6 East, 241. 1 T. R. 732. Davis v. Duke of Marlborough, 2 Swanst. 157. of a defective enrolment, the grantee of the annuity may, at law, recover what he paid, deducting what he has received1, because 'Hicks v. Hicks, 3 East, 16; the security not being set aside "for any fraud in the transaction, Scurfield v. but merely for a mistake or omission in form, it becomes un- Gowland, conscientious in the party to retain it." In equity, though the general principle of the court is not to give relief to those who will not do equity, yet, on a bill by the grantor to have an annuity-deed delivered up as void under the statute, he is entitled to that relief without accounting for the consideration paid for the annuity, leaving the annuitant to proceed at law3; the principle of relief is, that the annuitant has no right to retain deeds which are void, and that the grantor is interested in obtaining them, because, though void, they may be used against him, and form, in the technical phrase, a cloud upon his title,being void for all purposes, the deeds cannot, as evidence of the contract under which they were executed, impose on the delivery terms of redemption, or create a lien on the property. But if Angel v. Hadthe grantor, by his bill or answer, submit to account for the price den, 2 Mer. 169. paid by the annuitant, the payments in respect of the annuity will be set off5; and if those payments exceed the price of the annuity with interest, the grantee must refund the balance 6. Courts of law have no jurisdiction to order annuity-deeds void under the statute to be delivered up, but they set aside the warrant of attorney and judgment, over which they have a summary jurisdiction7. Lord Eldon, on one of the numerous occasions on which he stated the law on this subject, observes, that "the courts of law, in their zeal to destroy annuity transactions, for some time misread the act of parliament, and supposed they had that power, Lord Chief Justice Eyre first corrected that9; but it has been since settled, that the instruments being by the act declared to be void for all intents and purposes, there is inherent Horwood, in this court that jurisdiction to order them to be delivered up.” Bromley v. Holland, 7 Ves. 3; Hoffman v. Cooke, 5 Ves. 623. • Byne v. 24. 7 See Ex p. Ansell, 1 Bos. & P. 66, n. (c). S Underhill v. 10 Ves. 218. 9 Appleby v. Smith, 3 Anst. 865. 129 Car. 2, c. 3, s. 18; 8 Geo. 2, C. 6 Anne, c. 35; 7 Anne, c. 20. 1. Registry Acts.]—In order to protect purchasers and mortgagees from secret conveyances and incumbrances, several acts of parliament1 have from time to time been passed for the registration of deeds. These acts are confined in their operation to the three Ridings of Yorkshire, the town and county of Kingston203 Came 24 upon-Hull, and the county of Middlesex. By these legislative provisions it has been enacted that all deeds and wills concerning estates shall be adjudged fraudulent and void against a subsequent purchaser or mortgagee for valuable consideration, unless a memorial thereof be registered in the manner thereby prescribed, before the registering of the memorial of the deed under which such subsequent purchaser or mortgagee shall claim; and that all devises by will shall be adjudged fraudulent and void against subsequent purchasers or mortgagees, unless a memorial of such will be registered within the space of six months after the death of the devisor or testatrix, dying in Great Britain, or within the space of three years after his or her death, dying upon the sea or in parts beyond the sea. 'Powell v. Duff, 3 Camp. 181. From these statutes are excepted copyholds 2, leases at rack rent and leases for twenty-one years, where the actual possession accompanies the lease; and chambers in Serjeants' Inn, the Inns of Court and Chancery. And it is declared that no judgment, statute, or recognisance, shall take effect but from the time of its registry. 2. Of the Memorial of a Deed or Will.]—The memorial is to be written on stamped vellum or parchment, to be under the hand and seal of some or one of the grantors or grantees, their heirs, executors, or administrators, guardians, or trustees, in case of a deed, and some or one of the devisees, their heirs, &c., in case of a will; to be attested by two witnesses, one of whom must be a witness to the deed or will, and must make oath before one of the registrars of the execution of the deed and memorial. The oath is, that the deponent saw the memorial signed and sealed, and the deed to which it refers duly executed. The memorial is to contain the date of the deed or will and the names and additions of all the parties to such deed, and of the devisor or testatrix of such will, and of all the witnesses to such deed or will, and the place of their abode, and must also express the parcels, with the places where the premises lie; and the deed, or will, or the probate, or an office copy thereof, is to be produced and left at the office of the registrar, who is to indorse a certificate thereon, which is evidence1. If there be more deeds than one, the parcels need only be stated in one memorial to which the others may refer. Where the memorial does not comply with the directions of the act, the persons claiming under the deed defectively registered, cannot insist on the benefit of the act against a subsequent purchaser without notice, whose conveyance is duly registered. A memorial of registry containing the substance of a covenant in a lease, though not expressly setting forth a proviso in it, has been held to be a good registration, the proviso being implied in the covenant2. If the registration of the memorial has been omitted till the subscribing witnesses are dead or not to be found, any of the parties living may re-execute the deed, and sign and seal the memorial in the presence of other witnesses, by which means the deed may be registered; and if the parties themselves are all dead, the heir or legal representative being executor or administrator of any one of them, may execute a memorial in presence of one of the subscribing witnesses, referring to the deed and stating the death of such party, and then that witness may attest the memorial for registry. The memorial of a will, to be binding on subsequent purchasers and mortgagees, must be registered within six months after the death of the testator, dying in Great Britain, or within three years after his death if he die in parts beyond the seas. The words of the act are, that "all deeds and wills may be registered as thereinafter directed;" and it has been hence inferred that no time is limited within which a will must be registered, and consequently that it may be done at any time where there is no adverse title under a prior registered conveyance. However this may be, it is certainly not advisable to omit the registration of wills within the time prescribed. This omission was formerly very common, but the practice now is to register wills without reserve, as also wills appointing executors who take attendant terms of their testator, and limited administrations granted for the purpose of proving representations to attendant terms for years. If the devisee in a will, from any suppression or contest respecting the will or other inevitable difficulty, without his wilful default, shall be disabled from exhibiting a memorial for registry within the time limited, then a memorial of such impediment or concealment must be entered in the registry office, within two years after the death of the devisor, dying in Great Britain, or within five years of his death if he die abroad; and a memorial of the will within six months after a removal of the impediment, is declared to be sufficient: but no concealed will is to affect a purchaser, unless it be registered within five years after the death of the testator; and it seems that the registration of wills, probates, and office copies of wills after the period described by the statutes, will be ineffectual to the parties in the same manner as docketting a judgment after due time will be of no avail. 3. Memorial of a Mortgage.]—In the memorial of a mortgage, it will be proper to notice that the deed was a mortgage, in order to render intelligible the certificate in the margin of its being paid off; though this is not required by the act, nor indeed is any other condition, trust, or purport of the deed required to be disclosed on the registry. This is a practice, however, which is disapproved by some gentlemen, who think that a solicitor who prepares the memorial of a mortgage, so as to disclose the nature of the transaction in the registry, divulges the secrets of his clients, and unnecessarily exposes the affairs of the mortgagor without increasing the security of the mortgagee. As to entering satisfaction on mortgages, it is declared by the above acts, that if a certificate be produced under the hand of the mortgagee or mortgagees, his, her, or their executors, administrators, and assigns, and attested by two witnesses, whereby it shall appear that all monies due upon such mortgage have been paid and satisfied, and the witnesses shall upon oath before the registrar prove such monies to have been paid accordingly, that they saw such certificate signed by the said mortgagee or mortgagees, his, her, or their executors, administrators, and assigns, the registrar shall make an entry in the margin of the book, wherein such mortgage shall be registered, that the same was satisfied and discharged according to such certificate, and shall file such certificate to remain upon record in the said registrar's office. The registrar will then, on the deed so to be discharged being produced, indorse his certificate thereupon, certifying his discharge of such mortgage pursuant to the directions of the Act of Parliament. As the first registry acts passed little more than twenty years after the passing of the Statute of Frauds, which enacted" that "no lease, estate, or interest of freehold, or lease of years, or any " uncertain interest not being copy hold, shall be surrendered unless "by deed or note in writing, signed by the parties surrendering the "same," there can be little doubt that the mortgage certificate when signed by the parties acknowledging payment and satisfaction in discharge of the mortgage, was intended to operate as a surrender, "which does not require any technical words, but such only as express the intention1." The general opinion however is, 12 Roll. Ab. that this certificate would not divest the mortgagee of the legal estate, and that a purchaser cannot be compelled to accept it, and is never relied on now, as a note in writing to operate as a surrender must have the appropriate stamp. 4. Memorial of a Judgment.]-The memorial of a judgment must contain:-1st, the court in which the judgment is obtained, and of what term; 2nd, the names and additions of the plaintiffs and defendants; 3rd, the sum or sums recovered by the judgment; and 4th, the day and year on which the judgment was signed: and it is declared that "no judgment, statute, or recognisance, (other than such as shall be entered into in the name and upon the proper account of his Majesty, his heirs and successors,) shall bind any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, but only from the time that a memorial thereof shall have been duly entered at the registrar's office." This clause is general as to property in Middlesex; but in the East and West Ridings of Yorkshire, and the town and county of Kingston-upon-Hull, if the judgment, statute, or recognisance, be registered within thirty days from the time of the acknowledgment or signing thereof, it will bind all the lands of the defendant from the time of such acknowledgment or signing. In the North Riding, the time is limited to twenty days. When the judgment is paid off, entry of satisfaction on the margin, as in the case of a mortgage, is not required; but such entry on the records of the court wherein the judgment is docketted will be sufficient. 5. Memorial of Equitable Charges.]-Liens and charges on 497. |