Vice Chancellor's Court, ...
The Times, 1824-12-09T00:00:00

Ilhe bOLICXTOrt.GEWERAL suttqd that this cause came on bdbre his Honour for further directions on the AMaster's report. The fact. of the case, as tlieY oppetle from the speeches ofl Counsel, we*e as follows :-The corpeoraton of Winchester hnld been for a long period in the possession of certain estates, the 'proceeds of whill they applied in various ways, as they saw fit. Some portions of the money arising from these estates were dir- tributea for charitable purposes. It being, however, believed by some persons who were interested for the citv of Winchester, that these monies were- disposed of by the corporation in an Improper nnanner, an inquiry wns set on foot, for the purpose of ascertaining from what sources they proceeded and upon what trusts they hod o-iginally been vested in the hands of the corporation. This inquiry eot being satisfacteril7 answered, two suits were commenced in Chancery. One ot these was brought by the Attorney-General's iniormation at the relation ofan indlviduail, ait,sought a discovery from the corporation of the prory theyd recelved In trust for the maintenance of the Bos- pita of St. John; in the city of Winchester, and under the will of one RBit. La-mb b The second information was also at the relation fcut inVirndual, ;zd olemauded a general discovery of 'all the chari- table trus toperty li the hands of the corporation, and the pur- poses to - uWclz the 13roceeds were applied. These two sUitS had since been consslidated. The answer of the defendants admit- ted that there had-been a cbaritable Institution in the city of W'in. chettr called the Uoapital of St. John, but that it had been dissolved in the reign of Henry VIIL., since which they lhad no traces of its existence They -anmitted that, by the will of one Rnlph Lanib, in the year 1558, certain tenements had been devised to the corporation, of which they believed they had come into possession, and that these landg were charged with a trust to pav 20ts. a year to three persons, therein named, and after their deceases the remainder to bi applied to re- p.ir and maintain the church ef St. Clement's. They stated, how- ever, that no such church was now in exlstence, and that they had no means of identifying the lands devised, or of distinguishing them fiom the other lands they held. The answers disclosedi moreover that there were 28 charitable donations of various descriptions vested in the corporation, the proceeds of which were distributed in the man- ,ner adopted by the predecessors of the corporation; and the present denied that they possessed any inforniation, or the mneans of acouir- ing any such lnfor3ation, as to tlie truts upon which the donations were originally confided to them. There were, bowever, two parti- cular donain, respecting which it was argued by the counsel for the relators omne more explicit answer shouldbe given. One of these was under the will of aMr. Aehton, dated in 1661. At this period, the corporation distributed a rum of 6s. 8d. quarterly to each of 1l -poor peraons, end this was called "Ashton's Nobles," It was thereore clear that some fund mrtit exist for the paym'ent of this eurn, and on that fund the Court, it was hoped, would now charge such a trust at it should think right. Another dlonation was under the will of a Ir. Sirnaons, respecting which the defendants' answer alleged that they could give noexplanation, the will having been lost. Thecommissioners appointed by Parliament to inquire into charitable i,nstitutionshed,howeyer,thoughtfitto visitWinchestersince the filing the answer, and thew had been able to hunt up thelost will,by which it appeared that Simmons devised the whole of his real estate to the corporation for charitable purposes. A petition had been filed in the nature of a supplement to the original information, and brought these facto before the Court. The report of the Alaster had verified the facts now stated, but did not point out either what particular estates in the poss-ssion of the corporation of Winchester were charged with the satisfaction of charitable uses, nor what were those ise%, because the corporation, who alone could give that inforina- tion, professed to be unable to furnish it. It was, therefore, now prayed, that the Court would refer the matter back to the IMaster, with such further directions ag should enable him to pursue satis. factorily the Inquiry to which the relators were entitled. M1r. HosnE and Alr. Txxl4rEy were heard; on the sane side. The VICE-CISA-CELLOn, upon rising, directed that this caso should be resumed on Friday (to-morrow being the seal.day); but -ie tcaa he did pot at present see how any fartiter inquiry coulid be tnade in the hope of ltsprocuring an aAditlonalelucidation of thesub- jece The answer of the corporation was, that they had foUowed the footsteps of theiryredecesaors, and that they possessed no meang of satisfying the inquirics of the relators, whodid not imputeanymis. conduct to them, orany wilful misapplication of the trust monies. VICE CRAWNfRPT,T.ArI' (!lTTW''U - - V- R 1THE ATTORNEY.GENE-LX V. Tni CORI-ORATION OF WINf- _ CHERTERlc .