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COPYHOLD ACT, 1887
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CHAPTER 73.
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An Act to amend the Copyhold Acts, and for the Enfranchisement of Copyhold and Customary Lands. [16th September 1887.]
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WHEREAS it is expedient to make further provision for the enfranchisement of lands of copyhold and customary tenure, and of lands subject to certain customary and other incidents and rights:
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Be it therefore enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
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Notice to be given by the steward to the tenant.
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1. On the admittance or enrolment of any tenant after the thirty-first day of December one thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven, the steward of the manor shall be bound, without any further charge, to give to the tenant so admitted or enrolled a notice in the form or to the effect following:
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Take notice that, if you desire that the copyhold land which you hold of this manor of shall become freehold, you are entitled to enfranchise the same upon paying the lord’s compensation and the steward’s fees. The lord’s compensation may be fixed either by agreement between the lord and you, or by any valuer appointed by yourselves, or through the agency of the Land Commissioners, to whom you may make application, if you think fit, to effect the enfranchisement of your land.
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If the steward neglects to serve such notice he shall not be entitled to any fee for that admission or enrolment.
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All may he admitted by attorney.
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2. Every person entitled to admission may hereafter be admitted by himself or by his attorney duly appointed, whether orally or in writing.
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Power to agree on compensation or appoint valuer.
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3. Any lord and tenant may at any time agree in writing on the amount of compensation for enfranchisement, or may appoint in writing a valuer or valuers to ascertain such compensation, and the sum so agreed upon or ascertained shall be deemed to be the compensation for enfranchisement lawfully ascertained.
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Lord to retain his right in case of escheat.
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4. On any enfranchisement after the passing of this Act the lord of the manor shall continue to be entitled in case of escheat for want of heirs to the same right and interest in the land as he would have had if it bad not been enfranchised.
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And corresponding abatements to be made from the lord’s compensation.
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5. In making valuations for compensation payable to the lord upon an enfranchisement effected after the passing of this Act the valuers shall not take into consideration the value of escheats.
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Restraint on the creation of new copyholds.
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6. After the passing of this Act it shall not be lawful for the lord of any manor to make grants of land not previously of copyhold tenure to any person to hold by copy of court roll, or by any tenure of a customary nature, without the previous consent of the Land Commissioners, who in giving or withholding their consent shall have regard to the same considerations as are to be taken into account by them on giving or withholding their consent to any inclosure of common lands; and whenever any such grant has been lawfully made the land therein comprised shall cease to be of copyhold tenure, and shall be vested in the grantee thereof to hold for the interest granted as in free and common socage.
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Lord or tenant may compel extinguishment of all manorial incidents.
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7. Subject to the provisions of the forty-eighth section of the Copyhold Act, 1852, and to the provisions herein-before expressed, any lord or tenant or owner of any land liable to any heriot or to any quitrent, free rent, or other manorial incident whatsoever, may require and compel the extinguishment of such rights or incidents, and the release and enfranchisement of the land subject thereto, and the same proceedings shall thereupon be had as are in the Copyhold Acts mentioned with reference to the enfranchisement of copyhold land, or as near thereto as the nature of the case will admit.
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Commissioners to have power to continue conditions of user.
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8. Notwithstanding anything herein contained, it shall be lawful for the Commissioners, if they see fit, in any enfranchisement effected by award, to continue and give effect to any conditions affecting the user of the land subject to which a tenant may have been admitted, and imposed or created for the benefit of the public or of the other tenants of the manor, where, in the opinion of the Commissioners, any especial hardship or injustice would result if the lands were released from such conditions.
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Provisions relating to Compensations, Valuations, the making of Awards, the incidence and redemption of Rentcharges, and the application of Compensation Money.
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Amendment of s. 6 of 21 & 22 Vict. c. 94.
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9. The sixth section of the Copyhold Act, 1858, shall be amended as follows:—Instead of the words “admittance or death” shall be read the words “admittance or enrolment on alienation:” and instead of the final word “heriot” shall be read the word. “enrolment.”
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Amendment of s. 8 of 21 & 22 Vict. c. 94.
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10. Section eight of the Copyhold Act, 1858, shall be read as if the word thirty had been substituted therein for twenty, and subject to the following modifications:
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(a.) The lord and tenant in any case may appoint one and the same person as valuer:
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(b.) Either party may in any case have the valuation made as in cases where the land to be enfranchised is rated to the poor’s rate at a greater amount than the net annual value of thirty pounds, but in that case he shall be liable to pay the additional expense caused by such mode of valuation:
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(c.) Where the valuers fail to make a decision, and also fail to refer the matter to the umpire, the umpire shall, if so directed by the Commissioners, act as if he had been duly appointed by the lord and tenant to act as their valuer, and the umpire so acting shall make and deliver his decision to the Commissioners within forty-two days from his being directed by the Commissioners to act as valuer for both parties; and where he has not been so directed, or where having been so directed he fails to deliver his decision within the time aforesaid, the Commissioners shall fix the consideration to be paid:
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(d.) The valuers or either of them, if they fail to agree upon the compensation to be paid for the enfranchisement, may refer the whole matter or any point in dispute to the umpire.
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As to duties of valuers.
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11. The valuers appointed under the provisions of the Copyhold Acts shall determine the value of the manorial and other rights and incidents, such value to be a gross sum of money, and their decision shall be in such form as the Commissioners may prescribe, and they shall in every case deliver the details of the valuation to the Commissioners, and if it shall appear to the Commissioners that the valuation is imperfect or erroneous, they may remit it for reconsideration or correction; and if the valuers neglect or refuse to amend the same, the Commissioners may, after due notice to the lord and to the tenant, and after fully considering all the circumstances brought before them, determine the value of the manorial and other rights and incidents at such a sum as they may deem just and reasonable.
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In case of death, &c. of valuer, another to be appointed.
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12. Upon the death, incapacity, or refusal to act, or removal from time to time, of any valuer appointed under the provisions of the Copyhold Acts, another valuer shall, by a time to be fixed by the Commissioners, be appointed in his stead in the manner and by the means by which the valuer whose place he is to fill was appointed; and if no valuer be appointed within the time fixed by the Commissioners, then the appointment shall be made by the Commissioners, and the new valuer for the time being may adopt and act upon any valuation and other matters or proceedings which shall have been completed or agreed upon by the valuer previously acting.
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Payment may be made in gross sum.
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13. The tenant may in any case before the completion of any enfranchisement pay the compensation in a gross sum of money, but in case of an enfranchisement by award, he shall, within ten days after the receipt of the draft of the proposed award, give notice in writing to the Commissioners of his desire so to pay.
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When compensation to be secured by rentcharge.
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14. Subject to the foregoing provision, and unless the parties otherwise agree, such compensation shall, in the following cases, viz,:
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(a.) Where the enfranchisement is effected at the instance of the lord;
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(b.) Where the land can, in the opinion of the Commissioners, be sufficiently identified, and the compensation to the lord amounts to more than one year’s improved annual value of the land enfranchised,
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consist of an annual rentcharge commencing in every case from the date of the notice to enfranchise, and issuing out of the land enfranchised, equivalent to interest at the rate of four pounds per centum per annum upon the amount of compensation ascertained as aforesaid.
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Rentcharges to be payable on the 1st January and 1st July in each year.
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15. From and after the first day of January next every rentcharge already created or to be hereafter created under the provisions of the Copyhold Acts shall be payable half-yearly on the first day of January and the first day of July in every year, and a proportionate payment shall be made on the first day of January next in respect of the interval which shall have elapsed since the last preceding day of payment or since the commencement thereof, as the case may be; and on any enfranchisement taking place after the said first day of January a proportionate payment shall in like manner be made on such one of the said half-yearly days of payment as shall next follow the date of the award or memorandum or deed of enfranchisement.
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Recovery and incidence of rentcharge. 44 & 45 Vict. c. 41.
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16. Every such, rentcharge shall be recoverable by such remedies as are given by section forty-four of the Conveyancing and Law Property Act, 1881. Any occupying tenant who is called upon to pay and does pay any money on account of such rentcharge, which as between him and his landlord he shall not be liable to pay, shall be entitled to recover the same from his landlord or to deduct it from the next rent payable by him.
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Rentcharge redeemable by tenant.
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17. Any such rentcharge may be redeemed upon any half-yearly day of payment upon six months previous notice in writing at the option of any person for the time being in actual possession or receipt of the rents and profits of the land subject to the rentcharge, by payment to the person for the time being entitled to receive the rentcharge of twenty-five times the yearly amount of the rentcharge created as aforesaid.
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Provision when, after notice for redemption, money is not paid.
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18. After the expiration of a notice for redemption, if the redemption money and all arrears of the rentcharge are not duly paid, the person entitled to the said rentcharge shall have and may exercise over the property charged therewith all the powers and remedies given to a mortgagee in and by the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881, for the recovery of the redemption money and all arrears, if any, of the said rentcharge.
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Rentcharges to rank as if under Copyhold Acts.
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19. Rentcharges created under this Act on enfranchised lands shall, with reference to other charges on and interests in such lands, rank in the same manner as if such rentcharges were created under the Copyhold Acts passed prior to this Act.
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Expenses of redemption.
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20. The expenses incurred in redeeming such rentcharges shall be dealt with on the same footing as the expenses incurred in redeeming a mortgage.
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Transfer of fee-farm rent or charge from manor to freehold lands or Government stocks of adequate value.
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21. Where in the course of an enfranchisement under the Copyhold Acts it is found that a manor, or the lord’s estate and interest in any land belonging thereto, which may be the subject of enfranchisement is subject to the payment of a fee-farm rent or to any other charge, the Commissioners may, upon the application of the person for the time being bound to make such payment or, defray such charge, by order under their seal, direct that the fee-farm rent or charge respectively shall be a charge upon any freehold lands specified in the order, being of adequate value and held under the same title as the said manor or land, or upon any adequate amount of Government stocks or funds to be transferred into Court by the direction of the Commissioners in manner prescribed by the High Court Funds Rules, or into the names of trustees appointed by the Commissioners; and upon the sealing of such order the said manor and land shall be freed and for ever discharged from such payment or charge; and such payment or charge shall be and continue a charge upon the land or funds specified in the order of the Commissioners, and, so far as the nature of the case will admit, there shall be and are hereby attached thereto the like remedies for the recovery thereof as against the land or funds subject thereto, as might have been had as against the manor or land belonging thereto in respect of the original charge.
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Commissioners may frame award of enfranchisement.
21 & 22 Vict. c. 94.
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22. In any case conducted before the Commissioners, when the amount of compensation has been duly ascertained, the Commissioners, having made such inquiries as to them shall seem fit, may frame an award of enfranchisement on the basis of such compensation, and in such form as they shall provide, and may confirm the same, and such confirmed award shall have the same force and validity as an award of enfranchisement under the Copyhold Act, 1858. And where the draft award has been perused by the steward, it shall not be necessary to serve a copy thereof upon the steward, as required by the last proviso to the tenth section of the Copyhold Act, 1858. But a copy of the award, sealed or stamped with the seal of the Commissioners, shall be sent by the Commissioners to the lord, who shall cause the same to be entered on the court rolls of the manor.
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Power to charge land enfranchised with compensation money, &c
44 & 45 Vict. c. 41.
21 & 22 Vict. c. 94.
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23. It shall be lawful for the owner of any land enfranchised under the Copyhold Acts, although his estate may be only a limited estate, to charge the land enfranchised with the compensation money paid for such enfranchisement, and also with the expenses attending such enfranchisement, or with any part thereof respectively, with interest thereon not exceeding five pounds per centum per annum, or by way of terminable annuity calculated on the same basis. Any and every such charge may be by deed by way of mortgage with, under, and subject to the provisions of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881, and shall be a first charge on the land, and shall have such priority as by the thirty-third section of the Copyhold Act, 1858, is assigned to the charges there expressed to be first charges; and any moneys already invested or previously secured or charged on such land may be continued on the security of the same, notwithstanding the imposition of the said charges under the Copyhold Acts. Any company now authorised to make advances for works of agricultural improvement to owners of settled and other estates, may, subject and according to the provisions of their respective Acts of Parliament, charters, deeds, or instruments of settlement, make advances to owners of settled and other estates of such sums as may be required for the payment of any consideration or compensation for commutation or enfranchisement under the existing or any future Copyhold Acts, or of any expenses chargeable upon a manor or land under the same Acts or otherwise, and to take for their repayment a charge for the same in accordance with the provisions of their respective Acts of Parliament.
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Lord’s expenses may be charged on lands or rentcharges.
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24. Any expenses paid by a lord in proceedings under the Copyhold Acts may be charged either on lands settled to the same uses as the manor or on rentcharges arising out of other enfranchisements within the manor, and every such charge shall be by deed by way of mortgage with, under, and subject to the provisions of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881.
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Receipt for, and disposal of, compensation, — after award, or with consent, of Commissioners,
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25. In every case where land is enfranchised under the award of the Commissioners, or by deed with the consent of the Commissioners, the lord for the time beings, although his estate in the manor may be only a limited estate, shall be able to give a complete discharge for money payable to the lord for compensation, so as to relieve the person or persons paying the same from all responsibility for the application thereof, and in such cases the compensation money shall be paid by the recipient in such manner as the Commissioners, having regard to the provisions of the Copyholds Acts, shall direct.
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—in case of enfranchisement by agreement where compensation under 500l.
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26. In cases of enfranchisement by agreement between the parties, or otherwise without reference to the Commissioners, where the compensation money does not exceed five hundred pounds, the lord for the time being-shall be able to give such complete discharge, if he makes a declaration in writing stating the particulars of his estate or interest in the manor, and showing himself to be entitled to receive such money for his own use. If he is not actually so entitled he shall be deemed to have received such money as a trustee for the persons who are so entitled. If his declaration is false he shall be liable to the penalties attached to a false statutory declaration.
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Steward’s compensation after 31st December 1887.
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27. In every case of enfranchisement by award after the thirty-first day of December one thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven the tenant shall pay to the steward the compensation mentioned in the schedule to this Act.
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Prior to 1st January 1888.
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28. In every case of enfranchisement by award prior to the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight the expenses of enfranchisement and the steward’s compensation shall be dealt with as provided by the Copyhold Acts prior to this Act.
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Provisions relating to Procedure and Expenses.
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Amendment of 15 & 16 Vict. c. 51. s. 8.
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29. From and after the passing of this Act the words “in the course of the valuations in any enfranchisement to be effected by an award under the Copyhold Acts” shall be substituted for the words “upon or prior to any admittance or in the course of” such valuations “in section eight of the Copyhold Act, 1852.
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Commissioners to publish a scale of compensation.
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30. The Land Commissioners shall frame and cause to be printed and published such a scale of compensation for the enfranchisement of land from the manorial and other rights and incidents specified or referred to in the Copyhold Acts, including heriots, as in their judgment will be fair and just and will facilitate enfranchisement, and such scale shall contain all such directions for the guidance of lord, tenant, and valuers as the Commissioners may deem necessary. The said Commissioners shall also print and publish a scale of allowance to valuers for services to be performed in the execution of the Copyhold Acts. The Commissioners may from time to time vary any such scales, which are to be for guidance only, and not to be binding as a matter of law in any particular case, but the party requiring enfranchisement shall state to the other party whether or no he is willing to adopt the scale.
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In case of death proceedings not to abate.
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31. If pending any proceedings commenced after the passing of this Act for enfranchisement under the Copyhold Acts the lord or tenant shall die, there shall be no abatement of the proceedings; any fresh admittance or enrolment consequent on such death and pending such proceedings shall be made without the payment of any fine, relief, or heriot to the lord; and the enfranchisement shall be proceeded with and the compensation shall be ascertained on the same footing as if the enfranchisement had been effected immediately after the commencement of proceedings.
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Declaration to be made by lord or steward.
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32. Previously to any enfranchisement by award or deed under the Copyhold Acts the Commissioners, if they see fit, may require the lord or steward of any manor to make a declaration in such form as they shall direct, stating who are the persons for the time being filling the character or acting in the capacity of lord, and it shall be lawful for the Commissioners to accept such declaration for the purposes of the Copyhold Acts; but if the Commissioners shall consider that such evidence does not fully and truly disclose all such particulars as are necessary, or if no such declaration shall be made, or if the lord shall refuse or decline to give such evidence as they shall deem proper and necessary to show a satisfactory primâ facie title in the lord, then, if they think the justice of the case requires it, they may direct that the compensation for enfranchisement, when a gross sum of money, shall be paid into court in the manner prescribed by the High Court Funds Rules.
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Steward as a general rule to represent the lord.
15 & 16 Vict. c. 51.
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33. Any lord may act on his own behalf, or may appoint an agent other than his steward to act for him; but unless and until he has given written notice to the tenant and the Commissioners respectively that he intends to act for himself, or that he has appointed the person specified in the notice to act for him, the tenant and the Commissioners respectively may treat his steward as his agent for receipt of notices, making of agreements, and all other matters relating to enfranchisement, and in all matters of procedure the steward shall be deemed to represent the lord; except that no steward shall, without special authority, have power to consent on behalf of the lord to dealings with the rights comprised in section forty-eight of the Copyhold Act, 1852, as herein amended.
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Award may be withheld until payment of fees.
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34. The Commissioners shall have power to require the payment of all office fees and other expenses, of the Commissioners as aforesaid, from either lord or tenant requesting any award, deed, or order, before delivery of the same.
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General provisions as to expenses.
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35. Whenever money is hereby declared to be payable by any person on account of the expenses of proceedings under the Copyhold Acts—
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(a.) The amount may be recovered as a debt due from the party liable to pay to the party entitled to receive, as well as by any other remedy given in any special case:
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(b.) If it be payable by the lord to the tenant, or by the owner of a rentcharge to the owner of the property charged there-with, the amount may be set off against any money which at the time is receivable by the lord from the tenant, or by the owner of the rentcharge from the owner of the property charged:
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(c.) If there is. dispute as to the amount of such expenses, the Commissioners may ascertain it, and may ascertain it, and may declare it by order which shall be binding on all parties concerned.
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Notices.
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36. Any notice required or authorised by the Copyhold Acts to be given to any person may be in writing or print, or partly in writing and partly in print, and shall be sufficiently given if delivered to such person himself or left at the usual or last known place of abode or business in the United Kingdom of such person. Any such notice shall also be sufficiently given if it is sent by post in a registered letter addressed to the person to be affected thereby by name at the aforesaid place of abode or business, and if that letter is not returned through the Post Office undelivered, service or delivery shall be deemed to be made at the time at which the registered letter would in the ordinary course be delivered. Where a notice is required or authorised to be given to the tenant of any premises it may be given by delivering the same, or a true copy thereof, to some person on the premises, or, if there is no person on the premises to whom the same can be delivered with reasonable diligence, by fixing the notice on some conspicuous part of the premises.
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Pending proceedings to be carried out under former Acts.
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37. All proceedings for enfranchisement or redemption already commenced under the Copyhold Acts prior to this Act shall be carried out under those Acts as if this Act had not passed.
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General and Miscellaneous Provisions.
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Succession of rights and liabilities.
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38. All rights by this Act conferred and all liabilities imposed upon a lord or tenant shall be held to be conferred or imposed upon the successors in title of such lord or tenant unless a contrary intention appears.
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Provision for case of trustees, infants, lunatics and married women.
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39. Anything by the Copyhold Acts required or authorised to be done by the lord of a manor, or the tenant or owner of any land or right, may be done by such lord or tenant or owner, notwithstanding that he may be a trustee for any person, or that his estate in such manor or land be only a limited estate; and the guardian of an infant lord, tenant, or owner, and the committee of the estate of a lunatic lord, tenant, or owner, shall have full power to do on his behalf anything by the said Acts required or authorised to be done by such infant or lunatic; and a married woman, being lady of the manor, or tenant of any land or right of copyhold or customary tenure, shall for the purposes of the said Acts be deemed to be a feme sole.
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Where one or more trustees shall be abroad or shall be incapable or refuse to act the other trustees may act.
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40. When either the lords or the tenants are trustees, and one or more of such trustees shall be abroad or shall be incapable or refuse to act, any proceedings necessary to be done by such-trustees for effecting any enfranchisement under the Copyhold Acts may be done by the other trustee or trustees, as the case may be.
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Provision for lands in lease.
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41. The provisions of the forty-fourth section of the Copyhold Act, 1852, with reference to lands subject to leases, shall be deemed to apply not only to leases and demises at will, but also to lease and demises for any greater interest, and they shall be applicable to all lands enfranchised under the Copyhold Acts.
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Boundaries.
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42. In all cases of lands enfranchised under the Copyhold Acts the following rules shall apply as between the lord and the tenant:—
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(a.) Where the identity of any lands cannot be ascertained to the satisfaction of the valuers, such lands shall be taken at the quantities mentioned in the court books or rolls of the manor, if such quantities are therein stated to be in statute measure, and as to any lands the quantities of which are not so specified, the same shall be taken at such quantities as such valuers may determine:
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(b.) Where the lands are not defined by a plan upon the court rolls, the valuers shall, if requested in writing so to do either by the lord or tenant, define the boundaries or limits of the lands by a plan; such plan when accepted by the Commissioners to be conclusive:
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(c.) When valuers have been appointed it shall be lawful for any lord or tenant, in case of any doubt or difference of opinion as to the identity of any lands, to apply to the Commissioners to define the boundaries thereof for the purpose of any enfranchisement, and the Commissioners shall proceed in such manner as they shall see fit to ascertain and define such boundaries; and such definition of boundaries, when made by the Commissioners, shall be final and conclusive:
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(d.) Except by agreement between the lord and the tenant, no such plan shall be undertaken in any case where it shall appear by the court rolls or otherwise that the boundaries of the lands proposed to be enfranchised have been for more than fifty years last past treated as being intermixed with the boundaries of other lands and as being incapable of definition.
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Power to refer questions of compensation to Commissioners.
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43. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Copyhold Acts, the lord and tenant may at any time after notice of enfranchisement shall have been delivered agree in writing that the Commissioners shall determine the compensation to be paid for enfranchisement. And the Commissioners shall, upon receipt of such agreement, take such proceedings and make such inquiries as they may deem necessary to determine such compensation, taking into consideration all such matters as valuers appointed under the Copyhold Acts are bound to take into consideration in making a valuation; and having determined such compensation, the Commissioners shall communicate the result in writing to the lord and tenant, and shall fix a time within which any objection to such determination may be signified to them in writing by the lord or tenant, and forthwith after the period fixed for such objections to be signified shall have expired if there be none, or if there be any then forthwith after the Commissioners shall have considered and disposed of such objections and made such alterations, if any, as they shall see fit, they shall make their award of enfranchisement in like manner as if the compensation had been ascertained by valuers under the Copyhold Acts.
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Commissioners may correct errors in awards or other instruments.
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44. It shall be lawful for the Commissioners, if they see fit, on the application of any person interested, at any time to correct and supply any error or omission arising from inadvertence in any award of enfranchisement, deed of enfranchisement, or charge, already made or issued, or to be made and issued by them, or any other instrument authorised by the said Acts to be made or issued by the Commissioners, after such notice to the parties interested as the Commissioners shall deem proper, and all expenses incident thereto shall be paid by the parties, or either of them, if and as the Commissioners direct.
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Trust copyholds of inheritance not to descend as chattels real.
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45. The thirtieth section of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881, shall not apply to land of copyhold or customary tenure vested in the tenant on the court rolls of any manor upon any trust or by way of mortgage.
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Provision for case of joint lords under section 4 of 23 & 24 Vict. c. 59.
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46. In every case where, under the fourth section of the Universities and College Estates Act Extension, 1860, any university or college and any person shall jointly constitute “the lord” of the manor, then any rentcharge to be created under the Copyhold Acts on the enfranchisement of land held of such manor shall be in favour of, and the power to give receipts herein-before conferred for compensation or redemption money shall be exerciseable by, the person who at the date of the enfranchisement shall be entitled in possession to the profits of the manor or to the receipt of such rentcharge, and the executors and administrators of such person, but without prejudice to any question as to the further disposal of the moneys secured by such charge.
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Provisions for cases where derivative interests are entered upon the rolls.
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47. The following provisions shall apply to every manor in which the fines are certain, and in which it is the practice for copyholders in fee to grant derivative interests to persons who are admitted as copyholders of the manor in respect of such interests:
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(a.) The tenant for the purposes of the Copyhold Acts shall be the person who is admitted or enrolled in respect of the inheritance, and who is in this section called the tenant-in-fee:
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(b.) The enfranchisement of the land to such tenant shall enure for the benefit of himself and every other person having any customary estate or interest subsisting in the same land, without any further enfranchisement, and all such persons shall be entitled to estates and interests in the land enfranchised corresponding with their customary estates and interests existing at the date of the enfranchisement:
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(c.) All rentcharges payable in respect of such enfranchisement, and all sums of money payable by the tenant in fee for compensation or the expenses of enfranchisement, and the interest thereon, shall, if the parties have not otherwise agreed, be borne and paid by the several persons for whose benefit the enfranchisement enures in proportion to their respective interests in the enfranchised land:
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(d.) If any dispute arises respecting the due apportionment of such charges, the Commissioners may, on the application of any party interested, and after, due inquiry, make an order apportioning the same. Such order shall be binding on all parties concerned, and the expenses of and incident to it shall be paid by the parties or any of them as the Commissioners direct:
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(e.)—
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(1.) On the request of the lord, or of one fourth in number of the copyholders for the time being on the court roll of any such manor, and upon such provision for expenses being made as the Commissioners may require, the Commissioners may make a local inquiry for the purpose of ascertaining whether the copyholders of such manor desire that enfranchisement shall be effected throughout the manor:
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(2.) If the Commissioners find that not less than two thirds in number of such copyholders desire such enfranchisement, they shall by order declare that all copyhold tenements of the manor are to be enfranchised; and thereupon they shall proceed to ascertain the amount of compensation due to the lord upon the enfranchisement of each tenement held by a tenant-in-fee, and to effect such enfranchisements accordingly as between the lord and the tenants-in-fee. The compensation in every case shall consist of a gross sum of money, unless the lord and tenant-in-fee otherwise agree:
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(3.) Upon the making of the declaration above mentioned, all the tenants-in-fee of the manor shall be liable to contribute rateably to the expenses of the local inquiry according to the amount of compensation payable by them respectively. The tenant-in-fee and all copyholders holding derivative interests in the same tenement shall be liable to contribute rateably, according to the value of their respective interests, to the compensation, and to all such expenses attending the enfranchisement as are payable on the part of tenants, including the contribution assessed on tenants-in-fee as last aforesaid:
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(4.) The Commissioners shall have power to apportion such contributions between the several tenants of each enfranchised tenement, and also between the several tenants-in-fee, and to make orders for the payment of such contributions and expenses by the persons from whom they are due. Such orders shall be conclusive upon all persons hereby, declared liable to contribute:
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(5.) Without the consent of the tenant-in-fee the Commissioners shall make no award for the enfranchisement of any tenement, unless and until they have apportioned the contributions between such tenant-in-fee and the tenants holding derivative interests in the same tenement, and have made orders for payment of the same, or otherwise have satisfied themselves that the tenant-in-fee has full security for the amounts which the tenants of derivative interests are to contribute.
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Custody of court rolls.
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48. When and so soon as all the lands held of or parcel of any manor shall be enfranchised the lord or, with the consent of the lord, any other person having custody of the court rolls, court books, and records of such manor may, if he thinks fit, give up and hand over to the Master of the Rolls all or any of such court rolls, court books, and records, and the Master of the Rolls shall have power to receive and to undertake the custody thereof, and in case the Commissioners shall have obtained the custody of any such court rolls, court books, or records under the Copyhold Act, 1852, or otherwise under the Copyhold Acts, they shall have power to give all or any of them up to the Master of the Rolls, who shall have power to take and keep the same in manner aforesaid; and from thenceforth all persons seised of or interested in any such lands shall have access to and may inspect such court rolls, court books, and records handed over as aforesaid, and may inspect the same and obtain office copies or certified extracts therefrom on the payment of such reasonable fees as shall be fixed from time to time under the authority of the Master of the Rolls.
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Provided always, that the Master of the Rolls shall have power from time to time to make, and when made revoke, add to, and vary rules respecting the manner in which and the time at which the access to and inspection of such court rolls, court books, and records handed over as aforesaid, shall be had and made, and such office copies and certified extracts shall be obtained, and as to the amount and mode of payment of reasonable fees for or in respect of such office copies and certified extracts as aforesaid.
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Provided further, that every such rule shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within six weeks after it is made, or after the next meeting of Parliament.
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Interpretation of terms.
Commissioners.
Copyhold Acts.
Lord.
Tenant.
Rent.
Owner.
Admittance.
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49. In this Act and the Copyhold Acts, unless where the context shows that the words herein-after mentioned are used in a different sense, they shall be understood in manner herein-after mentioned, that is to say, the expression “the Commissioners” shall mean the Land Commissioners for England; the expression “the Copyhold Acts” shall extend to and include this Act; the word “lord” shall be interpreted as the same is interpreted in the Copyhold Act of 1841; the word “tenant” shall comprise all persons holding lands subject to any manorial right or incident; the word “rent” shall include all payments or renders in money, produce, kind, or labour, due or payable in respect of any land holden of or parcel of any manor; the word “owner” shall include every person entitled to hereditaments for any term of years originally granted for ninety-nine years or upwards, or for some greater estate; the words “admitting or enrolling,” “admittance or enrolment,” “admit or enroll” shall include an express admittance or enrolment of a tenant and every licence of any assurance, and every ceremony, act, and assent whereby the tenancy or holding of any such tenant is perfected; and generally words interpreted in the earlier Copyhold Acts shall receive the same interpretation in this Act save where a contrary intention appears.
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Act to be part of Copyhold Acts.
Short title.
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50. This Act shall be taken and construed as part of the Copyhold Acts, and may be cited either generally under the term the Copyhold Acts, or specifically as the Copyhold Act, 1887, and throughout this Act the expression “Copyhold Acts” shall include this Act.
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Repeal.
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51. The following portions of the Copyhold Acts are hereby repealed; that is to say,
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The twelfth section of the Copyhold Act, 1843:
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The fourth, seventh, ninth, and twenty-fourth sections of the Copyhold Act, 1852:
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The seventh section of the Copyhold Act, 1858.
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SCHEDULE.
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Scale of Steward’s Compensation.
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Section 27.
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When the consideration for the enfranchisement does not exceed 1l.— five shillings. When the same exceeds 1l., but does not exceed 5l.—ten shillings. When the same exceeds 5l., but does not exceed 10l.—one pound. When the same exceeds 10l., but does not exceed 15l.—two pounds. When the same exceeds 15l., but does not exceed 20l.—three pounds. When the compensation exceeds 20l., but does not exceed 25l.—four pounds. When the same exceeds 25l., but does not exceed 50l.—six pounds. When the same exceeds 50l., but does not exceed 100l.—seven pounds. And also on every additional 50l., or fractional part of 50l. over and above the first 100l.—ten shillings. The above compensation is exclusive of stamps and paper or parchment or map or plan, which are to be paid for by the tenant.
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