That Your Petitioners are informed and believe that two Bills, intituled
respectively “The Metropolis Local Management Act Amendment Bills, Nos. 1
& 2,” are now before your Honourable House, by the first of which relief
is proposed to be given to the late Counter’s Creek separate sewerage
district in this parish, for certain sums expended in respect of the
Counters Creek Diversion Works, and improperly charged upon the said
district in respect of the construction of sewers and works for the
general benefit of the Metropolis; and by the other it is intended to
settle upon equitable principles the parishes, districts, and parts, upon
which certain debts of the Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers shall
stand charged, having regard to the benefit derived by those parishes,
&c., respectively from such expenditure.
That under the Act for the Better Local Management of the Metropolis, 18
& 19 Vic., cap. 120, the Metropolitan Board of Works found themselves
unable, from the defective powers of the said Act, to give any relief to
the said Counters Creek District from payment of the charges upon it
above mentioned, and in consequence thereof a great amount of
dissatisfaction has existed in this and other districts similarly
circumstanced.
That in consequence of such and other defects in the practical working of
the Metropolis Local Management Act, the Vestries and District Boards
constituted under the said Act have instigated the Metropolitan Board to
introduce the said Bills to your Honourable House to remedy the same, and
for other purposes.
That your Petitioners being by the said Metropolis Local Management Act
constituted the authority to order the levying of the rates under the
said Act, have incurred a considerable amount of unpopularity and censure
in performing a duty which is against their own consciences, and
repulsive to the feelings of the ratepayers residing in that district.
Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray your Honourable House that the
said Bill, with certain amendments and new clauses which your Petitioners
propose to endeavour to effect the introduction of, when in Committee may
pass into law.
And your Petitioners will ever pray.
CHAS. LAHEE,
Vestry Clerk.
Given under the common seal of the said Vestry, this 23rd day of April,
1861.
* * * * *
_The Four New Clauses_.
1.—In Clause 46, line four, for the words “twenty-six” substitute the
word “thirteen;” add a clause after said clause as follows:—“If any
member of the Metropolitan Board of Works shall be absent from the
meetings of the said Board for thirteen consecutive weeks, he shall
thereupon cease to be a member of the said Board; and the said
Metropolitan Board of Works shall immediately send notice of the fact to
the Vestry or District Board by which such member was elected, whereupon
which Vestry or District Board shall forthwith proceed to elect a new
member for the said Metropolitan Board in the room of the member so
ceasing to be a member as aforesaid; and such election shall be conducted
in accordance with the 44th, 45th, and 46th sections of the
firstly-recited Act, so far as the same are respectively applicable.”
2.—Provided always that in construing the 6th section of the
firstly-recited Act, in calculating the number of Poor Rate assessments
in any parish, each house, or piece or parcel of land, tenement, or
hereditament rated to the relief of the poor, shall be counted and taken
as a separate Poor Rate assessment.
3.—Notwithstanding anything in the said recited Acts or this Act to the
contrary, Be it enacted, that the Vestry of the Parish of Chelsea, in the
County of Middlesex, shall from time to time raise and levy the sums
which they may require for defraying the expenses of executing the said
Acts and this Act, and shall for that purpose make separate equal pound
rates upon their parish or part thereof, in like manner as overseers are
required to do with respect to the sums for which orders are by the
firstly-recited Act directed to be made upon them by Vestries and
District Boards; and shall in raising such sums act upon the like
principles, and have the like discretion, as provided in the
firstly-recited Act with respect to orders upon Overseers by Vestries and
District Boards, subject to the provisions of this Act, and shall for
that purpose have free access to, and be at liberty to copy or adopt any
assessment to the Poor Rate in the said parish, or any part or parts of
such assessment; and such Vestry shall have power to appoint a collector
or collectors for levying the amount of such rates, and to pay him or
them such salary, poundage, or allowance as they may deem just and
reasonable; and shall take such security from every such collector for
the due execution of his duty as they shall think reasonable and proper;
and such collector or collectors shall proceed in the same manner, and
shall have the same powers and remedies, and be subject to the same
regulations and directions with reference to the levying of such rates,
as if he or they were an overseer or overseers of the poor, and shall pay
over the amount of such rates to the said Vestry or otherwise, as such
Vestry may direct; and such collector or collectors shall, when and in
such manner as shall be required by the said Vestry, make out and deliver
a true and perfect account in writing, signed by him or them, of all
monies received by him or them, in manner provided by the 65th section of
the firstly-recited Act; and in default of his or their so paying over
such moneys, or making out and delivering such account in writing, he or
they shall be subject to the penalties mentioned and contained in the
said 65th section of the firstly-recited Act in the case of officers or
servants failing to account for moneys received; and it shall be lawful
for the said Vestry by order in writing, to require the Clerk to the
Guardians of the Poor of the said parish or other person having the
custody or control of any rate for the relief of the poor in such parish,
or of any other rate or of any book containing a copy of any such rate as
aforesaid, to furnish within such period, not being less than seven days,
as shall be limited in such order, a true copy of such rate for the
relief of the poor, or other rate or of such copy thereof, as aforesaid,
or of such part or parts of the same as shall be specified in such order,
on payment or tender for such copy at the rate of sixpence for every
twenty-four names (inclusive of all the particulars in the several
columns in the rate, so far as such particulars have reference to such
names respectively), and the said copy shall be examined by and signed by
such Clerk, or other person, and shall be verified by his solemn
declaration, if the said Vestry shall require the same, which solemn
declaration any Justice of the Peace or Commissioner duly authorized is
hereby empowered to administer, and any person having the custody or
control of such rate, or copy thereof, who shall refuse or neglect to
make and deliver to such Vestry or any person by them authorised to
receive the same, such copy or extract, or to make such solemn
declaration as aforesaid, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding £10
for every such offence, and to a further penalty of £10 for each and
every day during which the said offence shall be continued, to be
recovered by a summary proceeding.
4.—That in place of the 109th Clause, the following be inserted:—“The two
hundred and thirty-fourth section of the firstly-recited Act is hereby
repealed, and in lieu thereof be it enacted, that all penalties or
forfeitures payable or recoverable under the firstly-recited Act, or this
Act, and all penalties or forfeitures recovered by any Vestry or District
Board acting as the local authority for the execution within their
respective parish or district of ‘The Nuisances Removal Act for England,
1855,’ shall go and be paid in manner hereinafter mentioned, anything
contained in an Act made and passed in the session holden in the Second
and Third years of the reign of Her present Majesty, chapter seventy-one,
or in any other Act or Acts to the contrary notwithstanding;—that is to
say, shall go to the Vestry or District Board of the parish or district
in which the offence was committed, or to the Metropolitan Board of Works
in case the injury shall have been sustained by, or the offence committed
in respect of that Board; and all sums which shall go to or be recovered
by any Board or Vestry on account of any penalty or forfeiture, shall be
paid to their treasurer, or into such bank to their account as they may
direct, and shall be applicable towards the general expenses of such
Board or Vestry.”
APPENDIX No. 20.
CHELSEA CHARITIES.
_The Articles in the_ West Middlesex Advertiser _referred to in Mr.
Druce’s letter at page_ 20, _in the Report_.
April 7, 1860.
The peculiar position in which the parish of St. Luke’s, Chelsea, at the
present moment stands, induces every one interested to prevent by every
possible means the occurrence of future discord arising from what may in
after years be difficult to correct. Probably for many years, no period
has ever existed in which the parish of Chelsea has been more dependent
on the wise action of its patrons, property holders, and inhabitants in
general than at the present moment. Circumstances having afforded us
opportunities of acquiring much knowledge of its affairs generally, and
deeming that the kindest act would be to communicate some portions of
that knowledge to our fellow-parishioners, we venture to intrude the
following matters on their attention. Our readers are aware of the
movement made with reference to the assessments, but they may also know
from personal experience, the great difficulty of the question, and from
having been for some years, careful observers of the actions of many of
those gentleman who bestow so much of their time and ability on parochial
affairs, we are thoroughly convinced, that such matters are carefully and
honestly administered; and although the watchful check of the ratepayers
and other Societies is very beneficial, we doubt whether much good would
arise from any material change. The attention of the Vestry, and the
separation to some extent of church matters from the general interests of
the parish, has deprived its officers of the advantage of a “legal vestry
clerk,” and thus the local authorities in whom are vested many of its
charities have lost their best and proper adviser, and many of the
charity interests are not in such a state as they should be in a
well-ordered parish; for instance, the sums of money belonging to the St.
Luke’s, Chelsea, parochial school stand thus—
£764 13s. 4d., the gift of Earl Cadogan, stands in the name of Lee
Jortin, Esq., and others, some of whom have passed away, and Mr. Jortin,
is not so strong in health as his friends would wish him.
£692 2s. 4d., the gift of Mr. Gibbs and Mr. Bryan, stands in the name of
the Rev. Chas. Kingsley and Philip Burrard, both dead.
£100 the gift of Mr. P. Burrard, stands in the name of the Rev. C.
Kingsley and Mr. Walker, both dead.
£450 the gift of Mrs. MacPherson,
£445 14s. 7d., the gift of Charles Walker, Esq., stand in the name of the
Rev. Charles Kingsley and Mr. W. Druce. Thus supposing the first to be
in safe trust, the two next are without any trustees, and the two last,
in the name of one individual, which is not as it should be.
Again, Chamberlain’s Charity is for educating boys in the parochial
school, and then apprenticing them; the Vestry elects the boys, and the
parochial officers ought to do the rest, but the money is placed in the
Savings’ Bank, and there we suppose it rests; there is a sum of money
also lying at the parish bankers to the credit of the Chelsea charities,
which we much suspect belongs to this charity, this sum has been lying
unused for many years: it is also the duty of the parochial officers to
see that the money paid for the benefit of the school children under Mr.
Flood’s gift is properly applied: the treasurer of the schools cannot be
expected to apprentice the children, so this money also finds its way
into the Savings’ Bank. It is in these cases that the loss of the legal
Vestry Clerk is felt, as from the nature of the present Vestry, and the
limitation as to powers of interference with church matters, renders the
assistance of the able Clerk of the Vestry, as now constituted, of no
avail. The question also of the Church Trustees is in a very peculiar
state; there is great uncertainty as to their powers. A most careful
examination of the conflicting clauses of the Act creates great doubt as
to whether the power of the Trustees to make a rate does actually expire
at the present period, as is generally believed. If their powers of
rating do expire, they will find themselves with an important trust to
carry out without the means of performing their trust. We think it would
tend much to the well-being of the parish generally if the Vestry, on
Easter Tuesday, were to appoint a committee to inquire and report on the
course it may be desirable to pursue with respect to the Church Trust.
It must be the wish of everyone that the power to rate should cease
absolutely, and that we should never again hear of a church rate in the
parish of Chelsea. Possibly a short Act of Parliament, annulling the
present Board of Trustees, and putting an end to the Act, would be the
best mode of proceeding; thus leaving the Rector and Incumbent of the
churches and the Church Officers to take charge of their own interests,
taking the revenue of the church and making the best of it; the removal
of the expense of the Board of Trustees, and a moderate contribution of
the congregations towards the expense of what may be called church
luxuries would meet the necessity of the case. Without great care and
consideration this matter may become a troublesome and annoying parochial
question. The old Rector has passed away, a new one has been appointed;
let us not forget that, amidst the doctrinal disquisition and rubrical
eccentricities of which we have heard so much, we have enjoyed, under the
former, a quarter of a century of religious peace, and let us hope that
the wise actions of the new one may tend to increase the affectionate
feeling so many of us hold for the memory of his father and grandfather.
_Saturday_, _April_ 14, 1860.
Though the name of Mr. LOVELAND is always spoken of with the greatest
respect as the former vestry clerk of this parish, yet we by no means
wish to infer the necessity of a legal gentleman filling that office. We
believe that it could not be in better hands than it is, and we have felt
it to be our duty, on more occasions than one, to express our warm
approbation of the conduct of Mr. LAHEE. Litigation will arise in every
parish, and may be promoted to a very great extent by the appointment of
attorneys, and even if it were not so they would get the credit and the
obloquy, and therefore should not be placed in so unenviable a position.
Mr. Toulmin Smith says, ‘It may be safely stated, that it will be usually
the wisest course not to appoint a person of the legal profession to the
office of vestry clerk. It is quite unnecessary to the discharge of any
of his duties that he should be of that profession; while his being so
has a tendency to encourage a narrow technical mode of dealing with the
duties of the parish, and very often indeed lead to litigation, for which
there is no real occasion whatever.
‘Every parish should, however, have some known and confidential
professional man of the neighbourhood, to whom it should refer on
occasions needing professional action or advice.’
Again, in Brady and Mahon’s work on Parochial Law and Taxation it is
said, ‘A custom has prevailed of late years of appointing attorneys as
vestry clerks. The numberless statutes by which parochial affairs are
now regulated, give something like a satisfaction to this practice, and
the conflicting decision of the courts of law on parish cases, would lead
to a belief that none but a lawyer could be qualified for the office.
But whatever may be the cause, the fact appears to be unquestionable that
such appointments have tended greatly to the increase of parochial
expenditure; for the professional gentlemen thus selected as vestry
clerks, however unjust it may be to attribute to them obliquity, foul
play or evil designs very naturally carry with them into office a sort of
_esprit du corps_ which leads to appeals to quarter sessions, vexatious
removals, litigious contests, journies half over the kingdom, the
inevitable consequence of which is an enormous annual expenditure,
amounting, it is said, to something like one third of the total poor
rates!’
With such statements as these emanating from lawyers it would be absurd
to argue for the continuance of a practice fraught with such imminent
danger to the pockets of the parishioners.
APPENDIX No. 21.
CREMORNE GARDENS.
_Report of the Committee of Works and for General Purposes_.
Board Room, Manor House, September 24th, 1860.
To the Vestry of the Parish of Chelsea.
Gentlemen,—We, the undersigned, of your Committee of Works and for
General Purposes, beg to present the following special report upon the
resolution passed by you on the 11th instant (25):—
“That the Committee of Works be requested to consider the whole
question relating to Cremorne Gardens as to past proceedings, present
injury and annoyance to the parishioners, and the probable increase
of such damage and nuisance in consequence of the proposed change
from one proprietor to a company; to report thereon, and the course
they would recommend to be adopted to mitigate, and, if necessary,
put an end to the evil.”
With reference to the first portion of the enquiry we have had laid
before us, the whole record of your former proceedings, with the evidence
taken before the licensing magistrates in 1857, which we have attentively
considered; and we are of opinion that the second report presented by the
Committee at that time contains much that is valuable, and only requires
to obtain due publicity to have a great effect in diminution of the evils
to which it adverts—evils which the unfavourable weather during the past
season has prevented from becoming so intolerable as during the seasons
of 1858 and 1859, but which the return of a hot summer, and the intended
change from the direct responsibility attaching to one proprietorship to
the infinitesimally reduced responsibility of the individual shareholders
in a public company would, in the opinion of your Committee, largely
increase.
Nor, it is to be feared, would these evils be confined as heretofore to
the summer months, for the prospectus of the new company offers the bait
to shareholders that the gardens may be made profitable during the winter
also.
Having regard therefore to the magnitude of the question with which we
have to deal, and the advice of a sub-committee appointed by us to
consult the solicitors as to the course to be pursued, we recommend that
the report before alluded to, be printed and circulated, and that a
petition be presented forthwith to the licensing magistrates, praying
that the hour of closing Cremorne Gardens may be made twelve o’clock at
night, as has been the case with other public gardens, and that the
solicitors be instructed to take all necessary steps in that behalf.
Respectfully submitted,
WM. HALL, Chairman.
W. NEWTON FINCH.
ALEXR. BLAZDELL.
W. LAWRENCE.
WILLIAM FOY.
J. COWAN BREUN.
HENRY OXFORD.
WM. SANSUM.
APPENDIX No. 22.
_Report of a Committee appointed to investigate the State of the Town
Meadows called_ “_The Lotts_,” _April_ 18_th_, 1834.
“We have seen the land, and behold it is very good.”—Judges xviii. 9.
Mr. Chairman,—Agreeably to the Resolution passed at the last Board
relative to the appointment of a Committee to go and view the meadow-land
called “the Lotts,” I have now to inform you, Sir, and the Committee at
large, that we proceeded thither on Friday morning, and upon arrival, we
found the gates locked up; we, however, procured the key of the adjoining
lands which communicate with “the Lotts,” of a woman who lives in the
late Mr. Brown’s cottage.
After proceeding to the western extremity of the meadow, we found that a
large bank had been thrown up at the time of the cutting of the canal,
and that by this means perhaps one fourth part of the land had been lost,
or taken away to widen the canal; but we were of opinion that this bank
might be gradually levelled and sloped down on the meadow below, so as to
elevate it, and render it free from inundation, and thus make it more fit
for any kind of cultivation or pasture. And we were all moreover
unanimously of opinion, that it would be highly desirable to obtain
re-possession of this valuable piece of land for the use of the
parishioners.
No determination, however, as to the means by which this most desirable
object could be effected was formed on this occasion, and I am humbly of
opinion that the Committee must continue their earnest endeavours, in
order to obtain all possible evidence upon this difficult and complicated
case. It seems proper to observe, in this stage of the business, that
“the Lotts” are Lammas Land, and have been for ages appurtenant to the
Manor of Chelsea. The Lord of the Manor possesses the right of letting
the land on lease, for the Spring and Summer quarters, beginning with
March and ending in August; and the inhabitants at large enjoy the
privilege of turning in their cattle from August till February, being the
Autumn and Winter quarters. This state of appropriation continued till
the year 1825 or 1826, when the Directors of the Kensington Canal Company
took unlawful possession of them for their own use, immediately upon the
completion of their Canal; and they have illegally detained them ever
since, and have let them successively to several persons, and received
rent for the same. It now, therefore, becomes a question, by what
authority they have shut out the ancient inhabitants, landowners, and
householders from their undoubted privilege of turning in their cattle to
graze, a privilege which they have uninterruptedly enjoyed for a
succession of ages, and which they are confident has never been on their
part either invalidated or annulled.
It must not, however, be concealed on this occasion, that it has been
confidently reported from many quarters that money was offered to the
parishioners for the surrender of their rights to these lands, by the
Directors of the Canal Company; and that money was accepted by the
Churchwardens of that time; for their Act of Parliament specially
declares that the Churchwardens, Overseers, and four Freeholders
appointed in Vestry, only shall receive and be accountable for all monies
paid for land under this act.
But after the most diligent enquiry relative to any money transactions,
or to the execution of any bond, or deed, or lease, or assignment, we
have the affirmation in writing of one of the then Churchwardens, denying
the receipt of any money, or compensation whatever; and as this
Churchwarden is a man of probity, we are, of course, bound to place every
degree of confidence in his averment. It is also necessary to mention,
that the Directors of the Kensington Canal Company have become bankrupt
since the completion of the Canal, and that any legal proceedings on our
part to endeavour to obtain any money from them, either as compensation
for damages done to the lands, or for rent, would only involve the parish
in useless expense.
Your Committee, therefore, after a most careful and diligent
investigation, are of opinion that it would be prudent to wait patiently
until the twelfth day of August next, and on that day those inhabitants
who have been accustomed to turn in their cattle to graze, should proceed
thither with some horses and cows, preceded by the Parish Beadle, Rector,
Churchwardens, Overseers, and such Members of the Parochial Committee,
and other inhabitants, as may think proper, and if upon their arrival
they find the gates locked up, they be ordered to break them open, and
turn in their cattle as they have been accustomed to do from time
immemorial.
In conclusion, permit me to apologize to you, Sir, for the length of this
Report, and humbly to hope that the extreme importance of the case
affecting the ancient and undoubted privileges of the inhabitants of this
Parish will form a sufficient apology; and finally, permit me to hope,
Sir, that you and every other Member of this Committee will cordially and
zealously assist me in my earnest endeavours to obtain the re-possession
of these lands.
_Resolved_, unanimously, that the thanks of the Committee be given to Mr.
Faulkner for his able Report, and that it be entered in the Minute Book,
and printed and circulated throughout the Parish.
J. W. LOCKWOOD, Chairman.
Chelsea Board Room, April 22, 1834.
APPENDIX No. 23.
CHELSEA HOSPITAL GROUNDS.
_To the Right Honourable William Cowper_, _M.P._, _Chief Commissioner of
Her Majesty’s Works and Public Buildings_.
The Memorial of the Vestry of the Parish of Chelsea, in the County of
Middlesex,