The Express.
London, England, 1847-10-21 00:00:00

MEETLNG TO PROMOTE THE ENFRAN-
_ CHIBEMENT OF COPYHOLDB.

On Thureas,;eveTsing last, numerousmeeting of
the copyhulders of Willesden, took place at the Wesleyan
suboal-room, for the purpose of forming a "Copyhold En
franchisement Society," and seeking the abolition of copy-
hold tenure by all lawful means. J. Harrill, Esq., who was
sailed to the chair, in opening the badness of the meeting,
said that having been called to take the chair, he bad to
mention that he, amongst the rest, had been a sufferer from
trop hold tenure, and he trusted that their measures for its
abolition would be entered upon with spirit. About two
year. ego he had the misfortune to lose his mother. She died
Misused of some copyhold property, which had descended
from his great grandfather. He, being the eldest son, was
admitted u heir-st law, and of that charge he did not com-
plain. Asa matter of family arrangement it became necessary
to admit his brother and his brother-in-law. His father
had paid a fine of twenty guineas, but the fine on this occa-
sion wee increased (ran twenty guineas to thirty-nine
pounds. Now the property was the mine, except that it
had become worse. It originally consisted of four houses,
but one of the four had fallen down. It was consequently so
much worse, but the fine, instead of being diminished, was
increased. Feeling himself aggrieved, he wrote to Mr.
Holyoake, steward of the manor. The letter briefly referred
to the use, and stated his intention, if he did not obtain re-
drese, sot to let the matter rut, but to apply elsewhere. To
this letter Mr. Holyoake returned no answer. After wait-
ing some time he wrote to Mr. T. Gibbons, mentioning that
be bed written to Mr. Helycske, and had not received any
reply. Mr. Gibbons wrote from Canterbury, promising to
lay his (Mr. Martin's) letter before Mr. Holyoake, adding that
the only part lie (Mr. Gibbons) had to do with the matter was
to celiver to the steward the value of the property in ques-
tion ; he bad nothing whatever to do with the fines and
charges. Some time after this he received another letter
from Mr. Gibbons, and in it Mr. Gibbons said he had seen
Mr. Holyoake, and this followed : " He desires me Way
that he never answers threatening letters." He (Mr. H.)
then writ a memorial, recapitulating the circumstances,
and enclosing copies of the correspondence, to the Duke I
of Sutherland. The memorial further stated that the
three houses had been built by his great grandfather ; that
they had been sold to his brother and brother-in-law, by
family arrangement, and the value of the property was 6501.
Another individual, it mentioned, had ptirced property
for 1,6001., and the whole cost for fines and conveyances
was only 601. " Thus," it added, "an injustice is done
either to your grabs or myself." He had received, he
stated, at a considerable cost, four court rolls, three of which
were not signed, and in the fourth there wee no fine
mentioned. (Hear.) This was the way business was i
done in their Copyhold Court. By return of post
be had an answer from his grace, stating that
es the affair related to property, it was strictly a
matter of business; and he had referred it to Mr. Loch,
adding " that he did not find any threatening terms" in the
letter sent to Mr. Holyoake. He (Mr. Hertill) had sub-
sequently received a letter, stating that the fine appeared'
to be awned according to the value of the property ;
but he had felt it necessary to write again to Mr. Holy-
*lke, and the receipt of that letter Mr. Holyoake bad
acknowledged. Thus the case stood at present. This was
one instance, and it showed that unless they stood up to
resist the encroachment, the fines and fees would go on in-
crewing. The system effected the property all around them.
It was not building only that was affected. Mining pro-
perty wan alike attacked. Some time ago the fine was five
guineas an acre, then it was gradually increased to eighteen,
and now, he was informed, they had the audacity to ask fifty.
I" Shame, shame.") He would now notice a cue known
to many of them, but which could net be too generally
known. Mr. Hartilli thea read the following from the Bii-
atinullom Journal of the 13th of Feb. last:

Oruro ilea—Mr. IleYea. ailellm etWehodametak pya
e pile Mew ma Tawley, the aratremal MIRY et
*sailed Woe. la Me awl libe aialevaeleg Om
at& aelelled trobeaeree wipe din Naar% mad teasel the
peewee et the Imre see* at la grepeetlea te the loaesali Isheeat.
moly ally et maks& ma Maw GM themaamied thee the lade
WI altirtie flak peewit Ilerhay mad amillall
steed or eri or
wad we publish Ilii War, as la
eihreate la oalhleet, has a eartehmateloa edam
lamb we as My ; he hyalite hi vath the awn et the ammo
end Moroi to ; ~ sir. la eidideate the water Illsetts.
dam M. Bohm, la hie leetarh, dthe swiessatiaksidesey
al the Om% I beg be ealket a plate Is year Joemel be the Iblietrihrerhal etie hales

Yr. P. rOhl Ark Asia le Fun ass. lava& a hoar
1111 IMh. shaa the warmer se whisk 1a the Lced's
gOwl. be pin leas sad law £l7 13 0
i=ihar, Ur your apapd the sami Wise, sad
la lags sad his
21 4 0
ifs taashass ass shanrsells Unarmed—the dm mad
has IMO*
Ints martasas wpall of 'ad dacha/Ted— dam mad hes
amid
It was sags mortgaged, and amilar marsh paid 23 19 0
Many, to. whale was sold in 1046 Ice 3201, ladudiag
bur No hours, and the court charges were
Total charges £t,l4 19 0
By this proem of confiscation, the owner got 931. la. for him 1001.
sad his four additional houses, together about 4001., leaving him a
Weer of SOIL .9a. alter all his capital had been emped, while the
lord or the manor, who sever advanced a shilling's worth of property,
pocketed the cowl:sou, amount of 2241. 19s. It is time some efforts
were MA to waist an injured CUM Of society, one of which 1 have
the mortification of calling myself.—A Coemoumn.

Here they would notice that the fees and Ines kept gra-
dually increasing: they were first 171. 16e., and afterwards
251. 19s. Such was the fact too in his own came. His great
grandfather, who purchased the property more than a hun-
dred years ago, was admitted, there being two fines for seven
shillings. (Hear.) In fact there were two admittances.
Now nearly lofty pounds were paid for admission I. the
same property. His great grandfather had built the houses
the Lord of the Manor h►d not put a brick upon the land,
nor contributed one farthing towards its improvement, and
yet nearly forty pounds might be demanded on almost
every change of ownership. This was the amount of
the fine, but in addition he bad paid Si. 10s. besides
the cost of the stamp for each of the documents he pro-
duced, and every one of them was imperfect. These
were glaring facts; they proved that something must be
done, or else eopyhold property would soon be good
for nothing. He was certain it was good for nothing to
build upon.--[The letters and memorial referred to were
read by Mr. Hartill, in tke course of his address to the
meatiag.l

Mr. BOLTON, solicitor, of Wolverhampton, said he had re-
ceived a communication from Mr. Aglionby, who had
brought the bills for eeranchising copyhold property before
the House of Commons, and that gentleman had informed
him that only by pressure from without was there a chance
of success. The public prose was with them ; their cause
was a good one, and they had only to send forth their facts
and their arguments to secure the sympathy and support of
all classes. He might mention that a noble lord had ex-
pressed his willingness to assist by a subscription ; and, more,
' that he was willing to enfranchise his copyholds without any
gratuity whatever. (Applause.) He bad also informed him
(Mr. Bolton) that Sir Hobert Peel was friendly to the ob-
ject they had in view, and that it was only pressure of
other business, and the sudden crcurrence of political
changes that had prevented him from bestowing the
attention to the subject that he desired. (Applause.)
New, if the question was put on the ground of moral
right—and legal rights had or ought to have their origin in
moral right—if the question was put upon this footing, he did
not see any insuperable difficulty about it. When the ances-
tors of the present lords of manors dealt out to their vassals
patches of barren heath or of fruitless land they could never
have contemplated the circumstances of the present time.
BT the industry and energy, sod at the expense of others,
mineral wealth had been discovered, and towns had been
built upon the spots in question. The lard of the manor
had done nothing towards this. He (Mr. Bolton) had no
wish to deprive him of anything that was his due, and there-
fore be would give him such • sum as might have arisen from
the fair improvement of the soil alone. It was to the land
his right appertained. Now, however, he was a sleeping
partner, and partook in the advantage of every improvement
though he contributed none of the capital, none of the skill,
and none of the labour that led to it, nor was subject
in regard to his claim to any of the obligations and
duties incident to property. He (Mr. Bolton) did not
come before them as a professional man. He, like their
chairman, was a sufferer from copyhold courts. His father
died the owner of some copyhold property; and before he
died ho made a will, but because he had not gone through
some form—because he had not, as it was technically termed,
" made a surrender to the use of his will," it therefore be-
came inoperative. His father died in March, and this foolish
law was altered in the following June. Had he lived to that
month, therefore, they might have disposed of the property.
The Wills Act of 1838 made certain alterations as to the
du-
pwLion of property by will; but as was the case with all
legislative proceedings of the kind, though it gave facility to
such disposition, it actually extended the rights of the
lords beyond what they before churned. Before this act
the heir-at-law went into possession free; but by the act,
although he might be heir, and thus go in free, if the pro-
perty happened to be devised to him he must go in as
devisee, and pay • fine accordingly ; although, if this act
had not been passed, he might have gone in as h,ir without
fine. He was bound to take under the devise and not as
heir. If, too, a man possessed of only an acre of copyhold
property, or less, wanted to raise money on it by mortgage,
the mortgagee must, to perfect his title, be admitted tenant,
and thefoil fins and expenses paid; if he was not admitted
his mortgage was of no ale ; he was not the tenant of the
lord, and could not exercise any legal right. These expenses
often occurred four or five times; they attended every con-
veyance and reconveyance. The very first act attending the
=don of copyhold property was to pay a fine, and it not
uently happened that the tenant was obliged to resort
to a mortgage to pay that fine -anti in some eases the expi n-
ate were so enormous that all advantages derivable from the
property were completely swamped. The lord, too, took a
fine, as if he allowed a tenant to make a will, although the
act enabled him to make • will, without a surrender; and
when the devisee was admitted the lord gets a double fine.
Their proceedings—the exposition of the hardships of their
case—hod already had some influence; they had worked, he
conceived, in the Wolverhampton court. Either public
opinion had had its influence, or the steward had acted with
generosity ; but they did not want to be the object of any
man's generosity. They wanted their moral right secured
by legal enactment.
- - - -

Resolutions, condemnatory of the copyhold tenure, and
pledging the meeting to seek an improvement of the law,
having been passed, a conversation ensued, in the course of
which several instances of the working of the system were
mentioned. An individual said his father had nine small
houses, and eight children, one of whom was blind. Now it
he left one house to each child, and two to the blind child,
he should like to know what might be the expense. It
was explained that there must be eight admissions in the
place of the original one, and the costs, perhaps, Inds.
cmj:st of the fines, about WI. or 601. The rents of the
were said to be 2s. and 2s. 3d. each per week.—Mr.
Bolton, having detailed some cues, observed that the lords'
rights were said to depend upon custom ; but, as he had
instanced, they took advantage of legislation toe. if it was
custom they stood upon, they ought not by legislation to
acquire rights which they did not possess before. He had
heard that Lord Ward intended to enfranchise the cottages
at Sedgley ; and he hoped the Duke of Sutherland, the Duke
of Cleveland, and Mr. Clifford would take a similar course.
These rights had not arisen by purchase ; their owners could
not say they had bought them ; if they had it would be a
different thing. A fair rent on the improved value of the
soil appeared to him a proper amount. The fines were serious
things when mines were opened and buildings erected. The
lords' fines checked enterprise and improvement.