Star.
London, England, 1803-12-23 00:00:00

Liar iiV7-111.1.161,._Nt;t.

and Mils Margaret was 16. Dr. Michael Manama-
ra, who was one of the Executors of Mr. Pnrcell's
toak upon himfelf the Guardianfhip of t..efe
•sk,, young Ladies and Orphans.—lt ‘N a. from that
fircirmaance the Plaintiff atid her filter Margaret
11-c.fme acquainted with John Macnamara, 1.1(q. toe
Dat..miant, who was then living in Lincoln's Inn, as
A 11,ident in the law, and who was alter %aid. called
to the bar. It was very natural he flrould hecome
acquainted with there young Ladies, who were taken
into the honk of Dr. M. Macnamara, the Dcflndant's
uncle, and brought up as his daughters. Mr. Mac-
uamara very foun became extremely intimate with
there young Ladies. He could not lime at what
rime, but in a very few years after the death of their
father, Mr. Macnamara was confulted on all occa-
fions of the !call importance, and on all pecuniary
tranfaetions ; and, in a Chart time, he came to have
a complete dominion over them, and over the ma-
nagement of their property. Mr. John Purcell, the
fon, who was taken to the illand of Tortola by his
father, loon after his father's death married a lady
in that neighbourhood. This was an imprudent
marriage. Difputes arofc between them, and he
came over to England in Antra 1773, and came of
age in the December of thatirear ; his wife loon
followed hint ; and, in '774, in confequenee of far.
ther diragreements between them, they feparated,
and never lived together afterwards ; fhe went into
a French convent. Mr. Purcell, when he calm to
England, repofed the fame unlimited confidence in
Mr Macnamara that his lifters did. Mr. Macna-
mara having engaged in the profeflion of the law,
Mr. Purcell jufily thought he might repofe great
confidence in him ; and he, as well as his two lifters,
did, in fag, repofe the molt unlimited confidence in
him. John Purcell was a man of very weak under-
(landing, and might be very eafily impeded upon;
and the two young Ladies were perfons of no judg-
ment as to the management of bufinefs; that was
clear from the letters of Mr. Macnamara himfelf to
one of his agents, in which he calls then:l./illy and
footy/h. They repofed in him the moll implicit con-
fidence, and there was no other perfon in whom they
could repofe any confidence. Mr. Macnamara laid,
they were in filch a fituation, that they had not a
friend or relation in this country who would have al
fined them, or advance them a fingle guinea for
their fupport, and that he was the only perfon on
whom they could depend. Thefe young Ladies, for
two or three years after their, father's death, only
(pent 3001. a year; but after that, when Mr. Mac-
namara came to have the management of their pe.
cuniary affairs, they expended t,sool. a year. Here
the learned Coated sated a number of Deeds, which
were executed by the family of Purcell, in favour of
Mr. Macnamara. The firft of thefe was dated on
the 31ft of December, :776; the cext on the t ith
and lath of September, 17flo; the next in 1783.4,
and the laft in :786. The effeet of thefe Deeds was
to convey the whole of thefe elates, in fee-fimple, to
Mr. Macnamara, for money that was Paid by Mr.
Macnamara to have Seen advanced to thefe two La-
dies and their btother, to the amount of Bo,oeol.
and upwards. All thefe deeds were fought to be let
afide by this WI. The Learned Counfel conceived
there were two queftions in this caufc-18. Whether
the abrolute conveyance that had been made to the
Defendant, Mr. Macnamara, could be fupported in
that Court f And the other was with refped to the

COURT OF Cti.lNC.F.':, L;EC 19.

it. 9'. 9.1:1.11%.9$ Fso,
Tills Cato:: (and to ii!t: l.rc ss tads tit the LORI'
C:4ANC 12101:: impurtailt one 11;:vet
brought into that C•t;a:j iic...upieci t;t.: atttit,toa of
ttis Lta-diltip and or t:te Le.truest Cttalt.ei, at the
Learing, upwards of a week, the lail day of which
as July 11, tEct. It was conduaed with great
abilities by Mr. kt•sttty and Mr. Haar for the
Plaintiff, and by Mr. Sdricirox Gisvitat, Mr.
.MaNsvist.n, and Mr. PEN sERro%, I,r the defendant.
The Plaintiff was Mils Frans is Po cell, who, if the
deeds in qttettion had not been executed, .vould have
been entitled to a moiey of the real effate, which
was the fubjeet of tittle deeds.
Tin tit Il Defend mt was John Macnamara, Eirq.
in whore favour the deeds in quellion in this pule
wcre executed. The other Defendants were Mils
l‘larlarct Purcell, tiller to the Plaintiff, and who
tuld be entitled to the other moiety of that etlate
if the decJs in quetlion had not been executed, but
who was cerlealy fati,fied with the execution of the
deeds, and did not with to overturn them—Colin
Baillie, George 'Lillie, John Turing, Robert Lang,
Nathaniel Snell, and Erich Lord Keay, who were
the reprefentatives of Mr. James Baillie, who was
mortgagee of that effete. The Player of the Bill
was, that the Defendant, Mr. Macnamara, might be
decreed to come to an account with the Plaintiff,
Mill Purcell, touching all money dealings and tranf-
adions between them, and touching all matters and
concerns wherein he afted as trutlee or agent, un-
der any Deed or Inirument executed by the laid
Plaintiff, and that Inch balance as fhould appear
to be due to the laid Plaintiff, might be paid to her.
And in cafe it fhould appear that the Plaintiff had
executed any Deeds, purporting to be an abfolute
conveyance of her right and interett in the raid plan-
tations and effates, to the Paid Defendant, then that
the fame might be declared to have been unduly ob-
tained from her, and might be decreed to be deli•
vered up to be cancelled :---and that fuch deeds and
infiruments as the Plaintff fhould appear to have
executed for fecuring the payment of any fums of
money to the Defendant, might be declared to be
fecurities for fuch fums only as were really and
&waft& due from the Paid Plaintiff to the Defendant;
and that an account might be taken of fuch fums of
money, fo due ; and that the Paid Defendant might
account for, and pay to the Paid Plaintiff, one moiety
of all the rents, illues, and profits of the Paid plan-
tations and eflates, accrued due fence the deceafe of
John Purcell, the laid Piaintiff's brother ;—.and that
the laid Plaintiff might be let into poffeffion of one
moiety of the plantations and effaces. And in cafe
it fhould appear that the laid Defendants Collin
Baillie, G•:orge Baillie, John Turing, Robeit Lang,
Nathaniel Snell, Erich Lord Reay, or either of them,
had any charge or incumbrance on the Paid caste,
derived from or through the laid Defendant, John
Macnamara, then that hc might be decreed to cm-
nerate the Plaintiff's moiety of the laid elate from
fuch charge or incumbrance, and in the mean time
that a receiver and confignee of the faid dates might
be appointed under the order of this Court, with the
anal diretlions.

This was the Prayer of the Bill, anctMr. Roesteer
obferved, that this was a Bill which fought to ea-
cite the deeds, which htd been obtained by Mr.
Macnamara from the Plaintiff, by an abate of the
confidence the had repofed in him. The fees of ibis
cafe were very numerous, Tome of them were very
complicated, and very difficult to be explained $ and
inlaying a cafe of this defwiption before the Court,
it teemed impoffible not to Rate things extremely
to the difadvantage of Mr. Macnamara. He ought
always to bear in mind, (and be would do jußace to
Mr. Macnamara} though he was yet unacquainted
with his defence, notwithßanding he had Peen his
anfwer, though he was not fully aware of the merits
of his defence, he did net 'fay an anfwer might not
be given to the Plaintiff's cafe. By the tenor of Mr.
Meenamara's anfwer, he bad a full defence to the
Plaintiff's cafe. Mr. Macnamara had difdained to
juflify himfelf. He claimed commendation for his
condo& towards the Purcell family. Mr. Macna-
mara contended, that the tranfaftions which the
learned Connie' reprobated, as being founded in
fraud, were, in truth, tranf.ftions for which he was
entitled to the thanks of the Plaintiff, and to the ad-
miration anti applaufe of the tell of mankind. He
sated himfelf as the great benefa&or of the Plain-
tiff and of her family. He laid, in his anfwer, that
all he had done proceeded from an ertenlive bene-
volence • that it arofe from mifapplied friend(hip
and milaken humanity, and for which he was con-
icions he was entitled to the thanks and gratitude of
the Plaintiff.

validity of the fccurities given by this. Lady the
Plaintiff, en behalf of her brother. It might be
Paid, velemti nee ft injaris, but he contended the Plain-
tiff was toile liable for no debts but her owe. He
apprehended it was very clear none of thefe convey-
ances could Rand in a Court of Equity. Mr. Mac-
namara had every where in his anfwer fupported the
firft conveyance, on the ground of its being a return
or compenfation for the greaten fervices it was poffi-
ble for one individual to render to another. He (poke
every where of the mod important fervices, and of
the gratitude due to him (rem Mifs Purcell; but al-
though there were allegations without number, he
could not find the fmalleft degree of proof on the
fubjeft ; and the pet fon who had drawn the anfwer
teemed to have conceived that a great number of al-
legations amounted to a proof, utherwife one could
not very well account for his repeating fo often the
fame thing. If Poch important fervices had been
rendered by Mr. Macnamara to the Purcell family,
and if fuch debt pf gratitude had been dut, he fhould
have thought he could not have had much difficulty
in proving at lead one of them. Was there any
kind of evidence that he had rendered them any ter-
vice whatever? None. And was there not a mill
management, on his part, of their affairs, in (offer.
ing them to do aas that were fo rafts, fo ill advifed,
fo loath, and to extravagant, on the part of thefe
young women ? That he who flood in the place of
the only friend and relation they had in this country,
was bound to have prevented them from doing (itch
acts. He was bound to think Mr. Macnamara would

The fags of the eat were fhurtly there. —John
Purcell, Efq. the father of the Plaintiff, who died in
7'7 1, had been the Governor of the !nand of Tor-
tola, and was poll-did of a very conflderable estate in
that illand. He was Cole Proprietor of it
and cif a (mall Wand called Norman Nand. The
.I.easned Coonfel laid, he was not c tpable of flatu.:;
what was the amount of the annual rasc,..rs2 of th,
edam. (In the courfe of the canf:, it tv-ts fail to
be worth 400 cl. a yea!). The number of uegruci
employed on it was not Ids than 320. It was in a
mod &ruining hate at the time of Mr. Purcell's
death ; there was thin no incumbrance on it ;
Mr. Tresanion, who was then the conGgnee of
tact in Loudon, was debtor to Mr. Purcell at his
.!-ith, in the firm of t zonal. for wilie:r he had 7ive.l
his Lnild. :Ind likcwir: r.n the balance of ;to
• lated account between three an I lila th,e!land r 2,
to that at :•:r. P.ir:ll's death, hi; 1:01 J..Ln P:l7 'en
polkaed .'f f:,leen or lateen ,ez
clitfive of elms^n tho,ll.4nal pounds that was
person of tl,e name M. she in tad ne 'I or-
Lola. Mr. Purcell's IA tni!y cum:tied cf t!-.ree
dren, of Jo:in Purcell, Frances Purcell the Plain.
and of :.!argaret Puree:, of the Defen-
dant,. ?Ir. Purcell, roma time lief : is d.y.th,

be able to prove Come very important allegations.—
He would be able to Rate how every part of that im-
more debt had been contradted by the Purcell family
to him. Mr. Rommel, faid, he was unable to (tate
even a eonjeaure how it had been contralted. He
had no doubt but that there would be full and cora-
-1 plete tati,lastion on the lubjeft, becaufe Mr. Marna-
' man, in his anfwer, fays, he had ho doubt but he
fhould be ab!.: to thew, by the moll politive evidence,
:hat th.t: fun) was then due to himfrom the Plaintiff,
brother, and filter. The Learned Counfel faid,
ac looked with great anxiety for the accomplilliment
f I t?' promile on oath. As to the other queftion
th:, tefrtaing the fecerities given by this
.1.34 :)eluir of her brother, though the might
6.•und bran adt fn very extravagant and
; • ..h. it was qu.,e impteltble the fhould be bound
t that l er:on :teling as her Trultee,
•... to let 1.1 fee the amount of the
obli-
,.:•'•. .; it LL...wd bud her afterward'. He
;,. . Ler fee r holt had been done for the
time ..(,, ni.d to 1r:: hr: ft.,: what fhe was doing for
'Hs. L t;...: might- he aware how large
,:e!A had c rt that time, and .wlte•
the. rr r •• . .1 I.l.t.fge every thing the had
• • , , , pas !bat debt, but future

went in the ifland of Tortola, leaving hehind him ; of which there was to
List wod.stightctsin JArnes's PlAcc. All his chilsfre:, Ihe r.•) dit,:retion ni Mr. Purcell and
the time of his skirl', wete sari .ts. Mr. . !, i', that Mils Purcell
Lyik his P.:, with him to Testis'., .4114 r , I ry.,:v be thc dcht %%Lich Ille•beefelf
will was totoisi, :'7•06.1g his ci!A:r, tn (~tl, and 11 ..t a, y dtla of her brother's.
.I:nes with the payin:ot of 7ocA. to c.ich of /.i$ '-h, the '... el/41 at 1795, cutting off
oqlisees. r.‘n tt:...n of the age rf t.;•_; :e fAcruthes for Mtn,
PY: i'LLIIIII4I, c: :Lie lEc Of 121 •• • •ob 114: ALi :7 ••• t. 41, And