and if any other person, whose act or consent is necessary for such transfer, refuse to concur therein, [see i. p. 236], the assignees must get the commmissioners to sign the following—

Order for Transfer of Stock.

Whereas it appears to me, Joshua Evans, Esquire, being one of the commissioners of the Court of Bankruptcy, acting in prosecution of [or to us, A. B., C. D., and E. F., being the major part of the commissioners named in and authorized by] a fiat in bankruptcy awarded and issued and now in prosecution against Joseph Styles, of &c., of whose estate and effects Patrick Johnson hath been appointed official assignee, [or Charles Jameson and George Brook have been duly chosen assignees], that the said Joseph Styles is entitled to the sum of £500 37. per cent. Consolidated Bank Annuities, and that the same is now standing in the name of, in the books kept at the Bank of England for entering transfers of such annuities; and it also appearing to me [us] that the [act or] consent of John Jackson, of &c., and James Windham, of &c., is necessary for effectually transferring the same into the name of the said official assignee, [or the said assignees], we do hereby order you the said John Jackson and James Windham, and each of you, on or before the day of next, to consent to or concur in the transfer of the same into the name of the said official assignee [or assignees], and not to pay any dividends henceforth to become due in respect of the same to any person, save the said official assignee [or assignees].

To John Jackson, of &c., and

James Windham, of &c.

Memorandum thereof.

In the Court of Bankruptcy.]

At the Court of Commissioners of Bankrupt, Basinghallstreet, the day of, 1840.

In the matter of Joseph Styles, a bankrupt.

Memorandum. I Joshua Evans, Esquire, being one of the commissioners of the Court of Bankruptcy acting in prosecution of [or we, A. B., C. D., and E. F., Esquires, being the major part of the commissioners named and authorized in and by] a fiat in bankruptcy awarded and issued and now in prosecution against Joseph Styles, of &c., sat [met] the day and year and at the place above mentioned, and duly signed an order for John Jackson, of &c., and James Windham, of &c., to join in transferring the sum of £500 31. per cent. Consolidated Bank Annuities into the names of the official assignee [or assignees] appointed under this fiat, on or before the day of

***To be signed by the commissioners.

next.

Affidavit of Service of the Order.

William Hamber, one of the messengers, &c., upon his oath saith, that he this examinant did, on the day of, personally serve John Jackson, of &c., and James Windham, of &c., with the order hereunto annexed, by putting a true and examined copy thereof into the hands of them the said John Jackson and James Windham, respectively, and at the same time shewing them respectively the original order subscribed with the handwriting of Joshua Evans, one of the commissioners of the Court of Bankruptcy, [or the major part of the commissioners in the said fiat named]; and this examinant further saith that the name [or several names] subscribed to the said order was [were respectively] written by the said commissioner [s] in the presence of this examinant, William Hamber.

In town fiats, provision is made by the General Orders in Bankruptcy for the investment of any part of the bankrupt's estate in the purchase of Exchequer Bills. (See i. p. 171, ante.) But in country fiats, by 6 Geo. 4, c. 16, s. 103, the commissioners may, as often as it shall appear to them expedient for the bankrupt's estate, direct any money, part of such estate, to be invested in the purchase of Exchequer Bills, and may direct where the same shall be kept. If, therefore, in country fiats, any considerable sum should be in the hands of the assignees, or at the banker's, they should procure an order of the commissioners for investment. (See ante, i. p. 167).

Order of the Commissioners for the Investment of Money in Exchequer Bills, under 6 Geo. 4, c. 16, s. 103.

At the &c. [place of meeting,] the 23rd day of August, 1840.

Memorandum. That Charles Jameson, one of the assignees of the estate of Joseph Styles, of &c., being sworn and examined upon his oath, saith, that there is now in the hands of Messrs. V. W. & Co., the bankers to the said estate, belonging to the estate of the said bankrupt, the sum of £400. We do therefore order and direct, that the said sum of £400 be laid out in the purchase of Exchequer Bills for the benefit of the said bankrupt's estate, and direct that the said Exchequer Bills, when purchased, be deposited at the said bankers'.

*** To be signed by the commissioners.

4. Expunging Proofs by the Commissioners.

By 6 Geo. 4, c. 16, s. 60, if the assignees, or two or more cre

ditors, having each proved a debt of £20 or upwards, suspect a debt proved under the fiat, or any part of it, to be not justly due, the commissioners are empowered to investigate the same, and to expunge the proof, or any part of it, which in their opinion is not justly due; but the assignees or creditors who require such investigation must first sign an undertaking to pay such costs as the commissioners shall adjudge to the creditor whose debt is to be so investigated. (See i. p. 158).

Undertaking by Assignees or Creditors to pay the Costs of investigating a Debt before the Commissioners.

day of

1840.

At the [place of meeting,] the Whereas it appears to us, the assignees chosen [or creditors having respectively proved debts to the amount of £20 and upwards] under a fiat in bankruptcy against Joseph Styles, of street, in the city of London, builder, dealer, and chapman, that James Windham, of street, in the city of London, merchant, hath proved a debt under the said fiat which is not justly due to the said James Windham: we therefore, having represented the same to Joshua Evans, Esquire, the commissioner of the Court of Bankruptcy, acting in prosecution of the said fiat, [or to the major part of the commissioners in the said fiat named], who hath [have] agreed to make an investigation upon oath into the validity of the said debt, do hereby undertake and agree to pay such costs and charges as the said commissioner [s] shall direct in respect of the said investigation.

Charles Jameson.
George Brook.

Memorandum of the Commissioners having expunged the Proof of

a Debt.

At the &c [as before,] the 13th day of August, 1840.

In the matter of Joseph Styles, against whom a fiat, bearing date the day of, 1840, was duly issued.

Memorandum. I Joshua Evans, being the commissioner authorized to proceed in the said fiat now in prosecution against the said Joseph Styles, [or we, being the major part of the commissioners named in and acting under the said fiat], having been this day personally attended by Charles Jameson and George Brook, the assignees under the said fiat, and also James Windham, of

a creditor who hath proved a debt under the said fiat of £200 for goods alleged to have been sold and delivered to the said Joseph Styles, by the said James Windham, before the date and issuing forth of the said fiat, and having examined upon oath the said James Windham, and also John Nokes, of &c., and being of opinion that the said debt is not [or that only part of the said debt to the amount of £75 is] justly due to the said James Windham, I [we] have, by virtue of the statute in that case made and pro

vided, expunged the proof for the same [or part of the proof for the same to the amount of £75] from the proceedings under the same fiat. *To be signed by the commissioners.

5. First Dividend.

At the meeting for the last examination of the bankrupt, the commissioners appoint a public meeting, and not sooner than four months from the issuing of the fiat, for the purpose of auditing the accounts of the assignees. Twenty-one days' notice thereof, and (if the assignees wish) of declaring a dividend, is then to be given in the Gazette. The assignees attend accordingly, and give in their accounts upon oath; such of the creditors as have not already proved, then prove their debts, that they may entitle themselves to the dividend; and, lastly, the dividend is declared. The following are the forms :—

Memorandum of Commissioners authorizing a Meeting to audit Assignees' Accounts.

In the Court of Bankruptcy.]

In the matter of Joseph Styles, of
bearing date the day of

against whom a fiat,

-, 1840, was duly issued. Memorandum. That I, whose name is hereunto subscribed, being the commissioner authorized to proceed in [or we, being the major part of the commissioners named in and authorized by the fiat now in prosecution against the above-named Joseph Styles, having sat [met] at the time and place above mentioned, pursuant to notice in the London Gazette, being the time appointed for the bankrupt's last examination, do hereby, in pursuance of the directions of an act of Parliament passed in the sixth year of the reign of his late Majesty King George the Fourth, intituled "An Act to amend the laws relating to Bankrupts," appoint a public meeting to audit the accounts of the assignees of the said bankrupt, to be holden at the Court of Commissioners of Bankrupt, Basinghallstreet, in the city of London, on Tuesday the 23rd of December next, at twelve o'clock at noon, whereof, and of the purport whereof, I do hereby direct my [or we do hereby direct our] messenger to cause an advertisement to be inserted in the London Gazette twenty-two days previous to the said day hereby appointed for the said public meeting.

* Signed by the commissioners.

Advertisement in the Gazette.

The commissioner [s] in a fiat in bankruptcy, awarded and issued against Joseph Styles, of street, in the city of London, builder, dealer and chapman, intend to sit [meet] on the - day of De

cember next, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, at the [place of meeting], "in order to audit the accounts of the assignees," adding, if it be intended to declare a dividend at the same meeting], "and to make a dividend of the estate and effects of the said bankrupt :" when and where the creditors who have not already proved their debts are to come prepared to prove the same, or they will be excluded the benefit of the said dividend; and all claims not then proved will be disallowed. [But if it be intended to have two meetings-one for the auditing of the accounts, and the other for declaring the dividend and proof of debts, then the advertisement for the first meeting will be as above, ending at the word assignees," and for the second meeting, it will be the same as above, omitting all the words between " in order," and "to make a dividend" &c.]

66

Memorandum of having audited the Assignees' Accounts.
In the Court of Bankruptcy.]

At the &c. [as above,] the 20th day of August, 1840.
In the matter of Joseph Styles, against whom a fiat bearing

day of

1840, was duly issued.

date the Memorandum. That I, whose name is hereunto subscribed, being the commissioner authorized to proceed upon [or we, whose names are hereunto subscribed, being the major part of the commissioners named in and authorized by] the said fiat, having sat [met] at the time and place above mentioned, for the purpose of auditing the accounts of the assignees of the said bankrupt's estate and effects, when the official assignee [or J. G., of and C. J., of assignees of the said bankrupt,] appeared before me [us] and delivered in upon oath an account marked A, now filed with the proceedings, as a full and true account of all his [their] receipts and payments under the said fiat, and when and on what account, and how the same has been employed: and I the said commissioner, [or we the said commissioners], having examined the said accounts, and compared the receipts with the payments, do find that there is now a balance of seven hundred and fifty-eight pounds ten shillings and sevenpence halfpenny, in the hands of the said official assignee [or assignees], applicable to a dividend. And I [we] do further find that the said assignees have not, nor hath either of them, wilfully retained or otherwise employed any sum or sums of money, part of the estate of the said bankrupt, contrary to the directions of the statutes relating to bankrupts. And I [we] do declare the sum of £, being part of the said balance of seven hundred and fifty-eight pounds ten shillings and seven pence halfpenny, is a proper sum to be forthwith divided among the creditors entitled to the same, and that the sum of £- be retained for the following purpose: that is to say [state the purpose for which any sum is sought to be retained].

***To be signed by the commissioners.