The Sun.
London, England, 1804-11-12 00:00:00

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, hay. to.

THE KING V. THE INHABITANTI OF HAVER.

AVON.

The Members of ,the Corporation of this name are
in the occupation of certain lands, some of.which are
enclosed, and `another portion is called Mountain:-
Land,arul is uninclosed. No question in this case arose
on the former, the only doubt 'respected the latter,
which had .been -rated at ' a 'certain ,sum for. the
Pones Rate, and this Rateat the Quarter Sessions
had been quashed, suhjeei to a case. Which came.
on now to ,be argued before the Court of King's
Bench. The Judgment of the Court was;to deter.
mine if this uninclosed 'land were rateable, or
not; and if_ rateable, under what circumstances ?
Another question .wai likewise submitted in the
case, whether the lorgesses, who were the. ecru.
'Piers of this land, should be rated:, in their .cor.
porate, or in their individual,capacity ? An Appeal
had been made to the. Quarter Sessions, and the
ground of appeal was this/ that the Church wardens
had adeqoately rated the inclosed land only, and
the consequence of this relief of the uninclosed
land was laid to be, that the inclosed, land was
made to sustain more than 'its due proportiori ,of
the general rate. The_uninclosed land ;was occil—,
pied by three descriptions of persons ; certain of
the Burgesses,. widows of the ,Burgesses, rand poor
persons who were liable to,, be liurehensorue to the
parish. -The .accommodation these persons oh:
wined, was the privilege of .pasturage, and no
Was: assigned as to the qoantity „of. caitiff
they should turn qn the ground. The. Corporation
said, they were,nol.coVettively chargeable,
.as they
hart no personal property, *excepting their maces
'ant halberts.
M. S-rjeant BODE and Mr. BEVAN. c-mtended,
tLit this uninclosed land should not he ,ii•jecte,l
to any rate, the persons, called occupants, a; he_
(her Burgesses, Widows, or Paupers, having no
interest from which th-y could' not he rem,:vtd
at a moment's notice. The rate ought to he
((Wished, from the extreme irregularity of the',
form. The quanti:y was stated to he her ween two
and three hundred acres, and yet with this inde-
terminate number, the value was said to be asCer-
tainable by the extent, and that value was fixed at
8,, per acre. •

Mr. ERsIcINE supported' the rate on the drffa in
the case of the King and Gardiner ; he said, the
introduction of the chattel property of ;he maces
aid hailiertsseerryd a sort of gibe
.Upin the case,.
bei ore a supreme nod soletnn•Court, Wi.!S not
correctly &cent, • The simple question Was; if there
• were occupiers of this property'?" If Occupants
could be foundi. whether BUrgesses or Paupers,
Maids kir Widows, they'must be chargeable with
the rate. •

Lord' ELL Ti 11110 ROUGH.—" I do not approve of
the form of this case ; it has not been drawn up
with the assistance of. Counsel, and the parties de.
serve reprehenaion . fcr the manner in which it'is
submittga. I am sorry, however, to 'distress a
Corpotstion which is only possessed of 'its maces
and halberts, by ordering a new case to he prepir.
ed...l3efore we can say the Corporation arc 'occur
piers, we roust see that no others are entitled to`thar
thstinCtion.. The case only says, that the Corppra.
tion dues not pt mit any persons but turgesSis to
enjoy the tight, We ought to. have the'right stated
by the Sessions."..

• . THOMAS woon.
Mr. GIBBS Moved for H Quo Warrant°, to Stew
by what title this person olaimell to bd.,' Burgcsii of
Carmarthen. The title to the Freedom was con-
ferred by possession -of. a Freehold of +I. a year.
Mr.' Wood was one of three Cletks to. an Attor-
ney. in that Town ; and he had contrived to snake
them all Freemen, for some purposes not necessary
at that rime to explain.
Tie same Rule was granted On the Motion of
Mr. Mt Lisr, for a gllO IFarremio.ipinsit J.
whu stood in the same situation.