of such Court, shall vest in or belong to the Treasurer of the County Court for the Time being, and his Successors in the said Office, in trust for the Purposes of this Act, for the like Estate and Interest, and subject to all the Covenants, Conditions, and Agreements on which the same were respectively holden; and the said Commissioners, Clerks, Treasurers, Trustees, and other Officers, their Heirs, Executors, and Administrators, shall be freed and discharged from all such Covenants, Conditions, and Agreements, and from the Consequences of their being unable to fulfil any Covenants or Agreements into which any of them may have lawfully entered in execution of the Provisions of any of the said Acts, on or before the Repeal of such Act, with respect to their Estate or Interest in such Messuages, Lands, Tenements, Real and Personal Estates and Effects, in consequence of the vesting thereof in the said Treasurer; and all Monies and Securities for Money, and other Property and Effects of any Kind whatsoever, in the Hands of the Commissioners, Clerks, Treasurers, Trustees, or other Officers of any such Court, shall be paid, transferred, and delivered to the said Treasurer, or to such Person as he shall appoint to receive the same, and shall be applied in discharging all Claims and Demands to which the same were liable in the Hands of such Commissioners, Clerks, Treasurers, Trustees, or other Officers, and the Residue thereof shall be applied to the same Purposes to which the General Fund is applicable.

LIV. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Trea- Provisions for surer of the County Court, with the Approval of the Commis- outstanding Liabilities. sioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, and upon the Certificate of the Expediency thereof under the Hand of the Judge, to sell and dispose of all Messuages, Lands, and Tenements which may be vested in him under the Provisions of this Act which shall not be needed for the Purposes of this Act, or which the Treasurers shall think ought to be sold for the Purpose of better enabling him to discharge any just Debts on account of any Court of which the Constitution shall be altered under this Act, or to provide other and more convenient Buildings for holding a County Court; and the Proceeds of all such Sales, and also all Monies and Securities for Money which shall be paid, transferred, or delivered to him on account of any such Court as aforesaid, shall be applied towards discharging such Debts; and in every Case in which at the Time of the Alteration of the Constitution of the Court there shall be any just Debts owing on account of any such Court, or any Salaries or Annuities legally or equitably chargeable upon or payable out of the Fees of such Court, or out of any Fund to which such Fees are payable, over and above what may be discharged by the Monies and Effects so paid, transferred, or delivered to the Treasurer on account of such Court, and over and above the Proceeds of the Sale of any such Messuages, Lands, and Tenements, in case the same or any Part thereof shall be sold, such Debts, Salaries, and Annuities shall be treated as if they were Debts which had been incurred for the Purpose of providing a Court House for holding the County Court for the District in which the Place is included where such Court was holden, and shall be liquidated out of the General Fund herein-before mentioned, if the same shall be sufficient for that Purpose, and any Deficiency

Nn 4

Clerks to have the Charge of the Court Houses, &c.,

and dismiss Servants, &c.

Deficiency therein shall be paid out of the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

LV. And be it enacted, That the Clerk of every Court shall have the Care of the Court House and Offices of the Court, and shall appoint and have Power to dismiss the necessary Servants and to appoint for taking charge of such Court House and Offices, at such Salaries as shall be from Time to Time authorized by the Judge, with the Consent of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury; and the Clerk of the Court, under the Direction of the said Commissioners, and subject to such Regulations as they may require to be enforced, shall make all necessary Contracts or otherwise provide for repairing and furnishing, and for cleaning, lighting, and warming, the said Court House and Offices, and for supplying the said Court and Offices with Law and Office Books and Stationery, and for defraying all other necessary Expences not otherwise provided for incident to the holding of the said Court, and the Charge of the Court House and Offices, and Expences thereby incurred, shall be paid out of the General Fund of the Court: Provided always, that the Treasurer or Clerk of any Court, or the Partner of any such Treasurer or Clerk, or any Person in the Service or Employment of any such Treasurer or Clerk, shall not be directly or indirectly concerned or interested in any such Contract, or in supplying any Articles for the Use of the said Courts and Offices: Provided also, that no Payment for any such Charge shall be allowed in the Clerk's Accounts until allowed under the Hand of the Judge.

Judge to hold

the Court where Her Majesty shall direct.

Notices for

holding Courts to be put up in a conspicuous Place.

Process of the Court to be under Stal.

Jurisdiction of the Court.

LVI. And be it enacted, That the Judge of each District shall attend and hold the County Court at each Place where Her Majesty shall have ordered that the County Court shall be holden within his District at such Times as he shall appoint for that Purpose, so that a Court shall be holden in every such Place once at least in every Calendar Month, or such other Interval as One of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State shall in each Case order; and Notice of the Days on which the Court will be holden shall be put up in some conspicuous Place in the Court House and in the Office of the Clerk of the Court, and no other Notice thereof shall be needed; and whenever any Day so appointed for holding the Court shall be altered, Notice of such intended Alteration, and of the Time when it will take effect, shall be put up in some conspicuous Place in the Court House and in the Clerk's Office.

LVII. And be it enacted, That for every Court holden under this Act there shall be made a Seal of the Court, and all Summonses and other Process issuing out of the said Court shall be sealed or stamped with the Seal of the Court; and every Person who shall forge the Seal or any Process of the Court, or who shall serve or enforce any such forged Process, knowing the same to be forged, or deliver or cause to be delivered to any Person any Paper falsely purporting to be a Copy of any Summons or other Process of the said Court, knowing the same to be false, or who shall act or profess to act under any false Colour or Pretence of the Process of the said Court, shall be guilty of Felony.

LVIII. And be it enacted, That all Pleas of Personal Actions, where the Debt or Damage claimed is not more than Twenty Pounds, whether on Balance of Account or otherwise, may be

holden in the County Court, without Writ; and all such Actions brought in the said Court shall be heard and determined in a summary Way in a Court constituted under this Act, and according to the Provisions of this Act: Provided always, that the Court shall not have cognizance of any Action of Ejectment, or in which the Title to any corporeal or incorporeal Hereditaments, or to any Toll, Fair, Market, or Franchise, shall be in question, or in which the Validity of any Demise, Bequest, or Limitation under any Will or Settlement may be disputed, or for any malicious Prosecution, or for any Libel or Slander, or for Criminal Conversation, or for Seduction, or Breach of Promise of Marriage.

LIX. And be it enacted, That, on the Application of any Per- Suits to be by son desirous to bring a Suit under this Act, the Clerk of the Plaint. Court shall enter in a Book to be kept for this Purpose in his Office a Plaint in Writing, stating the Names and the last known Places of Abode of the Parties, and the Substance of the Action intended to be brought, every one of which Plaints shall be numbered in every Year according to the Order in which it shall be entered; and thereupon a Summons, stating the Substance of the Action, and bearing the Number of the Plaint on the Margin thereof, shall be issued under the Seal of the Court according to such Form, and be served on the Defendant so many Days before the Day on which the Court shall be holden at which the Cause is to be tried, as shall be directed by the Rules made for regulating the Practice of the Court, as herein-after provided; and Delivery of such Summons to the Defendant, or in such other Manner as shall be specified in the Rules of Practice, shall be deemed good Service; and no Misnomer or inaccurate Description of any Person or Place in any such Plaint or Summons shall vitiate the same, so that the Person or Place be therein described so as to be commonly known.

in the District.

LX. And be it enacted, That such Summons may issue in any Summons may District in which the Defendant or One of the Defendants shall issue, though dwell or carry on his Business at the Time of the Action brought; Cause of Action or, by Leave of the Court for the District in which the Defendant may not arise or One of the Defendants shall have dwelt or carried on his Business, at some Time within Six Calendar Months next before the Time of the Action brought, or in which the Cause of Action arose, such Summons may issue in either of such last-mentioned Courts.

may

Processes out of District of Court may be served by Bailiff of any other

LXI. And be it enacted, That any Summons or other Process which under this Act shall be required to be served out of the District of the Court from which the same shall have issued be served by the Bailiff of any Court holden under this Act in any Part of England, and such Service shall be as valid as if Court. the same had been made by the Bailiff of the Court out of which such Summons or other Process shall have issued within the Jurisdiction of the Court for which he acts.

LXII. And be it enacted, That Service of any Summons or Proof of Service other Process of the Court which shall require to be served out of Process out of the District of the Court may be proved by Affidavit, purport- of the District, ing to be sworn before any Judge of a County Court, or before a Master Extraordinary in Chancery, or any Person now autho- Bailiff. rized by Law to take Affidavits; and the Fee for taking such

Affidavit

or in the Absence of the

Demands not to be divided for

the Purpose of bringing Two or more Suits.

Minors may sue for Wages.

Cases of Partnership and Intestacy.

Executors may sue and be sued.

No Privilege allowed.

One of several Persons liable may be sued.

Judge alone to determine all Questions unless a Jury be summoned.

Affidavit shall not be more than One Shilling, and shall be Costs in the Cause; and in every Case of the unavoidable Absence of the Bailiff by whom any Summons or other Process of the Court Ishall have been served the Service of such Summons or other Process may be proved, if the Judge shall think fit, in the same Manner as a Summons served out of the District of the Court, but without additional Charge to either of the Parties to the Suit. LXIII. And be it enacted, That it shall not be lawful for any Plaintiff to divide any Cause of Action for the Purpose of bringing Two or more Suits in any of the said Courts, but any Plaintiff having Cause of Action for more than Twenty Pounds, for which a Plaint might be entered under this Act if not for more than Twenty Pounds, may abandon the Excess, and thereupon the Plaintiff shall, on proving his Case, recover to an Amount not exceeding Twenty Pounds; and the Judgment of the Court upon such Plaint shall be in full Discharge of all Demands in respect of such Cause of Action, and Entry of the Judgment shall be made accordingly.

LXIV. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for any Person under the Age of Twenty-one Years to prosecute any Suit in any Court holden under this Act for any Sum of Money not greater than Twenty Pounds which may be due to him for Wages or Piecework, or for Work as a Servant, in the same Manner as if he were of full Age.

LXV. And be it enacted, That the Jurisdiction of the County Court under this Act shall extend to the Recovery of any Demand, not exceeding the Sum of Twenty Pounds, which is the whole or Part of the unliquidated Balance of a Partnership Account, or the Amount or Part of the Amount of a distributive Share under an Intestacy, or of any Legacy under a Will.

LXVI. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for any Executor or Administratorto sue and be sued in any Court holden under this Act in like Manner as if he were a Party in his own Right and Judgment, and Execution shall be such as in the like Case would be given or issued in any Superior Court.

LXVII. And be it enacted, That no Privilege, except as hereinafter excepted, shall be allowed to any Person to exempt him from the Jurisdiction of any Court holden under this Act.

LXVIII. And be it enacted, That where any Plaintiff shall have any Demand recoverable under this Act against Two or more Persons jointly answerable, it shall be sufficient if any of such Persons be served with Process, and Judgment may be obtained and Execution issued against the Person or Persons so served, notwithstanding that others jointly liable may not have been served or sued, or may not be within the Jurisdiction of the Court; and every such Person against whom Judgment shall have been obtained under this Act, and who shall have satisfied such Judgment, shall be entitled to demand and recover in the County Court under this Act Contribution from any other Person jointly liable with him.

LXIX. And be it enacted, That the Judge of the County Court shall be the sole Judge in all Actions brought in the said Court, and shall determine all Questions as well of Fact as of Law, unless a Jury shall be summoned as herein-after mentioned; and no Suitors

5

Suitors shall in any Case be summoned to hold or have any Jurisdiction in any Court holden under this Act.

LXX. And be it enacted, That in all Actions where the Amount Actions may be claimed shall exceed Five Pounds it shall be lawful for the Plaintiff tried by a Jury or Defendant to require a Jury to be summoned to try the said when Parties Action; and in all Actions where the Amount claimed shall not require it. exceed Five Pounds it shall be lawful for the Judge, in his Discretion, on the Application of either of the Parties, to order that such Action be tried by a Jury; and in every Case such Jury shall be summoned according to the Provisions herein after contained: Provided always, that the Party requiring a Jury to be summoned shall give to the Clerk of the Court, or leave at his Office, such Notice thereof as shall be directed by the Rules made for regulating the Practice of the Court as herein-after provided; and the said Clerk shall cause Notice of such Demand of a Jury, made either by the Plaintiff or Defendant, to be communicated to the other Party to the said Action, either by Post, or by causing the same to be delivered at his usual Place of Abode or Business; but it shall not be necessary for either Party to prove on the Trial that such Notice was communicated to the other Party by the Clerk.

Party requiring
Jury to make a
Deposit.

Jurors.

LXXI. And be it enacted, That every Party requiring any Jury to be summoned shall at the Time of giving the said Notice, and before he shall be entitled to have such Jury summoned, pay to the Clerk of the Court the Sum of Five Shillings for Payment of the Jury, and such Sum shall be considered as Costs in the Cause, unless otherwise ordered by the Judge. LXXII. And be it enacted, That the Sheriff of every County, Who shall be and the High Bailiffs of Westminster and Southwark, shall cause to be delivered to the Clerk of the Court a List of Persons qualified and liable to serve as Jurors in the Courts of Assize and Nisi Prius for their County, City, and Borough respectively, within Fourteen Days from the Receipt of the Jury Book from the Clerk of the Peace of the County or other Officer, each List containing only the Names of Persons residing within the Jurisdiction of the Court, for which List the said Sheriffs and High Bailiffs shall be entitled to receive out of the General Fund of the Court a Fee after the Rate of Two-pence for every Folio of Seventy-two Words; and whenever a Jury shall be required the Clerk of the Court shall cause so many of the Persons named in the List as shall be needed in the Opinion of the Judge to be summoned to attend the Court at a Time and Place to be mentioned in the Summons, and shall administer or cause to be administered to such of them as shall be impannelled to try any Cause or Causes an Oath to give true Verdicts according to the Evidence; and the Persons so summoned shall attend at the Court at the Time mentioned in the Summons, and in default of Attendance shall forfeit such Sum of Money as the Judge shall direct, not being more than Five Pounds for each Default; and the Delivery of such Summons to the Person whose Attendance is required on such Jury, or Delivery thereof to his Wife or Servant, or any Inmate at his usual Place of Abode, Trading, or Dealing, shall be deemed good Service Provided always, that no Person shall be summoned or compelled to serve on such Jury more than Twice within One Year, or who shall