 3. Compensation to chief and second clerks. 4. Act may be amended, &c. By this ACT, After reciting that by 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 94. it was enacted, that the appointment of all Masters in Ordinary of the High Court of Chancery should be vested in His Majesty, his heirs and successors, and that such Master should thereafter be appointed by letters patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain; and it was by the said Act also enacted, that the salaries to be paid to the chief and junior clerks of each of the said Masters should be 1,000l. a-year and 150l. a-year respectively, and that it should be lawful for the said junior clerks to receive and take 1d. per folio of ninety words for every copy of every docu ment or writing made in the office of the said Master: And that by 5 Vict. c. 5. Richard Richards, Esquire, then one of the Masters of the Court of Exchequer, was appointed as an additional Master in Ordinary of the High Court of Chancery, and it was thereby enacted, that upon the death, resignation, or removal from office of the said Richard Richards it should be lawful for Her said Majesty from time to time by letters patent under the Great Seal to appoint a fit and proper person to supply such vacancy: And that Andrew Henry Lynch, Esquire, late one of the said Masters in Ordinary, did on the 25th of March now last past duly resign his said office, and the same thereby became and now is vacant: And that it is expedient that the number of the said Masters in Ordinary of the High Court of Chancery should be reduced to the same number as existed before the passing of the said last-mentioned Act: It is Enacted, 1. That it shall be lawful for Her Majesty not to fill up the office so vacant by the resignation of the said Andrew Henry Lynch, but that the same shall be and the same is hereby abolished. II. That for the convenience of prosecuting the causes and matters referred to the said Andrew Henry Lynch, and now transferred to the other Masters in Ordinary, it shall be lawful for the Lord Chancellor, if he shall think fit, to retain George Barrett and Edward Wright, the late chief and second clerks of the said Andrew Henry Lynch, as chief and second clerks respectively, with all the duties, rights, privileges, and emoluments thereto belonging, as if a Master in Ordinary had been duly appointed to succeed the said Andrew Henry Lynch, but nevertheless for a time not exceeding twelve months from the passing of this Act: Provided always, that in the event of the death, resignation, or removal of the said George Barrett and Edward Wright, or either of them, before the expiration of the said twelve months, it shall be lawful for the Lord Chancellor, if he shall think fit, to appoint a successor to them or either of them during the time aforesaid. III. That it shall be lawful for the Lord Chancellor, with the consent of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, to award such compensation (if any), and in such manner and upon such conditions, as he may think fit, to the said George Barrett and Edward Wright, or either of them, in consideration of the loss they or he may have sustained by the abolition of the said office of Master in Ordinary. IV. That this Act may be amended or repealed by any Act to be passed in this present session of Parliament. CAP. LXI. AN ACT to amend the Act for the Establishment of Public Baths and Wash-houses. ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENTS. 1. Recited Act and this Act to be construed as one. 2. Interpretation of expressions in recited Act and this Act. 3. Acts of Commissioners of Public Baths, &c. to be valid, notwithstanding informalities. 4. Incorporation of 8 & 9 Vict. c. 18.-Council, &c. not to take lands, &c. 5. Proportion of washing accommodation for labouring classes. 6. So much of recited Act as regulates charges for use of baths, &c. repealed. 7. Power to make charges for use of baths, &c. not exceeding those in the Schedule. 8. Act may be amended, &c. (2nd July 1847.) |