CAP. XCIV.

AN ACT to amend an Act to enable Canal Companies to become Carriers upon their own Canals.

ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENTS.

(22nd July 1847.)

1. Recited Act incorporated with this Act.

2. Canal companies empowered to borrow money as prescribed by 8 & 9 Vict. cc. 16. and 17, and apply the same to purposes of recited Act.-Saving rights of existing creditors.

3. 8&9 Vict. cc. 16. and 17. incorporated with this Act.

4. Companies not exempt from provisions of any future general Act.

5. Act may be amended, &c.

By this ACT,

After reciting the passing of an Act, 8 & 9 Vict. c. 42, whereby, upon the recital that by divers Acts of Parliament railway companies had been empowered to carry upon their own railways all such goods, wares, merchandise, articles, matters, and things as might be offered to them for that purpose, and that greater competition for the public advantage would be obtained if similar powers were granted to canal and navigation companies, it was enacted, that it should be lawful to the proprietors, trustees, or undertakers of any canal, river, or navigation, or their respective committees, directors, or managers, or their superintendents or other agents, to carry as common carriers for their own profit upon their respective canals, rivers, or navigations, and upon any railways or tramways belonging thereto, and upon other canals, rivers, and navigations communicating directly or indirectly therewith, all such goods, wares, merchandise, articles, matters, and things as might be intrusted to them for that purpose, and to purchase, hire, and construct, and to use and employ, any number of boats, barges, vessels, rafts, carts, waggons, carriages, and other conveniences, and to establish and furnish haulage, trackage, or other means of drawing or propelling the same by steam, animal, or other power, or for the purpose of collecting, carrying, conveying, warehousing, and delivering such goods, wares, merchandise, articles, matters, and things: And that the proprietors, trustees, and undertakers of many canals, rivers, and navigations are unable to avail themselves of the provisions of the said recited Act by reason of their having no statutory power of raising money to be applied to the purposes of the same, and it is expedient that the said recited Act should in that respect be amended, and that powers should be granted to such proprietors, trustees, and undertakers to raise money for the said purposes, but that object cannot be effected without the aid of Parliament:

It is Enacted,

1. That the said recited Act shall be incorporated with this Act.

II. That it shall be lawful to the proprietors, trustees, and undertakers of any canal, river, or navigation who shall have in the manner provided by the said recited Act adopted the powers and provisions of the same to borrow on mortgage or bond in the manner or as nearly as may be in the manner prescribed by the Companies Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, or the Companies Clauses Consolidation (Scotland) Act, 1845, as the case may be, any sum or sums of money not exceeding in all at any one time one tenth part of the paid-up capital stock of such proprietors, trustees, or undertakers respectively, and to apply the monies so raised to the purposes of the said recited Act, or any of such purposes: Provided always, that the monies so borrowed shall not be applied to any other purposes whatsoever: Provided also, that the monies so to be borrowed, together with any monies otherwise borrowed by any such proprietors, trustees, or undertakers as aforesaid, shall not in all exceed one third part of the paid-up capital of such proprietors, trustees, or undertakers respectively; and that no mortgage or bond to be granted for any monies borrowed in virtue of this Act shall prejudice or affect any security previously granted for any monies borrowed by virtue of any other Act or Acts of Parliament relating to any such canal, river, or navigation.

III. And for the purposes of this Act, it is enacted, That such of the clauses and provisions of the Companies Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, and of the Companies Clauses Consolidation (Scotland) Act, 1845, respectively, as the case may be, as relate to the borrowing of money by companies on mortgage or bond, and to the conversion of borrowed money into capital, shall be incorporated with this Act.

IV. That nothing herein contained shall be construed to exempt any canal or navigation company who have adopted or shall adopt the powers of the said recited Act from the operation of any general Act regulating the manner of charging tolls and other charges upon canals or navigations in respect of passengers, goods, animals, articles, and things of a like description that may be passed in the course of this or any future session of Parliament.

v. That this Act may be amended or repealed by any Act to be passed in this session of Parliament.

CAP. XCV.

AN ACT to amend the Law relating to the Protection in the Colonies of Works entitled to Copyright in the United Kingdom.

(22nd July 1847.)

ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENTS.

1. Her Majesty may suspend in certain cases the prohibitions against the admission of pirated books into the colonies in certain

cases.

2. Orders in Council to be published in Gazette.-Orders in Council and the Colonial Acts or Ordinances to be laid before Parliament. 3. Act may be amended, &c.

By this ACT,

After reciting that by an Act, 5 & 6 Vict. c. 45, it is amongst other things enacted, that it shall not be lawful for any person not being the proprietor of the copyright, or some person authorized by him, to import into any part of the United Kingdom, or into any other part of the British dominions, for sale or hire, any printed book first composed or written or printed or published in any part of the United Kingdom wherein there shall be copyright, and reprinted in any country or place whatsoever out of the British dominions: And that by an Act, 8 & 9 Vict. c. 93, books wherein the copyright is subsisting, first composed or written or printed in the United Kingdom, and printed or reprinted in any other country, are absolutely prohibited to be imported into the British possessions abroad: And that by the said last-recited Act it is enacted, that all laws, bye-laws, usages, or customs in practice, or endeavoured or pretended to be in force or practice in any of the British possessions in America, which are in anywise repugnant to the said Act or to any Act of Parliament made or to be made in the United Kingdom, so far as such Act shall relate to and mention the said possessions, are and shall be null and void to all intents and purposes whatsoever :—

It is Enacted,

1. That in case the legislature or proper legislative authorities in any British possession shall be disposed to make due provision for securing or protecting the rights of British authors in such possession, and shall pass an Act or make an ordinance for that purpose, and shall transmit the same in the proper manner to the Secretary of State, in order that it may be submitted to Her Majesty, and in case Her Majesty shall be of opinion that such Act or Ordinance is sufficient for the purpose of securing to British authors reasonable protection within such possession, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, if she think fit so to do, to express her royal approval of such Act or Ordinance, and thereupon to issue an Order in Council declaring that so long as the provisions of such Act or Ordinance continue in force within such colony the prohibitions contained in the aforesaid Acts, and hereinbefore recited, and any prohibitions contained in the said Acts or in any other Acts against the importing, selling, letting out to hire, exposing for sale or hire, or possessing foreign reprints of books first composed, written, printed, or published in the United Kingdom, and entitled to copyright therein, shall be suspended so far as regards such colony; and thereupon such Act or Ordinance shall come into operation, except so far as may be otherwise provided therein, or as may be otherwise directed by such Order in Council, anything in the said last-recited Act or in any other Act to the contrary notwithstanding.

II. That every such Order in Council shall, within one week after the issuing thereof, be published in the London Gazette, and that a copy thereof, and of every such colonial Act or Ordinance so approved as aforesaid by Her Majesty, shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within six weeks after the issuing of such order, if Parliament be then sitting, or if Parliament be not then sitting, then within six weeks after the opening of the next session of Parliament.

III. This Act may be amended or repealed by any Act to be passed in the present session of Parliament.

CAP. XCVI.

AN ACT for better securing Trust Funds, and for the Relief of Trustees.

ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENTS.

(22nd July 1847.)

1. Trustees may pay trust monies or transfer stocks and securities into the Court of Chancery.—Receipt of bank cashier, or certificate of proper officer, to be sufficient discharge.

2. Court of Chancery to make orders on petition, without bill, for application of trust monies and administration of trust.

3. Regulating salary of Accountant General.

4. Lord Chancellor, with Master of the Rolls, &c. may make General Orders.

5. Construction of expression " Lord Chancellor."

6. Act may be amended, &c.

By this ACT,

After reciting that it is expedient to provide means for better securing trust funds, and for relieving trustees from the responsibility of administering trust funds in cases where they are desirous of being so relieved:

It is Enacted,

1. That all trustees, executors, administrators, or other persons, having in their hands any monies belonging to any trust whatsoever, or the major part of them, shall be at liberty, on filing an affidavit shortly describing the instrument creating the trust, according to the best of their knowledge and belief, to pay the same, with the privity of the Accountant General of the High Court of Chancery, into the Bank of England, to the account of such Accountant General in the matter of the particular trust (describing the same by the names of the parties, as accurately as may be, for the purpose of distinguishing it), in trust to attend the orders of the said Court; and that all trustees or other persons having any annuities or stocks standing in their name in the books of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England or of the East India Company, or South Sea Company, or any government or parliamentary securities standing in their names, or in the names of any deceased persons of whom they shall be personal representatives, upon any trusts whatsoever, or the major part of them, shall be at liberty to transfer or deposit such stocks or securities into or in the name of the said Accountant General, with his privity, in the matter of the particular trust (describing the same as aforesaid), in trust to attend the orders of the said Court; and in every such case the receipt of one of the cashiers of the said Bank for the money so paid, or, in the case of stocks or securities, the certificate of the proper officer, of the transfer or deposit of such stocks or securities, shall be a sufficient discharge to such trustees or other persons for the money so paid, or the stocks or securities so transferred or deposited.

II. That such orders as shall seem fit shall be from time to time made by the High Court of Chancery in respect of the trust monies, stocks, or securities so paid in, transferred, and deposited as aforesaid, and for the investment and payment of any such monies, or of any dividends or interest on any such stocks or securities, and for the transfer and delivery out of any such stocks and securities, and for the administration of any such trusts generally, upon a petition to be presented in a summary way to the Lord Chancellor or the Master of the Rolls, without bill, by such party or parties, as to the Court shall appear to be competent and necessary in that behalf, and service of such petition shall be made upon such person or persons as the Court shall see fit and direct; and every order made upon any such petition shall have the same authority and effect, and shall be enforced and subject to rehearing and appeal, in the same manner as if the same had been made in a suit regularly instituted in the Court; and if it shall appear that any such trust funds cannot be safely distributed without the institution of one or more suit or suits, the Lord Chancellor or Master of the Rolls may direct any such suit or suits to be instituted.

III. Provided and enacted, That the additional remuneration which the said Accountant General may receive in consequence of the operation of this Act shall not have the effect of giving to him any claim for a larger income by way of salary or otherwise, in the event of the said office of Accountant General being hereafter regulated by competent authority, than would have been assigned to him if this Act had not been passed.

IV. That the Lord Chancellor, with the assistance of the Master of the Rolls or of one of the Vice Chancellors, shall have power and is hereby authorized to make such orders as from time to time shall seem necessary for better carrying the provisions of this Act into effect.

v. That in the construction of this Act the expression "the Lord Chancellor" shall mean and include the Lord Chancellor, Lord Keeper, and Lords Commissioners for the custody of the Great Seal of Great Britain for the time being.

VI. That this Act may be amended or repealed by any Act to be passed in this present session of Parliament.

CAP. XCVII.

AN ACT for the Discontinuance of the Attendance of the Masters in Ordinary of the High Court of Chancery in the Public Office, and for transferring the Business of such Public Office to the Affidavit Office in Chancery.

(22nd July 1847.)

ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENTS.

1. Attendance of Masters in Ordinary discontinued.

2. Lord Chancellor may appoint a second assistant clerk of affidavits.

3. Lord Chancellor may order remuneration to be paid to the clerk and assistant of affidavits.

4. Appointment of second assistant clerk of affidavits.-Saving rights of W. T. Smith.

5. Lord Chancellor may also, with consent of Treasury, order retiring annuities to disabled officers, not exceeding two thirds of

their salaries.

6. Commencement of Act.

7. Out of what fund compensations awarded under provisions of 10 & 11 Vict. c. 60. to be paid.

8. Lord Keeper may act for Lord Chancellor for purposes of this Act.

9. Act may be amended, &c.

By this ACT,

After reciting that by an Act, 13 Car. 2, it was amongst other things enacted, that from and after the 23rd of October 1661, there should be one public office kept as near the Rolls as conveniently might be, in which the Masters in Ordinary, or one of them, should constantly attend for the administration of oaths and other purposes therein mentioned: And that it is expedient that the said Masters should no longer attend in person at the said public office, and that the duties required by the said recited Act should be otherwise provided for :

It is Enacted,

1. That the said Act shall be and the same is hereby repealed, and that the attendance of the said Masters at the public office be discontinued from and after the time at which this Act shall come into operation.

II. That it shall be lawful for the Lord Chancellor to appoint one fit and proper person to assist in the performance of the duties of the clerk of affidavits and of the assistant clerk of affidavits, and of the other duties hereby transferred to them, to be called the second assistant clerk of affidavits, and that the duties by the said recited Act directed to be done and performed by the Masters in Ordinary in the public office shall hereafter be done and performed by the said clerk of affidavits and the assistant clerk of affidavits, in such place and in such manner and subject to such regulations as the Lord Chancellor shall from time to time order and direct, and they and each of them are hereby authorized to do and perform the same.

III. That there shall be paid to the said clerk of affidavits and the said assistant clerks of affidavits such remuneration, either in salary and fees, or partly by salary and partly by fees, as the Lord Chancellor shall think fit, not exceeding in the whole 1,2001. to the clerk of affidavits, 800l. to the first, and 400l. to the second assistant clerk of affidavits; and that it shall be lawful for the Lord Chancellor to make such order and orders as may be necessary for payment of so much of such remuneration as shall consist of salary out of the fund intituled "The Suitors Fee Fund Amount," and for the payment of any part of the fees to be received to the account of the said fund.

IV. That William Thodey Smith, the present clerk of the said public office, be and he is hereby appointed the second assistant clerk of affidavits under this Act, and that the salary or remuneration he shall receive under the provisions of this Act shall be and the same is hereby declared to be in lieu of and as compensation for the loss sustained by him in respect of the fees hitherto received by him as clerk of the said public office: Provided always, and it is hereby declared, that this Act shall not take away, diminish, or in any way prejudice the rights and interest of William Thodey Smith to and in the compensation granted, awarded, and ordered to be paid to him under and by virtue of the three several Acts of Parliament hereinafter mentioned, that is to say, an Act, 1 & 2 Will. 4. c. 56, intituled An Act to establish a Court in Bankruptcy;' an Act, 5 & 6 Vict. c. 103, intituled An Act for abolishing certain Offices of the High Court of Chancery in England,' and an Act, 6 & 7 Vict. c. 73, intituled An Act for consolidating and amending several of the Laws relating to Attornies and Solicitors practising in England and Wales;' and that the rights and interests of the said William Thodey Smith under each of the said Acts respectively shall be and continue the same to all intents and purposes as if this Act had not been passed, and as if he had continued to hold his office of clerk of the public office, but nevertheless only for such period as he shall hold the office of second clerk of affidavits under this Act.

v. That it shall be lawful for the Lord Chancellor, with the consent of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, by any order made on a petition presented to him for that purpose after the 10th of August next after the passing of this Act, to order (if he shall think fit) to be paid to any person executing the office of clerk of affidavits, assistant clerk of affidavits, or second assistant clerk of affidavits, or of chief clerk or junior or copying clerk to the Master in Ordinary of the Court of Chancery, who shall be afflicted with some permanent infirmity, disabling him from the due execution of his office, and shall be desirous of resigning the same, an annuity not exceeding two third parts of the yearly salary which such person shall be entitled to at the time of presenting such petition, to be paid out of the interest and dividends of the government or parliamentary securities which may be at any time standing in the name of the Accountant General of the High Court of Chancery to an account intituled "Account of Monies placed out for the Benefit and better Security of the Suitors of the High Court of Chancery," and an account intituled "Account of Securities purchased with surplus Interest arising from Securities carried to an Account of Monies placed out for the Benefit and better Security of the Suitors of the High Court of Chancery," or either of them; and the annuity mentioned in such order shall be paid by the Governor and Company of the Bank of England out of the interest and dividends aforesaid (but subject and without prejudice to the payment of all salaries and other sums of money by any Act of Parliament already directed or authorized to be paid thereout) by even and equal payments on the 5th of January, the 5th of April, the 5th of July, and the 10th of October in every year during the life of such person; and the executors and administrators of such person shall be entitled to receive and shall be paid such proportionate part of the said annuity as shall have accrued from the next preceding quarterly day of payment to the day of his death.

VI. That this Act shall commence and take effect from the 10th of August next.

And after reciting that by an Act, 10 & 11 Vict. c. 60, intituled 'An Act to abolish one of the Offices of Master in Ordinary of the High Court of Chancery,' it was enacted that it should 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 might think fit, to George Barrett and Edward Wright, the late chief and second clerks of Andrew Henry Lynch, or either of them, in consideration of the loss they or he may have sustained by reason of the abolition of the said office by the said Act: And that no provision was made in the said Act for the payment of such compensation :

It is Enacted,

VII. That such compensation shall be paid by the Accountant General, by virtue of an order for that purpose to be made by he said Lord Chancellor, out of the fund intituled "The Suitors Fee Fund Account."

VIII. That in construing this Act all things directed to be done by the Lord Chancellor shall and may be done by a Lord Keeper or the first Commissioner for the custody of the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

IX. That this Act may be amended or repealed by any Act to be passed during the present session of Parliament.

CAP. XCVIII.

AN ACT to amend the Law as to Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in England.

ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENTS.

(22nd July 1847.)

1. Bishop to exercise jurisdiction throughout his diocese, save in causes testamentary.

2. Officers of diocesan courts to account for all fees, &c. received by them.

3. Jurisdiction in causes testamentary to continue unaltered by change of province, &c.

4. Law of bona notabilia to continue unaltered by change of province, &c.

5. Certain authorities may continue to grant marriage licences as heretofore.-Jurisdiction of bishops to grant licences not to be interfered with.

6. Temporary provisions of 6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 77, continued by 7 & 8 Vict. c. 68, to cease on 2nd Nov. 1847.

7. Commencement and continuance of Act.

8. Confirming certain acts of jurisdiction.

9. Officers appointed under this Act to be subject to regulations hereafter made by Parliament.

10. Act may be amended, &c.

By this ACT,

After reciting that much inconvenience ensues from the continued suspension of the jurisdiction of the several diocesan courts in England within those parts of the dioceses which have been added thereunto under the authority of an Act, 6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 77, and that it is expedient that some remedy be thereunto applied;

It is Enacted,

1. That the bishop of every diocese in England shall by himself or his officers exercise throughout the whole of his diocese as it now is or hereafter may be limited or constituted, save only in causes and matters testamentary or relating to the administration of the personal estate of intestates, the same jurisdiction and authority which before the passing of this Act he or any bishop lawfully could or might exercise by himself or his officers within any part of such diocese.

II. That the officers of the several diocesan and other courts shall keep an account in writing of the gross and net amount of all fees, allowances, gratuities, perquisites, and emoluments received by them respectively on account of their several offices or employments in respect of any causes or matters arising within the diocese which during the continuance of the temporary provisions of the first-recited Act were not within the jurisdiction of the bishop of the diocese or other ecclesiastical authority, and shall from time to time, once at least in every quarter of a year, and, on demand, at any other time, pay over the net amount thereof to the treasurer of the governors of the bounty of Queen Anne, to be by him carried to a separate account, and retained until Parliament shall provide for the appropriation thereof; and in case any person required to pay over any money under this Act shall die or resign or be dismissed from his office while any such money remains unpaid by him, the executors or administrators of the person so dying, or the person himself so resigning or dismissed, shall be required to pay the balance of the money so remaining due and unpaid.

III. That the jurisdiction of every ecclesiastical court in England in causes and matters testamentary or relating to the administration of the personal estate of intestates shall continue unaltered by any change of province, diocese, archdeaconry, or other jurisdiction whatever within the same limits and in like manner as was by law allowed before the passing of the hereinbefore recited Act.

IV. That the law of bona notabilia shall be continued unaltered by any change of province, diocese, archdeaconry, or other jurisdiction whatsoever under the authority of the first-recited Act as it was before the passing of the hereinbefore recited Act. v. That all authorities, save and except the authority of the bishop of whose diocese any portion has been or may hereafter be taken away and added to another diocese under the provisions of the hereinbefore recited Act, shall continue to grant marriage licences in the same manner and within the same district as they might have done before the passing of the said Act: Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to interfere with the jurisdiction or concurrent jurisdiction, as the case may be, of the bishops of the several dioceses in England to grant marriage licences in and throughout the whole of their dioceses, as such are now or hereafter may be limited or constituted.

VI. That the temporary provisions of the hereinbefore recited Act, 6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 77, which by an Act, 7 & 8 Vict. c. 68, intituled An Act to suspend, until the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, the