under Church-building Acts. 63 every one hundred pounds of the sum so to be provided as last aforesaid (r). And lastly, it is conceived that new parishes under the recent statute 6 & 7 Vict. c. 37, are to be repaired by rates upon such new parishes, for it is provided by the 15th section, that every new parish under that Act shall be and be deemed to be a new parish for ecclesiastical purposes, and by the 17th section, that the churchwardens of such new parishes shall do all things pertaining to the office of churchwarden as to ecclesiastical matters in the said new parish. Whether these new parishes remain liable to the repairs of the churches of the original parishes appears to be a question of greater nicety than even the analogous question with respect to the similar liability of separate and distinct parishes under the early church-building Acts. There is, certainly, some ground for contending that they do so remain liable, for there seems to be no express enactment or necessary implication to the contrary, and the 18th section of 6 & 7 Vict. c. 37, provides that, until parliament shall otherwise determine, nothing in that Act contained shall be construed to affect or alter any right, privileges, or liabilities whatsoever, ecclesiastical or civil, of any parish, chapelry, or district, except as is therein expressly provided. The general conclusions therefore to be drawn from the above passages, with reference to the repairs of churches and chapels under the churchbuilding Acts are as follow: (r) 1 & 2 Will. 4, c. 38, s. 2. 64 Repairs under Church-building Acts. 1. Separate and distinct parishes are to be repaired by rates on such separate and distinct parishes (s). New parishes, under 6 & 7 Vict. c. 37, by rates on such new parishes (t). 2. District parishes, by rates on such district parishes (u). 3. District chapelries, and chapelries without districts, under 58 Geo. 3, c. 45, by rates on the parishes or places in aid of which they were built or appropriated (x). 4. Chapels built and endowed in part or in the whole, by private persons, by means of a repair fund vested in certain trustees for the purposes of repair (y). New parishes, as it is rather apprehended, remain liable to the repair of the churches of the original curtailed parishes (z). 5. District parishes remain liable to the repairs of the mother churches for twenty years from the respective days of consecration of the district parish churches (a). 6. Sub-district parishes remain liable to the repairs of the churches of the original districts, and are also liable to the repairs of the churches of the original parishes for twenty years from the date of the consecration of the original district churches; but all liability as to the repairs of the original district churches may be determined (s) 58 Geo. 3, c. 45, ss. 70, 71; 1 & 2 Will. 4, c. 38, s. 23. (t) 6 & 7 Vict. c. 37, ss. 15, 17. (u) 58 Geo. 3, c. 45, s. 70. 3 Geo. 4, c. 72, s. 20. (y) 5 Geo. 4, c. 103, ss. 10, 15; 1 & 2 Will. 4, c. 38, s. 2; 3 & 4 Vict. c. 60, s. 15. (z) 6 & 7 Vict. c. 37, s. 18. (a) 58 Geo. 3, c. 45, s. 71. by instrument under the hands of the commissioners (b). Before entering in detail upon the consideration of the proper steps to be taken for the purpose of legally effecting these repairs, it may be well to observe that the churchwardens, by ordering the repairs to be done, render themselves personally liable to the parties with whom they contract (c), and if the repairs are effected by the direction of one churchwarden alone, he will be solely liable, and will not be entitled to contribution from his co-churchwarden, for a churchwarden has no implied authority in law to pledge the credit of his co-churchwarden (d). The churchwardens should also remember, that if they accept a bill of exchange, or make a promissory note, even though it purport upon the face of it to be made by them as churchwardens (e), or if they enter into a bond conditioned for the payment of money, although by direction of the vestry, and with an express understanding, evidenced by a resolution of vestry and part performance by them, that the claim shall be satisfied by the parish (ƒ), or if they covenant as churchwardens for themselves and their successors to pay money, with an express proviso that they shall not be personally liable (g), they will, notwithstanding these precautions, in every one of these cases render themselves personally liable. (b) 3 Geo. 4, c. 72, s. 21. (c) Shaw v. Hislop, 4 D. & R. 241. Lanchester v. Tricker, 1 Bing. 201. (d) Northwaite v. Bennett, 2 C. & M. 316. 4 Tyr. 236, S. C. (e) Rew v. Pettitt, 1 A. & E. 196. (f) Jacquet v. Lewis, 8 Sim. 480. (g) Furnival v. Coombes, 5 M. & G. 736. 6 Scott, N. R. 522, S. C. 66 Proper steps for effecting Repairs. SECTION II. Of the first steps to be taken by the Churchwardens for the purpose of effecting the necessary Repairs: of calling a Vestry: with some Observations on Vestries generally. As the providing for and effecting these repairs is one of the most important duties which the law throws upon the churchwardens, they should lose no time in taking the necessary steps for enabling them to discharge it with effect. The current expenses for the year must, of course, in all cases be provided, and the churchwardens are, in justice, equally bound to effect the requisite repairs, however slight and trifling they may be; for the practice, unfortunately but too common, of leaving this to be done in a future year, is most reprehensible and unjust, as it must ultimately increase the expense of repairs, and throw on the parishioners of a future period a burden which ought to be borne by the parishioners of the current year. With a view of effecting this object, it is the duty of the churchwardens, as soon as they are admitted into office, to ascertain, as nearly as possible, the current expenses of the year, and also to avail themselves of the assistance of at least one competent surveyor, in order that the church, churchyard, and utensils may be surveyed, that the necessary repairs may be ascertained, and an estimate made of the probable costs and expenses attending them. When the survey and estimate have been duly made, a vestry should be forthwith convened, for the purpose of submitting the proposed repairs to their consideration, and of obtaining the necessary rate. If a rate be required, the meeting of the vestry is absolutely necessary, for the rate must be made by the parishioners in vestry assembled (h), and, even where the churchwardens have already ample funds at their command, it ought to be called, if the contemplated repairs are of an important character, and have not already received the express sanction of the parishioners. A vestry, properly speaking, is the assembly of the whole parish, met together in some convenient place for the dispatch of the affairs and business of the parish; and this meeting being commonly held in the vestry adjoining to or belonging to the church, it thence takes the name of vestry, as the place itself doth from the minister's vestments, which are usually deposited and kept there (i). It is not, however, essential to the validity of the meeting that it should be held in the vestry of the church (k). It may be convened in the church itself (1), or in any other place in the parish, provided the parishioners have free access to it, even though the place fixed on be private property (m). The proceedings of parish vestries at are present regulated by certain Acts of parliament, the enact (h) Burder v. Veley, 12 A. & E. 233. Veley v. Burder, 12 A. & E. 265. (i) Shaws' Par. Law. c. 17. (k) Steer's Par. Law. 251; Tyrwhitt's Prid. 170. (7) Steer's Par. Law. 251. (m) R. v. Rector and Churchwardens of Birmingham, 7 A. & E. 254. |