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Church Property Trust Ordinance 1854

3. The Church Property Trust Ordinance 1854.

A Bill for Establishing a Trust for the Management of Property held for Ecclesiastical and Educational purposes by the Canterbury Association, and for other purposes.

Whereas by Letters Patent, under the Great Seal, bearing date the thirteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fortynine, certain persons therein named were constituted a Body Corporate, with perpetual succession and a common seal, by the name of the Canterbury Association, for founding a Settlement in New Zealand; and by such Letters Patent the said Association were made able and capable in Law to purchase, receive, possess and enjoy, to them and their Successors, any goods and chattels whatsoever

and wheresover, and any messuages, lands, tenements, or hereditaments in New Zealand and its dependencies, and also to sell, alienate, mortgage, charge, or otherwise dispose of such property as they should think proper, and also to act in all the concerns of the said Body Corporate for the purposes and objects mentioned in the said Letters Patent as fully and effectually, to all intents and

purposes whatsoever, as any other of her Majesty's subjects could or might do in their rpective concerns; and the purposes and objects of the said Association were in such Letters Patent declared to be (amongst other things) for the Establishment and Maintenance of Ecclesiastical and Educational Institutions in the Settlement so to be founded as aforesaid in connection with the Church of England as by Law established: And Whereas, in pursuance of the said Letters Patent, the said Association founded a Settlement in New Zealand, called the Canterbury Settlement, within the Province of Canterbury: And Whereas, under and by virtue of the said Letters Patent, and of an Act of Parliament made and passed in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth years of the reign of her present Majesty, entituled " An Act empowering the Canterbury Association to Dispose of certain Lands in New Zealand," and of a certain other Act of Parliament made and passed in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth years of the reign of her said

Majesty, entituled " An Act to Alter and Amend an Act Empowering the Canterbury Association to Dispose of rtain Lands in New Zealand," and under and by virtue of divers acts deeds and things made done and executed in pursuance of the said Letters Patent and Acts of Parliament, the said Association, or some person or persons in trust for them, has or have become possessed of or entitled to divers goods, chattels, and personal estate, and divers messuages, buildings, lands, tenements, hereditaments, and real estate, for the Ecclesiastical and Educational purposes mentioned in the said Letters Patent: And Whereas the said Association are desirous that Trustees should be appointed within the said Settlement for the management of the said real and personal property, and that such property should be transferred to and vested in such Trustees accordingly for the Ecclesiastical and Educational purposes mentioned in the said Letters Patent in the manner hereinafter mentioned: And it is expedient that such property should be so transferred and vested accordingly, but such objects cannot be effected without the aid of somecmpetent Legislative authority:

Be it therefore enacted, by the Superintendent of the Province of Canterbury, with the advice and consent of the Provincial Council thereof, as follows:

1. Interpretation Clause.

In interpreting this Ordinance the term " Bishop " shall be held to mean the Bishop of the Church of England for the time being of the Diocese in which the Canterbury Settlement may be from time to time included; the term " Incumbent " shall be held to mean the principal Clergyman for the time being officiating under the Iicense of the said Bishop, at or in the principal church, chapel, or place used for Divine Worship within any parish to be created under this Ordinance; the term "Parish" shall be held to mean a district formed under the authority of this Ordinance for Ecclesiastical and Educational purposes; the term "Trustees" shall be held to mean the Body of Trustees intended to be constituted by this Ordinance; the term "Canterbury Settlement " shall be held to include the territory or block of land set apart for the purposes of the said Canterbury Association under the authority of the said referred to Act of Parliament of the Thirteenth and

Fourteenth years of her present Majesty, and set forth an decribed in the Schedule to the said Act, together with all lands comprised within the limits of such block; the term "Church" shall mean the branch of the Reformed Catholic Church, planted in the said Settlement in communion with the Church of England as by Law established; the term " Member of the Church" shall mean and include any person who shall have received the Holy Communion, according to the rites of the Church, at least three times in the preceding year.

2. Constitution of Trustees.

The Bishop, together with all the Clergy of the Church officiating within the said Settlement, under the License of the Bishop, together with Wilfred Charles Barker, William Guise Brittan, William Donald, James Edward FitzGerald, William John Warburton Hamilton, John Hall, Charles Edward Prichard, Charles Simeon, Henry John Tancred, Sir Thomas Tancred, Baronet, Conway Lucas Rose, Belfield Woollcombe, and all such other persons as shall be hereafter elected or appointed Trustees under the provisions of this Ordinance, and their Successors, shall be, and they are hereby constituted a Body Politic and Corporate by the name of the " Church Property Trustees," and by that name they shall have perpetual succession and a common seal, with full power and authority to alter, vary, break, and renew the same at their discretion, and by the same name and style to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered, defend and be defended in all Courts of Law and Equity whatsoever, and to be

for ever able inth Law to purchase, receive, possess, and enjoy, to them and

their Successors, any goods and chattels whatsoever and wheresoever, and any messuages, lands, tenements and hereditaments in the Province of Canterbury; and also to lease, let, sell, alienate, mortgage, charge, or otherwise dispose of such property, as well real as personal, as they shall think proper; and also to act in the concerns of the said Body Politic and Corporate as effectually as any person or persons might or could do in his or their respective concerns for the purpose and object of Establishing and Maintaining Ecclesiastical and Educational Institutions within the Province of Canterbury in connection with the Church. And the said Wilfred Charles Barker, William Guise Brittan, William Donald, James Edward FitzGerald, William John Warburton Hamilton, John Hall, Charles Edward Prichard, Charles Simeon, Henry John Tancred, Sir Thomas Tancred, Baronet, Conway Lucas Rose, and Belfield Woollcombe, shall hold Office until the election of the irs Trustees under the provisions of this Ordinance; from and after which time they shall cease to be Trustees, but shall, notwithstanding, be eligible to be elected or nominated as Trustees under the provisions hereinafter contained. Provided always, that if any Trustee shall become bankrupt or insolvent, or shall become insane, or shall be convicted of any infamous offence, or shall leave and cease to reside in the said Province of Canterbury, he shall cease to be a Trustee for the purposes of this Ordinance.

No Trustee acting in any matter under the provisions of this Ordinance shall be answerable for any other than his own acts, deeds, receipts, neglects, or defaults. Any Trustee herein named, a.nd any Trustee elected or nominated under the provisions of this Ordinance, may, by writing, addressed to the Bishop,

and left at the office or place of business of the Trustees, or some place appointed for this purpose, resign his Office of Trustee, and shall thereupon cease to be a Trustee.

3. General and Special Meetings of Trustees.

An Ordinary General Meeting of the Trustees shall be held at least once in every year, and one such Ordinary General Meeting shall be held on the First day of March in each year (unless such day shall fall on a Sunday, in which case it shall be held on the Monday following), and a Special General Meeting may be called at any time by the Bishop, or by any three Trustees, by a public advertisement of the same in a public Newspaper, published in the said Settlement, three times at the least; the first of such times being fourteen days, at the least, before the day of Meeting; and any Meeting of the Trustees may be continued by adjournment; and no act or proceeding, Bylaw, Resolution, or Regulation, shall be of any force or effect unless the same shall be made, done, or passed at some Meeting duly held under the provisions of this Ordinance, at which not less than five Trustees shall have been present; and all questions at such Meeting shall be determined by a majority of votes of the persons present and voting hereat.

4. Chairman of Meetings.

The Bishop, if present, shall be the Chairman of every such meeting, and in his absence a Chairman shall be elected from amongst those present: Provided that it shall be competent to the Trustees to elect some person to be perpetual Chairman of such meetings in the absence of he Bishop; and the Chairman of every meeting shall have an original and also a casting vote thereat.

5. Bishop to have a veto on all acts of Trustees.

The Bishop shall have the power of disallowing any act or proceeding of the Trustees, or any Commitee thereof, of what kind soever, at any ime within six calendar monhs after the adoption or passing of the same. The power of disallowance hereinbefore reserved to the Bishop shall not extend to authorize him o annul or disallow any Contract or Agreement, or any Sale, Mortgage, Lease, or other disposition of any part of the said property and esates which shall be acually enered into, made, completed, and executed.

6. Powers and functions of Trustees.

The Trustees may frame and establish such Bylaws, Rules, Orders, Regulations and Resolutions as may be expedient for the Government of the said Body Politic and Corporate, and the management of the goods, moneys, estates, and business thereof, and for determining the time, place, and mode of election and appointment of Trustees under the provisions of this Ordinance, and for ascertaining the persons qualified to vote at such elections, and for regulating the proceedings of Parochial Meetings to be held under the provisions of this Ordinance, and for regulating the increase of the number of Trustees, and for making proper returns of the persons nominated or elected to be Trustees, and

for the publication of all acts and proceedings under this Ordinance, and for

appointing a Standing or Managing Committee and regulating the proceedings thereof, and for dividing the said Settlement into districts agreeably to the provisions of this Ordinance, and for regulating the times and places of Meetings of the Trustees,an of the Standing, Managing, or any other Committee thereof, and for settling the appointment of Agents, Officers, Clerks, and Servants, and generally for the management and carrying on of all and singular the affairs and business of the Trustees; and the Trustees may from time to time alter, vary, or revoke such Bylaws, Orders, Rules, Regulations or Resolutions, or any of them, and may make others in their stead: Provided that any such Bylaw, Rule, Order, Regulation, or Resolution which shall be repugnant to the provisions of this Ordinance, or to the Laws or Ordinances of the Colony of New Zealand, or of the Province of Canterbury, or to any Canon or Ecclesiastical Law or Regulation now in force, or which may at any time be in force within the said Settlement under

the authority of any proper Ecclesiastical Synod or other competent jurisdiction of the Church shall be, and the same is hereby declared to be absolutely null and void. The Trustees and every Managing Committee thereof shall, in all their acts nd roceedings, By-Laws, Regulations, and Resolutions, conform to and obey all Canons and Ecclesiastical Laws and Regulations now or at any time in force within the said Settlement, touching or relating to the administration of the property vested in them for the purposes aforesaid.

7. Committee of Management.

There shall be a Committee of Management chosen by and out of the Trustees, of which Committee the Bishop shall be Chairman when present, and such Committee shall be appointed according to Bylaws to be made in that behalf, and shall have the management and administration of the property, as well real as personal, of the Trustees, and the execution of the powers and authorities

thereof, and generally the direction and conduct of all the affairs and concerns thereof, and (subject to the provisions of this Ordinance, and of any Bylaw for the time being in force) may do all such acts, deeds, matters and things as may appear to them necessary for carrying into effect the purposes and objects of the Trustees.

8. Books, Minutes, and Accounts.

The Trustees shall keep proper books for containing Minutes and particulars of their proceedings, and full and true Accounts of their receipts and expenditure. And all such Books and Accounts, together with all Vouchers and other Documents relating to the same, shall be open to inspection by any Member of the Church resident within the said Settlement, at such reasonable times and places, and in such manner as shall be filed by the Trustees, and Minutes of Proceedings so kept and signed by the Chairman shall be sufficient evidence of such proceedings, and such Accounts of Receipts and Expenditure shall be Audited, at least once in the year, by some person to be appointed by the Bishop, and shall be laid before the Ordinary General Meeting, to be held every

year as hereinbefore provided, and shall be published, as the Trustees shall from time to time direct, in a public Newspaper of the said Settlement.

9. Trustees may make Parishes.

The Trustees shall, from time to time, constitute and define certain districts within the said Settlement for the purposes of this Ordinance, and may alter the limits of every such district, and may make new and fresh districts, and every such district shall, for the purposes of this Ordinance, be deemed a parish, provided that no alteration of the limits of any existing parish shall be made without the consent of the Bishop.

10. Parochial Meetings for the Election of Trustees.

The Members of the Church residing within every such parish shall, once in each year, by a majority of votes, to be ascertained as hereinafter mentioned, elect a Lay person, being a Member of the Church, to be a Trustee for the purposes of this Ordinance, and at such election every male person of the age of twentyone years, being a Member of the Church, shall be entitled to vote, and the

Incumbent of every such parish shall likewise, once in every year, nominate another lay person, being a Member of the Church, to be a Trustee for the purposes of this Ordinance, and the manner in which the majority of such votes shall be ascertained, and the time, place, and mode of such election and nomination respectively, shall be determined by the said Trustees, by By-laws, to be made in manner hereinbefore provided; and the Trustees so elected and nominated shall continue to hold Office until the next annual election and nomination. Provided, that if it shall at any time appear to the Trustees desirable to increase he nuber of Trustees in and for any parish, it shall be lawful for them to increase the number of such Trustees accordingly, and by any Bylaw to declare and ordain that such additional number of Trustees shall be elected and nominated as they shall think fit in and for such parish; but so, nevertheless, that in every parish the Incumbent shall at all times have the right of nominating a number of Trustees equal to the number of elected Trustees.

11. Canterbury Association may convey property to Trustees, and receiver re-leases from them.

It shall be lawful for the said Canterbury Association, and for any other person or persons holding in trust for them, or his or their Agent or Agents, duly authorized in that behalf, to convey and assign to the said Trustees and their Successors, in trust for Ecclesiastical and Educational purposes within the said Settlement, all or any part of the real or personal property applicable to Ecclesiastical or Educational purposes vested in the Association, or in any other person or

persons in trust for them for Ecclesiastical or Educational purposes, subject to any terms or conditions which may be agreed on between the Trustees and the said Association, or their Agent or Agents on their behalf, and such other person or persons in trust for them; and it shall be lawful for the Trustees to execute and give to the said Association such Re-leases or Indemnities as may be agreed on between the said Trustees and the said Association and such Agent or Agents as aforesaid, and such Releases or Indemnities shall be ffectal to an intents and purposes.

12. Application of Trust Property may be extended to the whole Province. It shall be lawful for the Trustees at any Meeting, of which four weeks' previous notice, specifying the object thereof, shall be given by Advertisement, published for four successive weeks in some Newspaper within the said Province, and at which Meeting twelve Trustees at least shall be present, by the votes of not less than twothirds of the Trustees present at such Meeting, to ordain a Bylaw for extending to any part of the Province of Canterbury, beyond the limits of the said Canterbury Settlement, the application and benefit of the whole or any part of the property and funds which may, under the provisions of this Ordinance, have been transferred to the said Trustees by the said Canterbury Association, or by any other person or persons holding in trust for them or his or their Agent or Agents duly authorized in that behalf; and any such Bylaw shall be good and effectual in the Law, and may thereafter, at any Meeting of the Trustees convened in like manner, and by a like majority, be altered, revoked and eordained; and such property and funds shall be held, administered, and applied according to and in pursuance of any such Bylaw, anything herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

13. Title.

This Ordinance shall be entituled the "Church Property Trust Ordinance, Session

II., No. 3," and may be cited by such title.

Notes.

This Ordinance was passed by the Canterbury Provincial Council on 9th March

1854, and assented to by the Superintendent on 16th March 1854. See the

Christ's College Amendment Ordinance Sess X. No. 8.