| |
HOSPITALS (IRELAND) ACT 1818
|
| |
CHAPTER XLVII.
|
| |
An Act to establish Fever Hospitals, and to make other Regulations for Relief of the suffering Poor, and for preventing the increase of Infectious Fevers in Ireland. [30th May 1818.]
|
| |
[Preamble.]
|
|
|
A corporation created in every county and county of a city or town, for the establishment of a fever hospital.
Chairman of meetings.
Meetings how to be convened.
Quorum.
Corporations may elect residents and contributors to be members of the corporation;
and may make bye-laws, and appoint committees;
and may acquire lands not exceeding the value or 500l. per annum;
and accept gifts of personal property
and leases of houses or lands for not exceeding 21 years.
|
[1.] There shall be and one body politic and corporate is hereby created and erected in every county, and in every county of a city, and in every county of a town in Ireland; which shall consist in every such county of the archbishop or bishop whose diocese or any part of whose diocese shall extend into such county, of the representatives in Parliament for such county, of all the justices of the peace commissioned and acting as such in such county; and in every county of a city or county of a town such corporation shall consist also of the chief magistrate, sheriffs, and recorder of such county of a city or town, likewise of the representative or representatives in Parliament (if any), and of the justices of the peace for such county of a city or town, all for the time being, and also of such persons as are herein-after mentioned; which corporation shall be called by the name of The President and Assistants of the Fever Hospital for [], applying to every of them the name of its proper county, city, or town; and all the said corporations shall have perpetual duration and succession, and may sue and be sued in all courts of justice by those names respectively, and shall have a common seal, and shall meet at and adjourn to such times and places within their counties, cities, or towns respectively, as they shall think fit; . . . and at the first and every future meeting of the said corporations respectively the archbishop or bishop, if present when the said corporations or quorums of them respectively shall assemble, shall take the chair, shall put every question, declare the majority of votes, and do all the duties of president or head of the corporation for that meeting; but if the archbishop or bishop shall not be present when the said corporations respectively shall first assemble, the representative in Parliament for that county, county of a city or county of a town, who shall first come on that day to the place of meeting, if both shall attend, and if not, the representative in Parliament for that county, county of a city or county of a town, who shall be present when the said corporations or quorums of them respectively shall assemble; and if the archbishop or bishop, or the representatives for such counties; cities, or towns respectively, or either or them, shall not attend in every county of a city and county of a town, the chief magistrate, or in his default, and in every county at large, the oldest justice of the peace who shall be present when the said corporations respectively or quorums of them shall first assemble shall take the chair, and do all the duties of president or head of the corporation for that meeting; and the said corporations respectively shall be considered as assembled for the purpose of determining who shall be the president of that day, whenever five shall have come to the place of meeting at the time appointed for the first meeting of the said corporations respectively; and at all subsequent times after, whenever five of the said corporations shall have come to the place of the meeting at the respective times to be appointed for such meetings; and every person qualified or capable as aforesaid of presiding at the meetings of the said corporations may at all times after the aforesaid first time appointed for the meeting of the said corporations, by notice in writing signed by him, to be posted at the proper assizes town, or at the sessions house in the city of Dublin, six days at the least before the time of meeting, exclusive of the day of posting such notice and the day of meeting, convene the said corporations respectively to do all corporate acts, but no second notice signed by a different person shall supersede a former; of which corporations respectively five shall always be a competent number to do all corporate acts; and the said corporations are hereby respectively authorized and empowered to elect, during good behaviour, such other persons residing within their counties, cities, or towns respectively, as they shall think fit, and those also who shall contribute any sum not less than twenty pounds, or who shall subscribe and pay any annual sum not less than one guinea to be applied to the charitable purposes of this Act, to be members of the said corporations respectively; and it shall be lawful for the said corporations respectively, and they are hereby authorized, to make bye-laws reasonable and consonant to the laws of the land, and to appoint standing committees for the purposes of this Act to meet and act at certain place or places to be appointed in each county, city, or town; and it shall and may be lawful for the said corporations, and each of them respectively, and they are hereby authorized, empowered, and qualified, to accept or take by purchase, or by voluntary grant, or by device, any lands, tenements, or hereditaments of inheritance or for lives, not exceeding to any one of the said corporations the clear yearly value of five hundred pounds, any law to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding; but the corporation of any of the said counties, cities, or towns, shall at no time have a capacity to take lands of inheritance or for lives of a greater value than as aforesaid, except in the case of eviction or determination of interest, in which case the said corporations respectively may make such new acquisition as aforesaid, not exceeding the clear annual value aforesaid; and it shall be lawful for the said corporations, and they are respectively hereby authorized, empowered and qualified to take all such donations in personal property as shall be made to them, and to accept of all leases for years of houses or lands, so as no such lease shall exceed twenty-one years; but every lease for years of lands or of a house to be made to any of the said corporations exceeding that term shall be void, except as herein-after excepted.
|
|
|
Corporations empowered to take four roods of land in a city or town for sites of houses.
|
2. It shall and may be lawful for the said corporations respectively to take, over and above the five hundred pounds a year and leases for years, which they are authorized to acquire as aforesaid, and such corporations respectively are hereby declared to be capable and qualified to take by grant or by devise any quantity of ground or land within their counties, cities, and towns respectively, not exceeding four roods, plantation measure, for the sites of houses to be built and accommodations to be provided for the reception of the helpless poor intended to be relieved under the nrovisions of this Act; . . .
|
|
|
Corporations to build fever hospitals for the poor when possessed of sufficient funds;
and to make bye-laws, &c. for their regulation,
appoint masters, &c. and servants,
and treasurers;
and to expend their funds for purposes of Act.
|
3. It shall and may be lawful for the said corporations, and they are hereby authorized, empowered, and required, to build or hire houses for hospitals in the several counties, counties of cities, and counties of towns, to be called Fever Hospitals for the Relief of the Poor being ill of Fevers, as soon as such corporations shall be possessed of funds sufficient for those purposes, as plain, as durable, and at as moderate expence as may be; and that all such hospitals be divided into two parts, of which one part shall be allotted for such poor helpless men as shall be judged worthy of admission, and the other part for the reception of such poor helpless women as shall be judged worthy of admission; and to furnish the said hospitals, and to admit into the same from time to time so many sick and helpless poor patients as the funds of such corporation shall admit of; and the said corporations respectively are hereby authorized and required to make bye-laws and orders for the admission and discharge of all such patients, and for the government of every such hospital, and to appoint masters, physicians, surgeons, apothecaries, nurses, and other fit persons and servants to govern and take care of such hospitals and the patients therein at reasonable and moderate salaries, allowances, and wages; and the said corporations respectively are also hereby authorized to appoint treasurers without any salary, to receive such donations and rents as they shall respectively acquire or become entitled to; and the said corporations are hereby authorized and required to expend all such donations and rents in and for the charitable purposes required by this Act, and for the cure and relief of such patients, with the greatest care and economy, upon pain and peril that for any embezzlement or misapplication of or partiality in the disposal of any part of the revenue or property of the said corporations respectively, which any individuals of such corporations shall be respectively guilty of or concur in, every such individual shall be personally answerable by suit or information in the name of the King's attorney general, on the relation of any person or persons, either in the Court of Chancery or Court of Exchequer in Ireland; and the said courts shall and are hereby required to hear and determine every such suit or information, and to award costs therein against the defendants, if found culpable as aforesaid; and in every such suit a relator of property and reputation shall be named, against whom costs shall be awarded to the defendant or defendants, if the suit information, or complaint shall appear to be groundless.
|
| |
[S. 4 rep. 36 & 37 Vict. c. 91. (S.L.R.)]
|
|
|
For maintaining a dispensary in a county, &c. grand jury may present sums equal to the amount of private subscriptions and donations given for the purpose.
Treasurer of dispensary to lay before grand jury accounts of receipts and disbursements verifiedon oath.
|
5. [1]
Whenever it shall appear to the grand jury of any county or county of a city or county of a town that there has been actually received from private subscriptions or donations any sum or sums of money, since the preceding assizes, for the purpose of establishing or supporting a dispensary for furnishing medicine and affording medical or surgical aid to the poor of any city, town, or place within such county, it shall be lawful for such grand jury to present, to be raised of such county or county of a city or county of a town, and to be paid to the treasurer of such dispensary, a sum equal in amount to the sum or sums so received by such treasurer, to be applied under the direction of the subscribers of any annual sum of not less than one guinea, or such committee of them not fewer in number than five as they shall appoint for that purpose at any general meeting of such subscribers, together with the monies so received by private subscription or donation, in providing medicines and medical and surgical aid for the poor of such place and its neighbourhood: Provided always, that in all cases where such dispensary shall have been actually established, and any money shall have been raised by presentment granted for the use of such dispensary previous to such assizes, such treasurer shall lay before such grand jury an account of all receipts and disbursements up to the first of January or first of July (as the case may be) immediately preceding such assizes; and such treasurer shall also annex to such account a statement of all further sums of money which he shall have actually received from private subscriptions or donations for the support of such dispensary for the ensuing year; and the said account and statement shall be verified on the oath of such treasurer, and shall be deemed sufficient documents whereon to ground such presentment; and in all cases where no sum of money shall have been granted as aforesaid previous to such assizes, such statement alone so verified shall be deemed a sufficient document whereon to ground such presentment; and in either case the sum or sums so stated to have been received shall form the first item to the debit of such treasurer in his account for the succeeding year; or such treasurer shall once in every year lay before such grand jury an account so verified of the receipts and disbursements of all sums received by him, either from private subscription or donation, or from presentment as aforesaid, for the use of such dispensary.
|
|
|
Subscribers of one guinea for dispensary to be members of the establishment thereof for the year.
|
6.[1]
Every person who shall subscribe and pay towards the establishment or maintenance of any such dispensary any sum not less than one guinea, shall be a member of the establishment of such local dispensary of such county of a city or a county of a town for one year from the date of the payment thereof, for the management and direction of such dispensary.
|
|
|
For providing and supporting a house for the reception of fever patients in a county, &c. grand jury may present sums not exceeding double the amount of private subscriptions and donations given for the purpose.
Accounts of treasurer.
|
7.[1]
Whenever it shall be made appear, by statement on oath, to the grand jury of any county or county of a city or town, that there has been actually received from private subscriptions or donations any sum or sums of money for the purpose of erecting or hiring any house to be applied to the reception of fever patients, and either attached to and connected with any local dispensary or not, as the case may happen, and upon a certificate by one or more physicians that there is a necessity for providing accommodation for such patients, it shall and may be lawful for such grand jury to present, to be raised on any such county at large, or on any such county of a city or county of a town, as the case may be, any sum not exceeding double the amount of the sum or sums so raised by donation or subscription, and actually received by such treasurer, to be applied by the subscribers to such local dispensary, or such committee of them as aforesaid, together with the monies so received by private donation or subscription, in erecting or hiring and fitting up such house for poor fever patients, in such manner as the said corporation or the said committee shall in their discretion deem most advisable; and it shall and may be lawful also for such grand jury of any such county, county of a city, or county of a town, from time to time to present any such further sum or sums as shall appear to such grand jury to be necessary or required for the support of houses for the reception of fever patients, whether the same shall have been established before or after the passing of this Act, not exceeding double the amount of the subscriptions or donations which by the accounts of such treasurer verified on oath shall appear to have been raised and actually received for the support of such houses; and such treasurer shall account in like manner and under such regulations as are herein-before directed respecting dispensaries.
|
|
|
Grand Jury may make presentments for a fever hospital in a county, &c. to be raised by instalments within six years.
Presentment being certified by clerk of the crown to the lord lieutenant, he may order advance of money out of the consolidated fund to the treasurer of the county, &c. for the purposes of such presentment.
Treasurer to repay the money so advanced.
Surplus money raised shall be carried to the credit of the county.
|
8.[1]
It shall and may be lawful to and for any grand jury of any county or county of a city or county of a town, in which any fever hospital shall not have been erected before the passing of this Act, or in which it shall be made appear to the satisfaction of the grand jury that any fever hospital in such county, county of a city, or county of a town requires to be enlarged, repaired, or rebuilt, to present, at any assizes for such county, county of a city or town, any sum or sums of money for the purpose of erecting and establishing, or hiring, repairing, and fitting up one fever hospital in any such county, county of a city or town, in which no such hospital shall have been previously established, or for the purpose of enlarging, repairing, rebuilding, or supporting any fever hospital which shall have been previously established, and to set forth in such presentment that the sum therein mentioned shall be raised and levied within the period of six years by half-yearly or yearly instalments, and also to set forth in such presentment what part thereof shall be raised upon any barony or baronies in any such county, or on the county at large; and the treasurer of such county, county of a city, or county of a town shall from time to time, without further authority or presentment on that behalf, insert in his warrant at each assizes the portion or portions so set forth of the sum so presented; and the same shall be raised and levied in like manner from time to time, and with the like remedy in case of non-payment, as all other money directed by such warrant is by law to be levied; and when and so soon as such presentment shall have been duly certified by the acting clerk of the crown to the lord lieutenant, or his chief secretary, it shall and may be lawful to and for such lord lieutenant to direct the amount of such sum of money so presented or any part thereof to be advanced out of the growing produce of the consolidated fund in Ireland to the treasurer of such county, county of a city, or county of a town, to be applied for the purposes for which such presentment shall have been made, under such rules and regulations as to such lord lieutenant shall seem fitting and expedient; and such money so advanced and paid to such treasurer shall be accounted for by him in like manner as any other monies received by him for the use of such county; and all securities given by him or on his behalf shall extend to such money; and such treasurer shall from time to time pay to the collector of excise of the district in which such county, county of a city, or county of a town, all such sums as shall from time to time be received by him from the baronial or other collectors by virtue of the presentments on account of which such money shall have been advanced, until the whole sum advanced shall be repaid: Provided always, that if it shall so happen that any money shall be raised by virtue of any such presentment or presentments which shall not be required for the purposes for which it shall be so raised, the same shall be carried to the credit generally of the county or of the county of the town or of the county of the city, whereon the same shall be levied, by the treasurer of such county or county of a town or county of a city respectively.
|
|
| |
[S. 9 rep. 36 & 37 Vict. c. 91. (S.L.R.); ss. 10–15 rep. 29 & 30 Vict. c. 90. s. 69.]
|
|
|
General issue may be pleaded, and costs awarded to defendants.
|
16. If any action shall be brought against any of the corporations to be erected by virtue of this Act, or against any commissioners to be appointed under or by virtue of this Act, or any person employed by such corporations or commissioners in execution of this Act, for any thing done in the execution of any of the powers or duties by this Act given or required, the defendant or defendants may, in every such suit, plead the general issue, and give this Act and the special matter in evidence [Rep. 36 & 37 Vict. c. 91. (S.L.R.)]; and in every case where the plaintiff or plaintiffs in such suit shall fail, the court in which such suit shall be carried on shall award costs to the defendant or defendants.
|
| |
[1Sections 5 to 8 are rep., except as to the county of the city of Dublin, 36 & 37 Vict. c. 91. (S.L.R.)]
[1Sections 5 to 8 are rep., except as to the county of the city of Dublin, 36 & 37 Vict. c. 91. (S.L.R.)]
[1Sections 5 to 8 are rep., except as to the county of the city of Dublin, 36 & 37 Vict. c. 91. (S.L.R.)]
[1Sections 5 to 8 are rep., except as to the county of the city of Dublin, 36 & 37 Vict. c. 91. (S.L.R.)] |
