conveyed to them by the said Henry Fisher, by any name or names whatsoever, other than such Hereditaments as were conveyed or intended to be conveyed to or for the School; and that the Governors of the Possessions, Revenues and Goods of the School should hold and enjoy, for ever, all such Hereditaments as were conveyed or intended to be conveyed or assured to them, by any of the Letters Patent, Conveyances, or Act of Parliament before mentioned, by any name or names whatsoever, to or for the School. The Information and Bill further stated that, some time before the year 1678, the Skinners' Company having omitted to place, in the College, a Scholar elected from the School, the Principal and Scholars made application to the Company relative thereto, whereupon an Agreement was entered into, between them, under their Common Seals, that the Company, in consideration of the Arrears, should yearly pay, to the Scholar, the sum of 17. 17 s. 4 d., to the Tutor of such Scholar, the sum of 9 s. 4 d., and to the Principal and Scholars, in addition to the Sums formerly given to them as aforesaid, the Sum of 1 l. 3 s. 4 d.; and the Principal and Scholars, in consideration of the Premises, for ever discharged the Company from all demands touching the Arrears: That, from Midsummer 1708 till August 1724, the Company having again omitted to place a Scholar at the College, the Principal and Scholars again applied to them in relation thereto; whereupon an Agreement, dated 17th February 1730, was made between them, under their Common Seals, by which it was agreed that the Company should retain, for their own use, the arrears then remain 1833. ATTORNEY GENFRAL บ. SKINNERS' COMPANY. ing unpaid to the Scholar and Tutor, and should, in lieu thereof, pay Interest for the same, at Three per Cent., for augmentation of the Payments to the Scholar and Tutor; and, in consideration thereof, the Principal and Scholars for ever acquitted the Company from all Demands touching the Arrears; and in 1762 and 1803 similar Agreements were made between the same Parties, whereby the Payments to the Scholar, Tutor and College respectively, became 17 l. 9s. 6 d., 4l. 6s. 6d. and 2 l. 16s. 8d. The Information and Bill further stated that, in December 1829, the Plaintiff was elected from the School and placed at the College: That the Rents of the Hereditaments then vested in the Skinners' Company, as such Governors and Trustees as aforesaid, under Fisher's Deed of Gift, had very much increased, but, notwithstanding, the Company refused to increase the Plaintiff's Exhibition or the other Annual Payments directed to be made by them, and, notwithstanding the general Purposes of Charity, for the better Sustentation of the Free Grammar School and of the Scholar to be elected from thence to the University of Oxford, which Fisher impressed on the Gift, had applied the whole Rents beyond the several yearly Payments aforesaid, to their own private purposes: That the Company alleged that, Fisher having limited the Amount of the Annual Payments to be made out of the Rents of the Hereditaments given by him, those Hereditaments were vested in them, subject only to such Annual Payments. But the Plaintiff charged that Fisher's object was to benefit the Scholars of the School, and that the Company, as Governors of the School, should apply the Rents upon the particular Trusts mentioned in the Schedule, and, generally, for the good of the School and the Scholar elected to Oxford. The Information and Bill prayed that it might be declared that the Hereditaments comprised in the Deed of Gift, were vested in the Company, and were held by them for Charitable Purposes only, and not for their own Use and Benefit; that the Rents ought to be applied in and towards the Sustentation, Exhibition and Finding of the Plaintiff, whilst he should continue to be a Student of Brazen-nose College, and of the future Students there to be elected from the School, and for the other Purposes of Trust mentioned in the Schedule, and for the better Sustentation of the School; and that an Account might be taken of the Rents of the Hereditaments of the Gift of Henry Fisher, received by the Company, and that they might be declared to be answerable for the Misapplication thereof; and that it might be declared that the Payments to the Plaintiff, his Tutor and the College, ought to be increased, and that it might be referred to the Master to settle the Amount of such Increase, and to inquire into all the Charitable Purposes to which the Rents were applicable, and to settle a Plan for the future Application thereof. The Skinners' Company, in their Answer, admitted that the Rents of the Hereditaments comprised in the Deed of Gift, had, from 1823, amounted to 149 l. 4s.: and they set forth an Extract from an old Book in their possession, (which they proved) containing an Account of their Receipts and Payments in respect of their Estates, and from which it appeared that, in the year 1563, which was in Fisher's lifetime, and the first year VOL. V. T T 1833. ATTORNEY GENERAL v. SKINNERS' COMPANY. 1833. ATTORNEY- v. SKINNERS' of their possession of the Hereditaments comprised in his Deed of Gift, the Rents of those Hereditaments amounted to 10l. 13s. 4d.; and they said that the Surplus of the Rents of those Hereditaments, after making the Payments which they were directed to make thereout, were, in Fisher's Lifetime, retained by the Company, and applied by them, for the benefit of the Company, and, as they believed, with Fisher's knowledge and consent, he being a Member of the Company; and that all the Surplus Rents, from the time of making the Deed of Gift in Fisher's Lifetime, down to the present time, after making the Payments specified in the Schedule, had been applied by the Company for their general Purposes, and for the Relief of the poor and decayed Members thereof, which they submitted was according to the Intent of the Deed of Gift: and they submitted that there were no general purposes of Charity intended, by Fisher, for the better Sustentation of the School and of the Scholar to be elected from thence, other than the specific Payments limited by the Deed, which alone Fisher impressed upon his Gift, and that it was evident that Fisher intended that the Surplus Rents should belong to the Company as well for their Benefit generally as for the poor and decayed Members thereof, because, in his lifetime, there was a considerable Surplus of the Rents after making the Payments specified by the Deed, which was retained, by the Company, with his knowledge and consent. The Attorney-general (Sir W. Horne) and Mr. Randell in support of the Information and Bill: At the time when the Letters Patent were granted, the Skinners' Company were an existing Corporation, and were capable of acquiring Lands for their own be nefit. If Sir A. Judd and Fisher had intended that the Company should take a beneficial interest in their Property, they would not have obtained Letters Patent for the purpose of erecting the Company into a new Body. The object of the Donors was to establish a School at Tonbridge; and, as Judd, during his Lifetime, was to be called Governor of the Possessions, Revenues and Goods of the School, so, after his Death, the Company were to be newly incorporated, and called Governors of the Possessions, Revenues and Goods of the School. The new Body, therefore, could not be intended to take Lands, except for the benefit of the School, and, accordingly, the Letters Patent authorize them to take Lands in support of the School only. Fisher, by his Deed of Gift, conveyed his Property to the Company, not as the Skinners' Company, but as the Governors of the Possessions, Revenues and Goods of the School, for the better Sustentation of the School, and of one Student in the University of Oxford. Having provided for the School, in the body of the Deed, as being his primary object, he points out, in the Schedule, the other purposes which are to be performed with the Rents, Profits and Revenues of his Property. The Schedule does not alter the Deed, except so far as it devotes some of the Rents to the purposes specified in it. One of those purposes was to provide a Preacher, who was to exhort the Company to be favourable and beneficial maintainers of the School. It is clear then that Fisher intended that the whole of the Rents, except so much as were subtracted by the Schedule, should be applied according to the Deed. No intention to benefit the Skinners' Company, appears in any part of the Deed or of the Schedule. 1833. ATTORNEY GENERAL V. SKINNERS' COMPANY. |