greater part of the land may be situated; and a notice of such draft and estimate having been so deposited (such notice containing a description of the land intended to be exchanged) shall be published in some newspaper usually circulated in the county wherein such land is situated at three several times in three successive months Proviso as to after such draft and estimate shall have been so deposited: provided always, that whenever a corporation aggregate shall be one of the parties to such proposed exchange, or the consent of a corporation aggregate shall be necessary thereto, the affixing of the common seal of such corporation to such draft deed of exchange shall be deemed a sufficient compliance with the provisions of this act. certain corporations. Persons hay jections to with the XIII. And be it further enacted, that if any person claiming to ing any ob- have an interest in the land proposed to be exchanged shall object deposit them to such exchange, it shall be lawful for him to state such objection clerk of the in writing, and to deposit the same with the clerk of the peace at peace within any time not less than fourteen days before the holding of the assizes at which such proposed exchange shall be taken into consideration as hereinafter mentioned; and such draft deed of exchange, and estimate, and copy of limitations, and the said statement of objection, shall be open to the inspection of any person. a certain time. Fees to be taken by peace. XIV. And be it further enacted, that the justices of the peace for clerks of the the several counties, ridings, divisions, cities, towns, liberties, and precincts, within England and Wales, shall in the manner directed 57 G.3, c. 91. by an act passed the fifty-seventh year of the reign of king George the third, intituled an act to enable justices of the peace to settle the fees to be taken by the clerks of the peace of the respective counties and other divisions of England and Wales, ascertain, make, and settle a table of fees and allowances, to be taken by the clerks of the peace for such counties, ridings, divisions, cities, towns, liberties, and precincts, for their trouble in the execution of the duties imposed upon them by this act, and such fees shall be subject to alteration and regulation in the manner by the said act directed. Clerk of the peace to cause draft deed, &c. to be laid before a judge of assize, who shall appoint a barrister to consider the same. Barrister may summon XV. And be it further enacted, that the clerk of the peace shall cause the said draft deed of exchange, estimate, and statement of objection (if any), and all other papers relating thereto, to be laid before the senior judge of nisi prius at the assizes to be holden next after the expiration of three months from the time of the deposit of such draft deed of exchange with the clerk of the peace as aforesaid; and such judge shall appoint a barrister, of not less than five years' standing, for taking into consideration the said draft deed and statement, who shall forthwith appoint a time for that purpose. XVI. And be it further enacted, that such barrister shall be witnesses. empowered to summon and to compel the attendance of witnesses, False swear- and to administer an oath; and that any person wilfully swearing ing perjury. falsely before such barrister shall be liable to all the penalties of wilful perjury. Barrister to examine witnesses, and determine objections. XVII. And be it further enacted, that such barrister shall satisfy himself, by the production of deeds, the examination of witnesses, or by such other evidence as he shall think fit to require, of the value of the lands proposed to be exchanged, and that the person proposing to make such exchange is not under any disability, or if he is that the person stated to have the next immediate vested estate of freehold in reversion or remainder has such estate, and that the notices and the consents required by this act have been duly given; and such barrister shall hear and determine all objections (if any) which may have been made by any person claiming to have an interest in the land proposed to be exchanged. the barrister be. XVIII. And be it further enacted, that after such inquiry shall After inquiry have been had before such barrister he shall grant a certificate to certify as under his hand, in which he shall state that the parties proposing to the case may make such exchange are not under any disability, or if they are, or either of them is under disability, that the persons or person having the next immediate vested estate of freehold in remainder or reversion have concurred therein, that the persons whose consents are required under this act have consented to the exchange, and that the equality and fairness of the proposed exchange have been proved, or otherwise, as the case may be; and he shall suggest in such certificate such alterations as to him may seem expedient for the better protecting the rights of parties having an interest in the lands proposed to be exchanged. which there difference in XIX. And be it further enacted, that in any case of an exchange In case of an to be made under this act in which there shall be a difference of exchange in not more than one-fifth in the value of the lands proposed to be shall be a exchanged, it shall be lawful for the said barrister to allow or insert value of not a provision in such exchange for the payment in money of such dif- more than ference in value: provided always, that no exchange shall be made under the authority of this act in which there shall be a difference of more than one-fifth part in the value of the lands proposed to be exchanged. one-fifth. with draft thereupon. XX. And be it further enacted, that the said certificate, together Certificate with the said draft deed of exchange, and estimate, and such state- deed, &c. to ment of objections, if any, and all other papers relating thereto, shall be laid before the judge, be laid before the said judge of assize, who shall thereupon make who shall such order therein, either for confirming the said exchange, or for make order annulling the same, or for altering the same, as to him may seem expedient; and the said draft deed of exchange when so confirmed or altered by the said order shall be immediately engrossed and executed by the necessary parties, and shall, when so executed, be binding upon the owners and proprietors of the pieces of land so exchanged, and all other parties interested therein: provided always, Judge may that before making such final order it shall be lawful for such judge ther inquiry. to institute or cause to be instituted such further inquiry, by the means aforesaid, into the several matters relating to any such agreement, as he may think necessary. institute fur charges of XXI. Provided also, and be it enacted, that such barrister shall Costs and further certify to the said judge by whom and in what proportions proceedings. the costs and charges of such proceedings relative to such agreement ought to be borne, and thereupon the said judge shall make such order for payment of such costs and charges as he may think right: provided always, that in the case of any disagreement respecting the amount of such costs, such costs shall be taxed by the master or secondary of the court of king's bench. XXII. And be it further enacted, that every barrister before Remunerawhom any inquiry shall be had under the authority of this act shall tion to bar rister. Application for equality when party der disability be entitled to be paid at the rate of five guineas for every day that he shall be employed in making such inquiry, over and above his travelling and all other expenses; and every such barrister shall after the termination of such inquiry transmit a statement of the number of days during which he shall have been so employed, and an account of the travelling and all other expenses incurred by him in respect of such employment, to the judge by whom he shall have been appointed, or, in case of the death or illness or retirement of such judge, to any other judge of the superior courts of record at Westminster, who shall examine and allow the same, or so much or such parts thereof as he shall see fit; and the same when so allowed shall be paid in the same manner as the other costs and charges incident to such exchange are herein before directed to be paid: provided always, that if more than one case of exchange shall be referred to the same barrister, the remuneration to such barrister shall not be cumulative, but shall be considered as fixed for the day and not for the case. XXIII. And be it further enacted, that in case any money shall ofmoney paid be directed to be paid by either party to the other of them for of exchange equality of exchange, and the party to whom such money shall be entitled to directed to be paid shall (in case it shall exceed the sum of twenty the same un- pounds) be paid with all convenient speed into the bank of England in the name and with the privity of the accountant-general of the court of chancery, to be placed to his account there ex parte the person entitled to the rents and profits of the land for or in respect of which such money shall be payable, to the intent that such money shall be applied, under the direction of the court, to be signified by an order made in a summary way upon a petition to be preferred by or on behalf of the person who would have been entitled to the rents and profits of the said land, either in the purchase or redemption of the land tax, or in discharging any debt or incumbrance affecting the said land, or affecting any other lands standing settled therewith to the same or the like uses, or in the purchase of other lands, which shall be conveyed to the same or the like uses, or such of them as shall be then subsisting and capable of taking effect; and in the meantime and until such purchase shall be made the said money shall, by order of the said court, upon application thereto, be invested by the said accountant-general in his name in some of the public funds, and the dividends thereof shall from time to time be paid to the person who would have been entitled to the rents of the land so to be purchased and settled; but in case such money shall not exceed the sum of twenty pounds, then the same shall be paid to the person entitled to the rents and profits of the land for or in respect of which the same may be payable, or in case of infancy, lunacy, idiotcy, or coverture, to his or her guardian, committee, or husband, as the case may be. Lands given to be rated from XXIV. And be it further enacted, that from and immediately in exchange after such deed of exchange as herein before is mentioned shall have been duly executed by the necessary parties, the land which by such deed is given in exchange shall be exonerated and discharged from at the time, the uses, trusts, powers, conditions, limitations and restrictions, become sub- charges and incumbrances then affecting the same, and shall be and the uses affecting them and to uses as become subject to such and the same uses, trusts, powers, conditions, ject to such limitations and restrictions, charges and incumbrances, as affected affected the the land taken in exchange at the same date; and the land so taken lands taken. in exchange shall be exonerated and discharged from all uses, trusts, powers, conditions, limitations and restrictions, charges and incumbrances then affecting the same, and shall be and become subject to such and the same uses, trusts, powers, conditions, limitations and restrictions, charges and incumbrances as affected the lands given in exchange at the same time. change party XXV. And be it further enacted, that no person to whom any After exland shall have been granted or conveyed in exchange according to not to be the provisions of this act shall at any time thereafter be evicted from evicted. the peaceable and quiet possession of such land by reason or in consequence of any person claiming right thereto through any title prior to that of, or through any defect of title in, the person by whom such land may have been granted or conveyed; but nevertheless it shall be lawful for the person claiming such right, and he is hereby authorized and empowered, to use, exercise, and enjoy all such and the same powers and remedies in trying his right to and in obtaining and recovering possession of the land which shall have been granted or conveyed in exchange as the person so claiming would in case this act had not been made have been enabled to use, exercise, or enjoy in trying the right to and recovering the possession of the land in exchange for which the same shall have been so granted or conveyed under the authority of this act. XXVI. Saving always to the king's most excellent majesty, his General heirs and successors, and to all and every other person, bodies politic, saving. corporate and collegiate, his and their heirs, successors, executors, and administrators, (other than and except the several owners and proprietors of the said exchanged lands, and the several persons and parties who shall have consented to such exchange, and all other persons claiming under them, or under the same will or deed or other conveyance as the said owners and proprietors, any right, title, estate, or interest to or in the said exchanged lands), all such estate, right, title, interest, claim, and demand whatsoever as they, every or any of them had before the making and confirming of any such exchange, or could or might have had or enjoyed in case such exchange had not been made. words in the XXVII. And be it further enacted, that the words and expres- Meaning of sions hereinafter mentioned, which in their ordinary signification act. have a more confined or a different meaning, shall in the construction of this act, except where the nature of the provision or the context of the act shall exclude such construction, be interpreted as follows; that is to say, the word "Person" shall extend as well to an individual as to a body politic, corporate or collegiate, and to a corporation as well aggregate as sole, whether such corporation be eleemosynary or civil, ecclesiastical or lay; the word "Benefice" shall extend to and be taken to comprehend rectories, vicarages, donatives, perpetual curacies, parochial and consolidated chapelries, district parishes and district chapelries, and churches and chapels having a district assigned thereto; the word "Land" shall extend to every species of land, whether arable, meadow or pasture, and whether freehold, copyhold, or customary, or held by any other tenure, and as well to one piece or parcel as to any number of pieces or parcels of land; and every word importing the singular number only shall extend and be applied to several persons or things as well as one person or thing; and every word importing the masculine gender only shall extend and be applied to a female as well as a male. XXVIII. And be it further enacted, that this act shall extend only to that part of the united kingdom called England and Wales. XXIX. And be it further enacted, that this act or any of the altered this provisions thereof may be altered or repealed by any act to be passed in this present session of parliament. To extend to Act may be session. The Schedule to which the foregoing Act refers. This indenture, made the in the year day of between A. B. of of the Schedule A. containing the land conveyed by A. B. to C. D. Witness E. F. A. B. (L. s.) SPACE LEFT, FOR REFERENCE, IF NECESSARY, TO ACTS OF PARLIAMENT PASSED SUBSEQUENT TO A. D. 1844. |