The Company is constituted with the object of determining and
instituting in practice the wholesome laws of agricultural life and
economy and of instructing the agricultural labourer in the science art
and literature of good husbandry. (a) With this object it is proposed
to acquire by gift purchase or otherwise plots or tracts of land in
different parts of the country which will be brought into such state of
cultivation or left uncultivated or turned into waste or common land
and applied to such purposes as having regard to the nature of the soil
and other surrounding circumstances may in each case be thought to be
most generally useful.
The members of the Company shall be styled Companions of the Company of
St. George (b) Any person may become a Companion by subscribing not
less than £ in money to the funds of the Company or by making a
gift to the Company of land not less than £ in value (c) and by
having his name entered on the Roll of Companions with due solemnity.
The name of every Companion shall be entered on the Roll of Companions
either by himself in the presence of two witnesses of full age who
shall attest such entry or if the Companion shall so desire by the
Master of the Company with the same formalities. The Roll of Companions
shall be kept in safe custody within the walls of the College of Corpus
Christi in Oxford or at such other safe and commodious place as the
Companions shall from time to time direct.
Each Companion shall by virtue of the entry of his name on the Roll be
deemed to have bound himself by a solemn vow and promise as strict as
if the same had been ratified by oath to be true and loyal to the
Company and to the best of his power and might so far as in him lies to
forward and advance the objects and interests thereof and faithfully to
keep and obey the statutes and rules thereof yet so nevertheless that
he shall not be bound in any way to harass annoy injure or
inconvenience his neighbour.
Chief among the Companions of the Company shall be the Master thereof
who so long as he shall hold office shall have full and absolute power
at his will and pleasure to make and repeal laws and byelaws (d) and in
all respects to rule regulate manage and direct the affairs of the
Company and receive apply and administer funds and subscriptions in aid
of its objects and to purchase acquire cultivate manage lease sell or
otherwise dispose of the estates and properties of the Company and
generally direct and control the operations thereof.
The Master shall be elected and may from time to time and at any time
be deposed by the votes of a majority in number of the Companions in
General Meeting assembled but except in the event of his resignation or
deposition shall hold office for life. The first Master of the Company
shall be John Ruskin who shall however (subject to re-election) only
hold office until the first General Meeting of the Companions.
The Master shall render to each Companion and shall be at liberty if he
shall so think fit to print for public circulation a monthly report and
account of the operations and financial position of the Company.
No Master or other Companion of the Company shall either directly or
indirectly receive any pay profit emolument or advantage whatsoever
from out of by or by means of his office or position as a member of the
Company.
The practical supervision and management of the estates and properties
of the Company shall subject to the direction and control of the Master
be entrusted to and carried out by land agents tenants and labourers
who shall be styled Retainers of the Company.
The name of each Retainer in the permanent employ of the Company shall
be entered in a Register to be called the Roll of Retainers and to be
kept at the same place as the Roll of Companions. Such entry shall be
made either by the Retainer himself in the presence of one witness of
full age who shall attest the entry or if the Retainer shall so desire
by the Master with the same formalities.
No pecuniary liability shall attach to any Retainer of the Company by
virtue of his position as such but each Retainer shall by virtue of the
entry of his name on the Roll be deemed to have bound himself by a
solemn vow and promise as strict as if the same had been ratified by
oath to be true and loyal to the Company and faithfully to keep and
obey the statutes and rules thereof and the orders and commands of the
officers of the Company who from time to time may be set over him.
Each land agent and labourer being a Retainer of the Company shall
receive and be paid a fixed salary in return for his services and shall
not by perquisites commissions or any other means whatever either
directly or indirectly receive or acquire any pay profit emolument or
advantages whatever other than such fixed salary from out of or by
means of his office or position as a Retainer of the Company.
The rents and profits to be derived from the estates and properties of
the Company shall be applied in the first instance in the development
of the land (e) and the physical intellectual moral social and
religious improvement of the residents thereon in such manner as the
Master shall from time to time direct or approve and the surplus rents
and profits if any shall be applied in reduction of the amount paid by
the tenants in proportion to their respective skill and industry either
by a gradual remission of rent towards the close of the tenancy or in
such other way as may be thought best but in no case shall the
Companions personally derive any rents or profits from the property of
the Company.
All land and hereditaments for the time being belonging to the Company
shall be conveyed to and vested in any two or more of the Companions
whom the Master may from time to time select for the office as Trustees
of the Company and shall be dealt with by them according to the
directions of the Master. (f)
The property of the Company shall belong to the Companions in the
shares and proportions in which they shall have respectively
contributed or by succession or accruer become entitled to the same.
Each Companion shall be entitled by writing under his hand during his
lifetime or by will or codicil to appoint one person as his successor
in the Company and such person shall on entry of his name on the Roll
of Companions in compliance with the formalities hereinbefore
prescribed become a Companion of the Company and become entitled to the
share of his appointor in the property of the Company. (g)
Each Companion shall at any time be entitled to resign his position by
giving to the Master a Notice under his hand of his desire and
intention so to do.
If any Companion shall resign his position or die without having
appointed a successor or if the person so appointed shall for
calendar months after the date when notice of such resignation shall
have been received by the Master or after the date of such death as the
case may be fail to have his name entered on the Roll of Companions in
compliance with the formalities hereinbefore prescribed his share in
the property of the Company shall forthwith become forfeited and shall
accrue to the other Companions in the shares and proportions in which
they shall inter se be for the time being entitled to the property of
the Company. (h)
The Company may at any time be dissolved by the Votes of three-fourths
of the Companions in General Meeting assembled and in the event of the
Company being so dissolved or being dissolved by any other means not
hereinbefore specially provided for the property of the Company shall
subject to the debts liabilities and engagements thereof become
divisible among the Companions for the time being in the shares and
proportions in which they shall for the time being be entitled thereto
yet so nevertheless that all leases agreements for leases and other
tenancies for the time being subsisting on the property of the Company
shall bind the persons among whom the property comprised therein shall
so become divisible and shall continue as valid and effectual to all
intents and purposes as if the Company had not been dissolved.