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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/23476-h.zip b/23476-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e1114ec --- /dev/null +++ b/23476-h.zip diff --git a/23476-h/23476-h.htm b/23476-h/23476-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5604f27 --- /dev/null +++ b/23476-h/23476-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2407 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>Churchwardens' Manual</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + P.headingsummary { margin-left: 5%;} + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4, H5 { + text-align: left; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + table { border-collapse: collapse; } + td { vertical-align: top; border: 1px solid black;} + td p { margin: 0.2em; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + color: gray;} + + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h2> +<a href="#startoftext">Churchwardens' Manual, by George Henry</a> +</h2> +<pre> +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Churchwardens' Manual, by George Henry + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Churchwardens' Manual + their duties, powers, rights, and privilages + + +Author: George Henry + + + +Release Date: November 15, 2007 [eBook #23476] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHURCHWARDENS' MANUAL*** +</pre> +<p><a name="startoftext"></a></p> +<p>Transcribed from the 1897 Simpkin and Co. edition by David Price, email +ccx074@pglaf.org</p> +<p style="text-align: center">Winchester:<br /> +Printed by Warren & Son, 85, High Street.</p> +<h1><!-- page i--><a name="pagei"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +i</span>Churchwardens’ Manual:<br /> +<i><span class="smcap">their duties</span></i>,<br /> +<i><span class="smcap">powers</span></i>, <i><span +class="smcap">rights</span></i>, <i><span class="smcap">and +privileges</span></i>.</h1> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">by</span><br /> +GEORGE HENRY, D.D.,</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>Bishop of Guildford and Archdeacon of +Winchester</i>.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">Third Edition.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">London</span>:<br /> +<span class="smcap">Simpkin and Co.</span>, <span +class="smcap">Limited</span>.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Winchester</span>:<br /> +<span class="smcap">Warren and Son</span>, <span class="smcap">Printers and +Publishers</span>, <span class="smcap">High Street</span>.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>All rights reserved</i>.</p> +<h2><!-- page iii--><a name="pageiii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +iii</span>PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.</h2> +<p>The fact that a Second Edition of this Manual has been called for within +a few months of its first publication, shows, I think, that it has met a +want which was previously felt by Clergy and Churchwardens. The whole +of the Manual has been revised, and additions made with special reference +to the Burial Laws, the position of District Churches as regards the Mother +Church, and the conveyance of land or buildings to trustees for mission or +other purposes, which it is hoped will add to its value.</p> +<p style="text-align: right">G. H. G.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Close</span>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Winchester</span>.</p> +<p><i>October</i>, <i>1890</i>.</p> +<h2><!-- page iv--><a name="pageiv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +iv</span>PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.</h2> +<p>Additions have been made to the present Edition, especially with +reference to the changes which the Local Government Act, 1894, has made as +to the duties of Churchwardens. It is hoped that these additions may +be found useful. I once more express the hope that this Manual may be +found increasingly helpful in the hands of the Churchwardens in the +carrying out of their very responsible duties as officers of the +Church.</p> +<p style="text-align: right">G. H. G.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Close</span>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Winchester</span>,<br /> +<i>1897</i>.</p> +<h2><!-- page v--><a name="pagev"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +v</span>INDEX.</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Acts quoted:—</p> +</td> +<td> +<p><span class="smcap">page</span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>7 Gul. IV, and 1 Vict., cap. 45, sec. 3</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>66</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>58 Geo. III, cap. 69</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>67</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>59 Geo. III, cap. 85, sec. 1</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>69</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>14 and 15 Vict., cap. 97, sec. 23</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>71</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>18 and 19 Vict., cap. 128, sec. 18</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>78</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>15 and 16 Vict., cap. 85, sec. 10</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>80</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>24 and 25 Vict., cap. 125, sec. 2</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>82</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>43 Geo. III, cap. 108</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>84</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>36 and 37 Vict., cap. 50</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>84</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>4 and 5 Vict., cap. 38; 7 and 8 Vict., cap. 37</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>85</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Aggrieved Parishioners, how to deal with</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>58</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Cemetery, how to be provided</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>32</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Churchwarden:—</p> +</td> +<td> +<p></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Origin of Office</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>1</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Who qualified to act</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>3</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Not to act except in concert with his colleague</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>9</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Declaration to be made</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>10</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Legality of Election, how ascertained</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>12</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Vacancy, how filled </p> +</td> +<td> +<p>13</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Canonical Duties </p> +</td> +<td> +<p>20</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Duty in connection with New Incumbent </p> +</td> +<td> +<p>23</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Duty in connection with Fabric, Churchyard, Church Goods, Insurance, +Church Seats, Faculty Pews, Sequestration, Parish Documents</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>21, etc.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Churchyard, enlargement of</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>31</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>,, Closed, to be kept in order by Churchwardens at expense of Parish +Council</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>30</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Corporation. Churchwardens not a corporation except under special +circumstances </p> +</td> +<td> +<p>94</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p><!-- page vi--><a name="pagevi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +vi</span>Council, Parish—Powers of Vestry transferred to with certain +exceptions</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>13, etc.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Custody of Keys of Church</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>53</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>,, Church Bells</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>54</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>,, Tithe Map</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>18</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>District Churches. Banns not to be asked or Marriages to be +Solemnised in the Mother Church</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>39, etc.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Ratepayers residing in District have a vote in Vestry of the Mother +Church</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>41</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Music of Church, management of</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>53</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Offertories, power over distribution of</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>54</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Sidesmen, why so called</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>7</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>,, How elected</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>6</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Trust deeds. How land and buildings for mission and other purposes +should be conveyed</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>49</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Vestry, Notice of, how to be signed</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>7</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>,, Incumbent Chairman of</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>8</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>,, How Votes taken</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>10</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>,, Select—abolished</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>10</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> +<p>Notices of First Edition</p> +</td> +<td> +<p>87</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p></p> +<h2><!-- page 1--><a name="page1"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 1</span>The +Duties of Churchwardens.</h2> +<p>I am so constantly asked in the course of my inspection of the Churches +in the Archdeaconry of Winchester what are the duties and responsibilities +of Churchwardens, that I have thought it might be useful to publish the +following remarks, which were in substance delivered in my charge to the +Clergy and Churchwardens of the Archdeaconry of Winchester in the Spring of +1889. Many requests were then made to me that I would publish my +charge as a manual for Churchwardens, and it is in consequence of those +requests that this publication has been put forth.</p> +<p>Let me first refer to the origin of the office. The name appears +in connection with the ecclesiastical history of the fourth century. +<!-- page 2--><a name="page2"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 2</span>St. +Augustine refers to certain officers in the Church called <i>seniores +Ecclesiastici</i>. These officers were not ordained persons, but yet +had some concern in the care of the Church. They were entrusted with +the treasure and management of the outward affairs of the Church. +These persons may be looked upon as the ecclesiastical ancestors of our +present race of Churchwardens. <a name="citation2"></a><a href="#footnote2" +class="citation">[2]</a> In Lyndwood’s <i>Provinciale</i> there +are allusions in some of the Provincial Constitutions of the fourteenth and +fifteenth Centuries which seem to point to officers in connection with the +Church corresponding to our present Churchwardens. It is not, +however, until after the Reformation that we find their duties distinctly +defined in successive Canons, as in 1571 (Cardwell’s +<i>Synodalia</i>, I, 122), in 1597 (Cardwell’s <i>Synodalia</i>, I, +160), and in our own Canons of 1603.</p> +<p>It is not desirable on the present occasion to trace the variations in +the duties of Churchwardens through successive centuries. Each <!-- +page 3--><a name="page3"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 3</span>age has, of +course, its own special features, and may require different treatment to +its predecessor, but there is no doubt whatever as to the fact that ever +since the Reformation Churchwardens have been recognised as officers of the +Church, with their position and duties distinctly defined both by canon and +statute law. Before particularising their duties I must point out +what is the law as to their election.</p> +<p>Who, then are qualified to be Churchwardens?</p> +<p>Aliens, Roman Catholics, Jews, children under ten years of age, and +persons who have been convicted of felony are absolutely disqualified.</p> +<p>The following cannot be compelled to serve the office if they personally +object to do so:</p> +<p>Peers, Sheriffs, Clergymen, Members of the House of Commons, +Magistrates, Barristers and Solicitors, Physicians and Surgeons, Dissenting +Ministers, Officers in the Navy or Army on full pay, men in the Militia or +Army Reserve, Registrars of Births, Deaths, <!-- page 4--><a +name="page4"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 4</span>and Marriages, Officials +of the Customs, Excise, or Post Office, and those already acting as +Churchwardens elsewhere.</p> +<p>With these exceptions the law of the land is that, if a householder +dwelling in the parish be legally elected to the office, he must serve as +Churchwarden. In old parishes dissenters, if elected, may appoint a +deputy to be approved of by the Vestry. <a name="citation4"></a><a +href="#footnote4" class="citation">[4]</a> But in parishes formed +under the Acts 1 and 2, Will. IV, c. 38, sec. 16; 6 and 7 Vict., c. 37, +sec. 17; or 19 and 20 Vict., c. 104, which re-enacts 6 and 7 Vict., c. 37, +sec. 17, with reference to this point, it is expressly en-acted that +Churchwardens must be Churchmen. Churchwardens ought to be elected in +new parishes twenty-one days after the consecration of the Church +thereof.</p> +<p>Females, although there has been no legal decision authorising their +appointment, are occasionally, if otherwise eligible, appointed to serve +the office, but it is not likely that the Courts, if called upon, would be +so <!-- page 5--><a name="page5"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +5</span>ungallant as to compel a female householder, if elected, to serve +against her will.</p> +<p>In my own Archdeaconry there are several ladies who have been elected +Churchwardens, and they do their duty right well.</p> +<p>A Churchwarden must be resident in the parish for which he is elected to +serve. The contrary has been held to be the law for some years past, +but a decision of the Court of Queen’s Bench, reported in the +<i>Times</i> of Nov. 20th, 1889, decides absolutely that both in new and +old parishes none but residents are qualified to serve as Churchwardens. <a +name="citation5"></a><a href="#footnote5" class="citation">[5]</a></p> +<p>With reference to this point, the following memorandum has been issued +for use in the diocese of Rochester by Chancellor Dibden:—</p> +<blockquote> +<p>It is desirable, wherever practicable, to be careful that the persons +chosen “live” in the parish. It sometimes happens, +however, that it is difficult to find suitable persons inside, and the +parish wish to appoint an outsider. This should never be done if +objection is raised even by a single parishioner, because the appointment +is technically faulty, and could be set aside on <i>mandamus</i> on the +application of even one individual. If, however, the parish <!-- page +6--><a name="page6"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 6</span>vestry are +unanimous, and the appointment is desirable in other respects, no harm will +ensue from the fact that the chosen churchwarden is technically +ineligible. Unless and until his position is challenged, as by a +<i>mandamus</i>, he will have the same powers and rights as any other +Churchwarden. For the election of a disqualified person as +Churchwarden is not absolutely ineffective, but the person so elected, when +once admitted, can do all lawful acts belonging to the office until he has +been displaced.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The 90th canon of 1603 (which is the date of the setting forth of the +existing code of canons) directs that “the choice of . . . +Churchwardens, or Questmen, Sidesmen, or Assistants, shall be yearly made +in Easter week.” An election at any other time is valid in law. +<a name="citation6"></a><a href="#footnote6" class="citation">[6]</a></p> +<p>It is supposed that the Churchwardens were called Questmen or Searchers +from the fact that they were empowered and instructed to search for cases +of heresy, or open sin, in their several parishes, and report them to their +Ecclesiastical Superiors.</p> +<p>Two derivations are given of the title of <!-- page 7--><a +name="page7"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 7</span>Sidesmen. Some +suppose that they are so called because they are elected as assistants to +the Churchwardens to stand by their side; other suppose the word to be an +abbreviation of Synodsmen, because in ancient times the Bishops summoned +certain persons of credit from the various parishes in order to testify as +to the morals of the clergy and people. These witnesses were called +Testes Synodales, and hence some suppose the title of Sidesmen, or +Synodsmen, to have taken its origin. Of late years in populous towns +Sidesmen have often been elected, and are found to be of great help in +assisting the Churchwardens in the execution of their duties.</p> +<p>The Vestry at which the Churchwardens and Sidesmen (if any) are to be +elected must be duly summoned. The notice summoning the Vestry must +be signed either by the Incumbent, the Curate, one Churchwarden, or one +Overseer of the poor. <a name="citation7"></a><a href="#footnote7" +class="citation">[7]</a></p> +<p>It is obviously advisable that the signatures of the Incumbent and of +both Churchwardens <!-- page 8--><a name="page8"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 8</span>should be attached to the notice of the Easter +Vestry. This notice specifying the particular business to be +transacted must be affixed on a Sunday, three clear days before the holding +of the meetings, at or near the principal door of all the Churches and +Chapels in the parish. <a name="citation8a"></a><a href="#footnote8a" +class="citation">[8a]</a> The Incumbent of the parish is by law the +ex-officio Chairman of the Vestry. <a name="citation8b"></a><a +href="#footnote8b" class="citation">[8b]</a> In his absence the +ratepayers present must elect a Chairman for the occasion. The Curate +does not necessarily take his place as Chairman, unless elected to do so by +the Vestry. The usual custom in parishes is for the Incumbent to +nominate one Churchwarden and the parishioners the other. Sometimes +the parishioners elect both. The canon <a name="citation8c"></a><a +href="#footnote8c" class="citation">[8c]</a> indeed seems to point out the +election of both Churchwardens by the joint consent of the Minister and the +parishioners as the normal mode of action, and the nomination by the +Incumbent of one and of the parishioners of another as only to be resorted +to when they cannot arrive at a common agreement. But <!-- page +9--><a name="page9"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 9</span>custom goes for a +long way in this matter, and the usual course is certainly for the +Incumbent to nominate one and the parishioners the other. In the +absence of the Incumbent the Curate has the same right to nominate one +Churchwarden as the Incumbent if present would have. <a +name="citation9a"></a><a href="#footnote9a" class="citation">[9a]</a></p> +<p>In whatever manner the election may be carried out, the two +Churchwardens subsequently stand on an absolute equality. The +Incumbent’s Churchwarden is not elected to look after the +Incumbent’s interests only, nor the parishioners’ Churchwarden +to look after the parishioners’ interests only. The interests +of both must be equally dear to the one and to the other. Nor can +they act except jointly. The Vestry even is powerless to clothe one +Churchwarden with authority to act against the will of his colleague in +office. <a name="citation9b"></a><a href="#footnote9b" +class="citation">[9b]</a> Any election by the parishioners must take +place in the usual manner. Ratepayers present, <!-- page 10--><a +name="page10"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 10</span>whether paying directly +or indirectly (32 and 33 Vic., c. 41, § 19), have a right to vote, and +if a poll is demanded it cannot be refused by the Chairman. The votes +must be taken in accordance with the provisions of the Vestry Acts, 58 Geo. +III, cap. 69, sec. 2, 3, 4, and 59 Geo. III, cap. 85. If the votes +are equal the Chairman has by right a casting vote, in addition to whatever +number of votes he may have as an individual ratepayer. By 58 Geo. +III, cap. 69, sec. 3, it is ordered that minutes of the proceedings shall +be written out before the close of the Vestry, and after having been read +be signed by the Chairman and any of the members present who may like to do +so. <a name="citation10a"></a><a href="#footnote10a" +class="citation">[10a]</a></p> +<p>In some new parishes there are select Vestries, but by the 14 and 15 +Vict., cap. 97, sec. 23, in parishes formed under any Church Building Acts +before 1851 they are abolished, and it was enacted that after that date no +select Vestry should be formed. <a name="citation10b"></a><a +href="#footnote10b" class="citation">[10b]</a></p> +<p>The Churchwardens thus duly appointed must make the following +declaration before <!-- page 11--><a name="page11"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 11</span>the “ordinary, or other person” +qualified to receive it:—</p> +<blockquote> +<p>“We do solemnly and sincerely declare that we will faithfully and +diligently perform the duties of the Office of Churchwardens, to the best +of our skill and understanding, and that we will present such persons and +things as to our knowledge are presentable by the Ecclesiastical Laws of +this Realm.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>This declaration ought to be made at the visitation of the Bishop, +Chancellor, or Archdeacon next ensuing upon the election. Until this +declaration is made the Churchwarden is not legally qualified to act, and +could not enforce his authority as Churchwarden if objected to. In +case of the death of the Incumbent the parish would have no legal +representative to act as the custodian of the temporalities of the Church +in that particular parish. The fee payable by law at visitations is +eighteen shillings (30 and 31 Vict., cap. 135). <a name="citation11"></a><a +href="#footnote11" class="citation">[11]</a></p> +<p>If there is a dispute as to whether a Churchwarden is legally elected or +not, it is sometimes supposed that it is the Archdeacon’s <!-- page +12--><a name="page12"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 12</span>business at his +visitation to decide the question. Of course Archdeacons are at all +times ready, willing, and anxious to advise any persons who apply to them +for advice to the best of their power. But it is no part of their +duty, nor are they by law authorised to decide a disputed return. +Their duty is simply that of returning officers to declare the election as +certified to them by the Vestry. A copy of the minutes of the Vestry, +in case of a dispute, should be laid before them, and the aggrieved party +can, if he wishes to do so, apply for a mandamus commanding the Rector and +Churchwardens to convene a Vestry to make a fresh election. It is for +the court to grant or to refuse the application. I hope I may not be +understood as recommending this course. I am merely stating what the +law is. <a name="citation12"></a><a href="#footnote12" +class="citation">[12]</a> But all these matters should, if possible, +be settled out of court. Law-suits are apt to leave an unpleasant +taste behind. If such a case should unhappily arise it might be +advisable for the <!-- page 13--><a name="page13"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 13</span>Archdeacon to suggest to the parties that they +should agree to submit to his decision of the disputed question, and waive +their right of appeal to a Court of Common Law. If this were agreed +to the case might be amicably settled at once without resource being had to +any external litigation.</p> +<p>If a Churchwarden duly elected ceases in the course of the year to +reside in the parish he does not <i>ipso facto</i> vacate the office, +though it is a good reason for resignation and the appointment of another +in his place. <a name="citation13"></a><a href="#footnote13" +class="citation">[13]</a></p> +<p>The Churchwardens being thus duly elected, and having made the legal +declaration at the visitation, continue in office until their successors +are elected, and have in their turn made the said declaration.</p> +<p>What, then, are their duties?</p> +<p>The Local Government Act, 1894, has in many ways affected them.</p> +<p>Churchwardens in rural parishes are no <!-- page 14--><a +name="page14"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 14</span>longer +<i>ex-officio</i> Overseers of the Poor. <a name="citation14"></a><a +href="#footnote14" class="citation">[14]</a> An additional number of +Overseers may be appointed to replace the Churchwardens, and reference in +any Act to the Churchwardens and Overseers, shall, as respects any rural +parish (except so far as those references relate to the affairs of the +Church), be construed as references to the Overseers, and the legal +interest in all property vested either in the Overseer of a rural parish +(other than a property connected with the affairs of the Church, or held +for an Ecclesiastical Charity), shall, if there is a Parish Council, vest +in that Council.—V. 2, (<i>a</i>), (<i>b</i>), (<i>c</i>).</p> +<p>The Poor Relief Act, 1819, <i>i.e.</i>, 59 Geo. III, cap. 12, enabled +Churchwardens and Overseers of a parish to acquire lands, &c., and they +were made a Corporation for that special purpose alone, and for the +specific purposes mentioned in the Act. Such lands, as regards rural +parishes having a Parish Council, now come under the management of the +Parish Council.</p> +<p><!-- page 15--><a name="page15"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +15</span>The Churchwardens of every rural parish are now only concerned as +Churchwardens with the affairs of the Church. What changes then, it +will be asked, are made with regard to Vestries?</p> +<p>Speaking generally as to rural parishes, the powers, duties, and +liabilities of the Vestry except (i) so far as relates to the affairs of +the Church or to Ecclesiastical Charities, or (ii) any power, duty, or +liability, transferred by this Act from the Vestry to any other authority +are transferred to the Parish Council.—6, a, 1, 2.</p> +<p>One word with regard to the expression, Ecclesiastical Charities. +These words include a charity, the endowment whereof is held for some one +or more of the following purposes:—</p> +<p>(<i>a</i>.) Any spiritual purpose which is a legal purpose, +or,</p> +<p>(<i>b</i>.) For the benefit of any spiritual person, or +ecclesiastical person as such, or</p> +<p>(<i>c</i>.) For use, if a building, as a church, chapel, mission +room, Sunday School, or otherwise by any particular church or denomination, +or</p> +<p>(<i>d</i>.) For the maintenance, repair, or improvement <!-- page +16--><a name="page16"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 16</span>of any such +building as aforesaid, or for the maintenance of Divine service therein, +or,</p> +<p>(<i>e</i>.) Otherwise for the benefit of any particular church or +denomination, or of any members thereof as such (Sec. 75, i).</p> +<p>Any endowment of a charity other than a building held in part only for +some of the purposes aforesaid, will be dealt with by the Charity +Commissioners on the application of any person interested.</p> +<p>The expression, Ecclesiastical Charity, includes any building which in +the opinion of the Charity Commissioners has been erected or provided +within forty years before the passing of this Act, mainly by or at the cost +of members of any particular church or denomination.</p> +<p>The expression, affairs of the church, includes the distribution of +offertories or other collections made in any church (sec. 75).</p> +<p>It may be well to add that the expression Parochial Charity, when used +in the Act, means a charity the benefits of which are, or the separate +distribution of the benefits of which is, confined to the inhabitants of a +<!-- page 17--><a name="page17"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +17</span>single parish, or of a single ancient ecclesiastical parish +divided into two or more parishes, or of not more than five neighbouring +parishes. (<i>Ibid.</i>)</p> +<p>These also come under the management of the Parish Council.</p> +<p>The provision of parish books and of a vestry room or parochial office, +parish chest, and the holding or management of parish property not being +property relating to affairs of the Church or held for an Ecclesiastical +charity, are also in rural parishes transferred to the Parish Council.</p> +<p>The custody of the registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials, and of +all other books and documents containing entries wholly or partly relating +to the affairs of the Church or to Ecclesiastical charities, except +documents directed by law to be kept with the public books, writings, and +papers of the parish, remains as provided by law before the passing of the +Local Government Act, <i>i.e.</i>, in the hands of the incumbent.</p> +<p>The Parish Council have a right to reasonable <!-- page 18--><a +name="page18"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 18</span>access to all such +books and documents referred to above, and the incumbent and Churchwardens +have a similar right with respect to books, etc., in the custody of the +Parish Council (xvii, 8).</p> +<p>There is one matter connected with the particular section of the Local +Government Act, 1894, now under consideration, which has given rise to some +discussion. In whose custody should the Tithe Map and Award be +placed? Should the Incumbent or the Parish Council have the charge of +them? Now, I am no lawyer, and I should be very sorry to be supposed +to give any opinion on a question which admits of so much argument on both +sides. But I do very strongly deprecate any litigation on the +matter. It is a very doubtful point, and he who takes the question +into a Court of Law must at any rate be prepared to have to back up his +opinion with a well-filled purse. The final paragraph of Section 17, +Sub-section 8, almost seems as if the draughtsman of the act expected +questions to arise under it. It runs thus:—“The Incumbent +<!-- page 19--><a name="page19"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 19</span>and +Churchwardens on the one part, and the Parish Council on the other, shall +have reasonable access to all such books documents, writings, and papers, +as are referred to in this Sub-section, and any differences as to custody +or access shall be determined by the County Council.” Is it not +just a case in which, if there is no cause for complaint, and no reasonable +access refused, these documents should remain in their existing custody +(usually that of the Incumbent), and that if differences arise, an amicable +appeal should be made to the County Council, and the decision of that body +acquiesced in by both parties?</p> +<p>This is evidently the opinion of the President of the Board of +Agriculture (Mr. Chaplin), who on February 8th, 1897, in the House of +Commons, replied as follows to a question on this subject:—</p> +<blockquote> +<p>I am aware that questions have arisen with regard to the custody of +documents under Sub-section 8 of Section 17 of the Local Government Act, +1894. The Act contemplated that this would be the case, and has +provided that any questions as to such custody shall be determined by the +<!-- page 20--><a name="page20"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +20</span>County Council. The Local Government Board have no +jurisdiction to determine questions as regards the Tithe Map, and it has +been their practice to inform Parish Councils to this effect. I am +advised that Tithe Maps are under the Tithe Commutation Act, 1886, to be +kept “with the public books, writings, and papers of the +parish,” and the Sub-section to which I have referred requires +therefore that they shall either remain in their existing custody or be +deposited in such custody as the Parish Council may direct.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>It may be well to mention here that when there is in a rural parish an +existing Vestry Clerk appointed under the Trustees Act, 1850, he shall +become the Clerk of the Parish Council, holding office by the same tenure +as before, and while performing the duties shall not receive less salary or +remuneration than before (sec. 81, 2, 4).</p> +<p>In our canons, which date from 1603, no fewer than eighteen refer to the +duties of Churchwardens. One canon enjoins them to present to the +ordinary those guilty of notorious crimes and scandals, hinderers of the +Word of God, disturbers of Divine Service, and non-communicants at +Easter. <!-- page 21--><a name="page21"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +21</span>Other Canons refer to their duties in not allowing loiterers near +the Church in time of Divine Service, in providing bread and wine for the +Holy Communion, and marking those who present themselves at the +Lord’s Table. Others enjoin them to take care that no stranger +be admitted to preach in Church without showing his licence; to provide a +sure coffer for the safe keeping of the registers, and to see that the +proper entries are therein made; to provide for the Church service books, +font, Communion table, and pulpit, and a chest for alms; and further, to +see that the Church is kept in sufficient reparation, that neither the +Church or Churchyard be in any way profaned; that the bells be not rung at +any time without good cause to be allowed by the minister of the place and +by themselves; to see that the parishioners duly resort to their Church +upon Sundays and holy days; that none stand idle in the Churchyard, or make +any disturbance in the Church or Churchyard during the time of Divine +Service; and further, call upon and <!-- page 22--><a +name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 22</span>exhort such as are +negligent in resorting to the Church that they fail not to amend their +ways; to keep the accounts connected with these matters; and, “last +of all, going out of their office they shall truly deliver up to the +parishioners whatever money or other things of right belonging to the +parish which remaineth in their hands, that they may be delivered over by +them to the next Churchwardens by bill indented.” <a +name="citation22"></a><a href="#footnote22" class="citation">[22]</a></p> +<p>In the fulfilment of these duties it is, in my opinion, difficult to +exaggerate the influence for good which a Churchwarden may exercise in the +parish in which his lot is cast. Of course it is possible to perform +the duties perfunctorily, or to let them slide altogether; but if his heart +is really in his work, if he is anxious to do all in his power that the +ecclesiastical machinery in the parish should work smoothly, I will +undertake to say that he will find plenty of scope for his energies. +If lethargic or antagonistic he may greatly hinder the Church’s work; +but if in a friendly spirit and with words of wisdom he is always <!-- page +23--><a name="page23"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 23</span>ready to meet +the Rector and consult as to the advisability of this or that particular +course of action, the office becomes neither a surplusage nor a +sinecure. There is nothing worse in a parish than either clerical or +lay clan-ship. Isolation is good neither for the one nor the +other. The interests of both are the same, and surely their hands +should be joined together for common action in the common Master’s +cause.</p> +<p>And as it seems to me this side of his office comes into prominence in +connection with the induction of a new Incumbent. For the entering +upon a new cure is of undoubtedly great and solemn importance to the Parson +himself, but it is hardly less so to the parish. How much depends, as +regards the future peace, happiness, and prosperity of the parish, upon the +relations existing between Pastor and flock. No doubt the character, +zeal, energy, devotion, and even the idiosyncrasies, manner, and general +bearing of the Incumbent are of vital importance. Courtesy begets +courtesy. Consideration <!-- page 24--><a name="page24"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 24</span>for the feelings of others is met in the same +spirit. But sometimes, I fear the Laity suppose that the peace of a +parish depends almost entirely upon the Clergyman. He is but a unit +in the parochial system. If one thing is more absolutely necessary +than another for the harmonious working of Clergy and Laity in a parish, or +the welfare of the whole, it is that there should be no suspicions the one +of the other. Perfect confidence and a generous trust should be the +rule of all dealings between Incumbents and Churchwardens.</p> +<p>It cannot but be expected that an Incumbent on first coming into a +parish should find some things which he would prefer otherwise. The +special hobbies, so to speak, of his predecessor may not be his. His +energies may not be put forth on exactly the same lines as those of the +Incumbent whom he succeeds. And then sometimes the staunch friends of +the former ministry may look coldly and askant upon the new Rector’s +labours and think that his very efforts in fresh and <!-- page 25--><a +name="page25"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 25</span>hitherto untried fields +are reflections upon the past. It should not be so. All men are +not cast in the same mould. One branch of ministerial work may be +more congenial to one parish priest than another, and it is only natural +that he should be more devoted to that particular portion of work in which +he seems to be most successful. But changes are not synonymous with +reflections upon a former <i>régime</i>. A man should not be +made an offender for a word. A Churchwarden should be prepared in all +good faith to transfer his allegiance, if called upon so to do, from one +Incumbent to another. It is no disloyalty to do so. The +“King is dead; long live the King” is loyalty alike to the past +and to the newly reigning Sovereign. If old customs are changed, old +practices discontinued, the Churchwarden should find out by private inquiry +from his Rector the why and the wherefore, and if the change is for the +better he should not let love of existing practice be stereotyped into a +desire of a never changing system, which may perchance <!-- page 26--><a +name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 26</span>easily slide into +lethargy and somnolent repose. In these days it does not do +merely</p> +<blockquote> +<p>“Stare super antiquas vias.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Some persons I know are so constituted that they suspect the existence +of a snake under every blade of grass. It is not a happy disposition +either for the person who is possessed with this idiosyncrasy, or in its +reflex action upon others. True charity thinketh no evil. It is +far better to be over sanguine in our charitable estimate of other +men’s motives, even if we do sometimes ultimately find that our +estimate was wrong, than to be constantly living in an atmosphere of +suspicion. Suspicion and consequent mistrust often produce the very +effects which otherwise would never have had any existence at all.</p> +<p>I have ventured to say these few words because I feel very strongly how +much the ecclesiastical peace of a parish depends upon the harmonious +action of the Incumbent and Churchwardens. It is not often that the +case is otherwise. Generally speaking they work <!-- page 27--><a +name="page27"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 27</span>zealously and actively +together, ready as occasion may arise to adopt, if necessary, new methods +of warfare in the conflict against sin and evil as fellow-workers with the +Clergy in the great work of the Church on earth.</p> +<p>Let me then state, as briefly as I can, some of a Churchwarden’s +duties.</p> +<p>I suppose him to be duly elected, and to have taken the declaration at +the visitation either of the Bishop, the Chancellor, or the +Archdeacon. It would be well that the first step should be to look to +the fences of the Churchyard and the general state of the fabric of the +Church—the roof, the tiles, the tower or spire, and the general +fittings of the Church. If any of these are found to be seriously out +of order, counsel should be at once taken with the Incumbent as to the +proper course to be adopted. In these matters a stitch in time often +saves nine, and though we have now no compulsory Church-rate to fall back +upon for Church expenses, yet in an harmoniously worked parish there really +ought to be no insurmountable difficulty in raising <!-- page 28--><a +name="page28"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 28</span>the sum necessary for +the due repairs of the Church and for the services of the Sanctuary. +Offertories and subscriptions can be made to supplement one another, and if +what is necessary in the way of repair is really honestly done year by +year, it will be much easier to raise the funds wanted than if by neglect +and postponement a large outlay is suddenly found to be absolutely +necessary in order to avoid some dreadful catastrophe.</p> +<p>In this general preliminary survey the state of the Churchyard will +naturally come under his notice. The Churchyard is the freehold of +the Incumbent, which he holds in trust for the service which it is intended +to subserve. Sometimes an arrangement is made by him with the +Churchwardens as to the keeping the Churchyard tidy. No doubt the +Churchwardens are bound to see that the proper measures for this purpose +are taken by themselves or the Incumbent. But although our Churches, +speaking generally, are in good repair, yet it seems to me that in many +cases sufficient attention is not paid to the keeping <!-- page 29--><a +name="page29"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 29</span>of the Churchyard in +proper order. The days are gone by when horned cattle were allowed to +find sweet pasture in the resting-place of the dead, but sheep still linger +in some country districts. And there is often a temptation not always +successfully resisted—when the Churchyard is large—that the +crop of grass during the summer months should be allowed to grow without +interference by scythe or machine, until fit to be cut for hay. But I +do feel strongly that the temptation <i>should be</i> resisted. +Nothing so quickly awakens doubtful feelings in the breast of a passer-by +as to the zeal, energy and devotion of the Incumbent, as a Churchyard +untidy and unkempt, paths full of weeds, hedges untrimmed, grass long and +straggling. Nothing, on the other hand, is so grateful to all the +parishioners of a particular parish as the Churchyard well kept and looked +after, the graves neat and trimmed, the whole place by its very appearance +asserting its right to the title of God’s Acre. I do not like +to see the Parsonage garden filled with lovely flowers, and in beautiful +<!-- page 30--><a name="page30"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +30</span>order, while the adjoining Churchyard is starved. Let each +receive the attention which is its proper due.</p> +<p>With regard to closed Churchyards the obligations of the Churchwardens +in rural parishes with respect to maintaining and repairing closed +Churchyards, wherever the expenses of such maintenance and repair are +repayable out of the Poor Rate under the Burial Act, 1855, <a +name="citation30a"></a><a href="#footnote30a" class="citation">[30a]</a> +are transferred to the Parish Council. Provided that such obligations +shall not in the case of any particular parish be deemed to attach, unless +or until the Churchwardens subsequent to the passing of this Act shall give +a certificate as in the Burial Act, 1855, provided, in order to obtain the +repayment of such expenses out of the Poor Rate (sec. 6, II, <i>b</i>).</p> +<p>It has been decided that <a name="citation30b"></a><a +href="#footnote30b" class="citation">[30b]</a> if a Churchyard is closed by +order in Council it must be kept in order by the Churchwardens, and if it +be a <!-- page 31--><a name="page31"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +31</span>Cemetery formed by a Burial Board, then by the Burial Board. +In the former case the expenses would, under the Local Government Act, be +repaid to the Churchwardens in rural parishes by the Parish Council, on +presentation of the proper certificate as mentioned in the previous +paragraph.</p> +<p>If the Churchyard requires enlargement, and an adjoining piece of ground +can be obtained, it is well to remember that a special Act has been passed +(30 and 31 Vict., c. 133) for diminishing the expense connected with the +consecration of ground so added to an old Churchyard. The form of +conveyance is given in the Act; the powers given in the School Sites’ +Act “to persons being seised in fee simple, fee tail, or for life of +and in any manor or lands of freehold, copyhold or customary tenure, and +having the beneficial interest therein, to grant, convey, or enfranchise by +way of gift, sale or exchange in fee simple, or for term of years, any +quantity not exceeding one acre of such land as a site for a school” +are “deemed to apply <!-- page 32--><a name="page32"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 32</span>to all persons desirous of granting land for +the purpose of such enlargement” (of an existing Churchyard) +“in the same way as if the said land had been granted as a site for a +school.”</p> +<p>In cases in which it is wished to provide a burial ground under a burial +board, the first step to be taken is for a vestry to be summoned +<i>seven</i> days before the holding of such meeting, to take the subject +into consideration, and if it is agreed to proceed in the matter, a +requisition to that effect must be sent to the Home Secretary, and the +officials of the Home Office will send down full directions as to the mode +of procedure. <a name="citation32"></a><a href="#footnote32" +class="citation">[32]</a></p> +<p>The following general information on this subject may be found of +use:—</p> +<p>The enlargement of a Churchyard sometimes makes it necessary that graves +should be built over, or the bodies therein contained removed to another +part of the Churchyard, and it occasionally happens that the parties +interested object to the former but are prepared to agree to the +latter. It is well, therefore, to know that this removal can take +<!-- page 33--><a name="page33"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 33</span>place +by faculty granted by the ordinary for that purpose without application to +the Home Secretary (20 and 21 Vict., cap. 81, s. 25). When a +Churchyard is closed and a cemetery has been provided under a burial board +to be used for interments, the custody of the old registers belongs to the +Incumbent, and he is entitled to the fees for certificates of burial +previous to the closing of the Churchyard, but the custody of the registers +of interments in the cemetery belongs to the chaplain or officer of the +burial board. The Act 52 Geo. III., cap. 146, s. 4, requiring +certificates of burials in any other place than the Churchyard of the +Parish Church to be sent to the Incumbent, has been repealed as far as +burials are concerned in grounds provided by the Burial Acts (20 and 21 +Vict., cap. 81, s. 15).</p> +<p>Then I wish that it were universally acknowledged that the next step +should be for a new Churchwarden to inspect the Church goods which are +placed under his charge; to see that they tally accurately with the list +which ought to be kept in the iron chest of all <!-- page 34--><a +name="page34"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 34</span>movable articles +belonging to the Church in that parish. <a name="citation34a"></a><a +href="#footnote34a" class="citation">[34a]</a> If this were +universally done we should not hear, as we do now unfortunately hear from +time to time, of Church goods having disappeared during a vacancy, or of +registers being missing which may be absolutely invaluable. Legally +speaking, the safe custody of the furniture of the Church rests upon the +Churchwardens. This list should be signed by the +Incumbent and Churchwardens, and kept in the parish chest, and include all +movable articles of Church furniture and belongings.</p> +<p>There should also be a report on the fabric of the Church, mentioning +the character, date, and cost of alterations made, the date of +consecration; if a modern Church the Act under which built. Any +specially characteristic features of the Church should be mentioned.</p> +<p>The inventory of Church furniture should include Church plate, with +copies of inscriptions and dates, Church linen, Service books of all <!-- +page 35--><a name="page35"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 35</span>kinds, +furniture of the vestry, ornaments for the Holy Table, special gifts, +brasses, lectern, everything in short that is moveable, the bells, with +inscriptions, if any, and the rules for ringers, the parish register books, +with dates carefully made of the first entry in each book. If there +are any gaps in the registers it is well to mention them. +Benefactions should be noted; also the nature of the tenure of the parish +school, with an intimation as to where the trust deed is kept. A +terrier of glebe lands, with any exchange noted, should be made. +There should be a table of the customary fees charged, <a +name="citation35"></a><a href="#footnote35" class="citation">[35]</a> and +of any payments due to the Ecclesiastical Commission or to Queen +Anne’s Bounty, with the amount of any receipts due from any public +body. It is clear that the more complete such a list can be made the +more valuable will it be for future generations.</p> +<p>It would also be very useful to keep in connection with this inventory a +complete list <!-- page 36--><a name="page36"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +36</span>of the various services held, with the amount of the offertories +and the purposes to which they are devoted.</p> +<p>Then with regard to insurance of the fabric. It is most important +that this should be looked into. There is no excuse for any Church to +remain uninsured. The premium for insurance is now fixed at such a +low rate that the expense is really very small, and the Churchwardens +should do all in their power to persuade the Vestry, if persuasion is +necessary, to sanction the insurance of the Church for a proper sum. +I have sometimes found, after making enquiries on the subject and having +ascertained either that the Church was not insured, or, if insured, only +for a very small sum, that the churchwardens always supposed it was +“all right.” Very seldom have any held back from doing +their duty when it has been quietly pointed out to them. An +Ecclesiastical Buildings Fire Office has been established on a sound basis, +the offices of which are in Norfolk Street, Strand, London. <!-- page +37--><a name="page37"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 37</span>It is doing a +very large business, and whatever surplus profits accrue are appropriated +to the support of Church work in the various Dioceses in proportion to the +amount of insurances in each, and to such special objects as are +recommended by the Bishop and Archdeacons. I may also mention Mutual +Fire Insurance Offices, such as the Hand-in-Hand (New Bridge Street, +London, E.C.) and the County Fire (Regent Street), which are +old-established offices, and which periodically return to insurers a +certain amount of the premiums paid on their policies in cases in which no +fire has taken place during the preceding few years. Of this I am +quite certain, that if an uninsured Church were unfortunately burned down, +those in the parish interested in the erection of a new Church would have +the greatest possible difficulty in raising the necessary funds, in the +face of such a manifest want of due caution and forethought on the part of +the proper authorities in past years.</p> +<p>It is, perhaps, hardly necessary for me to say that a strictly accurate +record of every <!-- page 38--><a name="page38"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 38</span>sixpence that is spent upon these and such like +matters must be kept by the Churchwardens, so that at the close of their +year, when they pass on the parish books to their successors, they may be +enabled to lay before them a clear and detailed account of all the receipts +and expenses of the preceding year, with vouchers for all payments, and to +hand over the actual balance remaining after all liabilities have been +met.</p> +<p>It is often supposed that Church Rates are abolished. But such is +not the case. <i>Compulsory</i> Church Rates are done away with by 31 +and 32 Vict., cap. 109, except in cases where the rates have been legally +mortgaged, or are subject to private Acts of Parliament. Section 6, +however, of the above Act states distinctly that “this Act shall not +affect vestries, or the making, assessing, receiving, or otherwise dealing +with any Church Rate, save in so far as relates to the recovery +thereof”; and Section 9 authorises the appointment of trustees, the +Incumbent, and two householders or owners or occupiers of <!-- page 39--><a +name="page39"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 39</span>land in the parish, to +be nominated, one by the patron, the other by the Bishop of the Diocese in +which the parish is situate. These trustees form a body corporate, +and may, as circumstances require, pay to the Churchwardens any funds in +their hands for the building, rebuilding, enlargement, and repair of any +Church or Chapel, and any purpose to which, as before defined in the Act, +Church Rates may be applied.</p> +<p>Questions are so often put to me as to the relation existing between +district parishes and the mother Church, that it may be useful if a few +points are mentioned with respect to which difficulties occasionally +arise. The preliminaries of marriage and the solemnization of the +rite itself are a fruitful source of difficulty. They have however, +as a matter of fact, been set at rest by a decision in the Court of +Queen’s Bench, in the case of Fuller <i>v.</i> Alford, before Mr. +Justice Cave and Mr. Justice Day, which affects all new parishes hitherto +created, or that may hereafter be created, under the Peel and Blandford +Acts. <!-- page 40--><a name="page40"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +40</span>The question at issue was as to the right of the inhabitants of a +district parish to have their banns published and to be married in the +Church of the mother parish, and as to the right of the Incumbent of the +mother parish to publish the banns, solemnise the marriage, and receive the +fees for the same in the case of residents in the district parish. +The case is fully reported in the <i>Times</i> of March 9th, 1883. +Mr. Justice Cave, in giving judgment for the Plaintiff, said that the Act +of 1843 as well as that of 1856 (the words of the latter being clearer than +those of the former) made the district a new parish for all ecclesiastical +purposes, and banns of marriage might be published and marriages +solemnized, and all the laws and customs then relating to them would apply +to the new parish, the effect of which was that the banns must be published +in the Church of the new parish. Though recent legislation had +brought into prominence the civil character of the marriage contract, and +had enabled it to be entered into before a Registrar, still he had no doubt +that the <!-- page 41--><a name="page41"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +41</span>solemnization of matrimony in a Church was within the words +“ecclesiastical purposes.” The inhabitants therefore of a +district parish have no more right to have their banns asked or their +marriage solemnised in the mother Church than they have in any other Church +in England, so long as they reside in that district.</p> +<p>District parishes, it will be observed, are separate parishes <i>for +Ecclesiastical purposes</i>. These words affect the question as to +the right of the ratepaying parishioners of a new district voting for the +Churchwardens of the old parish. This they have a right to do on the +following ground:—The Churchwardens of an old parish have functions +to perform which are rather secular than ecclesiastical. They are in +some cases <i>ex-officio</i> Overseers, and in many cases officially +concerned in the management of endowed charities. The creation +therefore of a district for ecclesiastical purposes does not deprive the +inhabitants of the new district of the right which they had before of +voting for Churchwardens in the old <!-- page 42--><a +name="page42"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 42</span>civil parish of which +they continue to be ratepayers. The ratepayers of the <i>whole</i> of +the old parish have consequently a right to vote in vestry at the election +of the Churchwardens in the old parish. The privilege, however, is +not reciprocal, for the ratepayers in the old parish have no similar right +of attending at the vestry and voting for Churchwardens in the new +district, because they are elected “for ecclesiastical +purposes” only.</p> +<p>It would be impossible to speak of the duties of Churchwardens without +touching upon the vexed questions of pews. I suppose that if we could +turn the hands of the clock back for some centuries, and were then +legislating for the future of the Church with our experience of the pew +system by a prophetic anachronism clearly present in our minds, we should +hardly suggest for legislation such laws as would bring about the existing +state of things. With the Epistle of St. James in our thoughts there +are some points in our present legal system which most persons find it +difficult to justify. But it is a thorny <!-- page 43--><a +name="page43"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 43</span>subject, and I do not +want to dogmatise. It is, perhaps, just the one very point with +respect to which great caution is needed, much charity, much +forbearance. You cannot ride rough-shod over old prejudices, or if +you do you are sure sooner or later to suffer for it. No doubt in +theory (to use the words of the Bishop of Carlisle) the Churchwardens, as +the officers of the ordinary, have, subject to him, the sole appointment +and arrangement of the seats. They are to act to the best of their +judgment, and without favour, to the best advantage of all. <a +name="citation43"></a><a href="#footnote43" class="citation">[43]</a> +And for the most part, in new Churches, this arrangement works well. +Either by agreement of the heads of the parish the Church is declared to be +in the popular sense of the term “free and open,” which is +perhaps on the whole the best of all or else by mutual forbearance and +general co-operation an arrangement is arrived at by which the worshippers +in Church have from time to time seats allotted to them.</p> +<p>It is not, however, in the case of new <!-- page 44--><a +name="page44"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 44</span>Churches that +difficulties arise, except when these new Churches take the place of old +ones. Then it may be that the old abuses of faculty pews and of +supposed exclusive rights in certain holdings have to be contended +with. Cases have occurred where supposed usurpers have been kept out +of faculty pews when there is plenty of room, or of locking up the pew when +the so-called owner is absent. Faculty pews are an anomaly, and I +wish there were none, but if the title to them can be proved they are legal +and must be dealt with accordingly. I do not imagine that any new +faculties are now issued by the Courts, but in the rebuilding of old +Churches the dealing with existing faculties requires very tender +handling. It were heartily to be wished that all legal holders of +faculty pews would consent to waive their rights for the future, for the +sake of peace and the avoidance of jealousies. Of course in such a +case the Churchwardens would feel it an obligation which it would be their +pleasure to fulfil, to provide those who give up their rights with such +accommodation <!-- page 45--><a name="page45"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +45</span>as their families may require. But if, as is sometimes the +case, they stand exclusively upon their rights, Churchwardens have no power +to abrogate the law, and can only look forward to the future with hope, +either that a short Act of Parliament may be passed enacting that at the +death of the present owner of a faculty pew that particular faculty should +cease, and determine, only excepting (unless with the consent of the owner) +cases in which under the Church Building Acts the faculty was issued in +consequence of money paid down for the building of the Church with the +understanding that the faculty would be granted in consequence: or if this +be not done that in the lapse of time some holder of the faculty may regard +the matter from an unselfish standpoint and voluntarily resign his +rights.</p> +<p>Meanwhile it is well to remember with regard to existing faculty pews +that:—</p> +<p>1. The form of appropriation in old faculties varies +considerably. In order to ascertain the wording of a particular +faculty <!-- page 46--><a name="page46"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +46</span>application should be made to the Diocesan Registrar.</p> +<p>2. With regard to pews annexed by prescription to certain +messuages the right to the pew passes with the messuage, the tenant of +which for the time being has also <i>de jure</i> for the time being the +prescriptive right to the pew. <a name="citation46a"></a><a +href="#footnote46a" class="citation">[46a]</a></p> +<p>3. No faculty can be legally granted entitling a non-parishioner +to a seat in the body of the Church. <a name="citation46b"></a><a +href="#footnote46b" class="citation">[46b]</a> Any faculty so worded +as to allow this is void as far as that particular point is concerned.</p> +<p>4. No faculty gives power either to the owners and occupiers of +the house in respect of which the faculty has been issued to let such seats +apart from the houses, or to appropriate them to other persons.</p> +<p>No Churchwarden should ever allow a parishioner to repair the pew which +he may <!-- page 47--><a name="page47"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +47</span>temporarily occupy. Such an act, if done with the sanction +of the Churchwardens, may in after years seem to give a claim to +proprietorship in that particular pew. Too great care cannot be taken +to avoid any future misunderstanding.</p> +<p>The matter is too often looked upon as a party question. The great +Duke of Wellington was no party man, and I cannot forbear from quoting in +connection with this subject an extract from a letter written to my father, +the Bishop of Winchester, in 1836, in response to an application to him to +support a Diocesan Church Building Society, which was then in course of +formation. The Duke writes concerning providing accommodation in +country Churches as follows:—</p> +<blockquote> +<p>“It has frequently occurred to me that when Church room is +required the first thing to do is to prevail upon individuals to give up +the pews which they cannot use . . . If more space was required I should +propose that all pews should be given up, that the whole space of the +Church should be laid open for the accommodation of all the <!-- page +48--><a name="page48"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 48</span>parishioners +indiscriminately, separate chairs of a cheap description being provided for +their accommodation. This being done, and space being still required +for the accommodation of the parishioners in their attendance upon Divine +Service, I would propose to consider the mode of enlarging the Church, or +if that could not be effected, of building another Church or Chapel. +It must never be forgotten that another Church or Chapel would require the +attendance of another Clergyman, who must live and must be +remunerated. He can be remunerated only by the sale or hire of the +pews and places in the new place of Divine worship; and here again would +commence the evil which has in my opinion been the most efficient cause of +the non-attendance at Divine worship of the lower classes of the people of +this country.” <a name="citation48"></a><a href="#footnote48" +class="citation">[48]</a></p> +</blockquote> +<p>Surely these words, which (bearing in mind who was the writer of them) +cannot be supposed to have been the offspring of heated ecclesiastical +partisanship, are well worthy of consideration, even after the lapse of +more than half a century. It does, indeed, seem <!-- page 49--><a +name="page49"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 49</span>sad that parochial +difficulties should so often arise in respect of Church sittings. +There is no part of the parochial machinery which more requires the free +application of the oil of common sense—Christian charity and a true +spirit of forbearing courtesy in order to avoid friction. Blessed are +the peacemakers.</p> +<p>Difficulties not unfrequently arise in connection with the conveyance of +buildings or of land to be used not only for public worship, but also for +meetings, classes, etc. The subject was under the consideration of +the Committee of the Incorporated Church Building Society in 1889, and with +the co-operation of their legal advisers a statement was issued clearly +pointing out the advantages and the disadvantages of the several modes of +procedure possible. With the permission of the Church Building +Society’s Committee, I add in Appendix X a summary of the +conveniences and inconveniences of the several Acts. The Minister and +Churchwardens are not a corporation with perpetual succession under the +common law, though often supposed so to be <!-- page 50--><a +name="page50"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 50</span>because they are +specially so made for the purpose of carrying out the Schools Sites’ +Acts. The advisers of the Church Building Society on the whole +recommend that a conveyance should be made to individual Trustees, +“which will be good according to the ordinary law of mortmain as a +charitable conveyance, the only real objection to this being that if the +conveyance be a gift, without price paid, it will fail if the grantor dies +within twelve months.” A form of such conveyance has been +settled for the parish of Staines. This form has been printed by the +Church Building Society, but they recommend that it should be amended by +adding a power, to be used if a consecrated Church is eventually built on +the land, to revoke the trusts and convey the land and building for the +purpose of a Church to any person or body lawfully authorised to accept +such conveyance. If the Staines form is not adopted, it is on the +whole recommended that action should be taken under 43 Geo. III, cap. 108. +<a name="citation50"></a><a href="#footnote50" +class="citation">[50]</a></p> +<p><!-- page 51--><a name="page51"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 51</span>I +pass on to another point. On a vacancy occurring in an incumbency +either through the resignation or death of the Incumbent, certain duties of +considerable importance devolve upon the Churchwardens. During the +vacancy they are in charge of the temporalities of the incumbency, and +therefore it is necessary that a sequestration of the living should be +issued, empowering them to do such things as are necessary in connection +therewith. Application should at once be made with reference to this +to the Bishop’s Registrar. It is then their duty to see that +Church property, whether in connection with the fabric, endowment, or +glebe, suffers no loss during the vacancy. They have also to provide +for the services in Church and any occasional duty which may arise. A +newly-appointed Incumbent does not become legally responsible for this +until he has been instituted, or collated, as the case may be. But it +<!-- page 52--><a name="page52"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 52</span>would +be well always if the Churchwardens, immediately on an appointment being +notified to them, should communicate with the Incumbent-elect and consult +with him as to the best mode of providing for the duty. It is well +that Churchwardens should know that the license of a Curate does not lapse +in consequence of the death of the Incumbent. Six weeks’ notice +within six months after institution is legally necessary if a change is to +be made. <a name="citation52a"></a><a href="#footnote52a" +class="citation">[52a]</a> The widow of a deceased Incumbent has a +right to remain in the parsonage house for two calendar months subsequent +to the death of her husband. <a name="citation52b"></a><a +href="#footnote52b" class="citation">[52b]</a> All these points +should, if possible, be made a matter of friendly arrangement, but the +actual law of the case is as I have stated it.</p> +<p>There is one question sometimes asked by Churchwardens to which it may +be well to refer. Have they the custody of the keys of the Church, +the appointment of the organist, control over the Church music, and over +the ringing of the Church bells?</p> +<p><!-- page 53--><a name="page53"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +53</span>With regard to the keys of the Church. It is the undoubted +fact that the church is the freehold of the Incumbent, subject, of course, +to the right of the parishioners to be present in it at all legal Services +of a religious character. It may be often convenient that the +Churchwardens should have a duplicate key of the Church, in order that they +may be able to fulfil their duties in connection with the survey of the +fabric, or for other causes, but this must be clearly understood to be +subject to the will of the Incumbent.</p> +<p>The same with regard to the musical portion of the Service or +appointment of the organist. Lord Stowell’s words +are:—</p> +<blockquote> +<p>“The Minister has the right of directing the Service, <i>e.g.</i>, +when the organ shall and shall not play, and when children shall chaunt and +shall not chaunt, though the organist is paid and the children managed by +the Churchwardens.” <a name="citation53"></a><a href="#footnote53" +class="citation">[53]</a></p> +</blockquote> +<p>Nothing can be clearer or stronger than this.</p> +<p><!-- page 54--><a name="page54"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 54</span>So +too with regard to the Church bells. The Churchwardens have the +custody of the bells, and the bell ropes are in most cases Church property +placed under their charge, but the law with reference to the ringing of the +bells is undoubted; that for any occasion except that of Divine Service the +permission of the Incumbent is absolutely necessary for the ringing of the +bells. Without that permission they cannot be rung. <a +name="citation54"></a><a href="#footnote54" class="citation">[54]</a></p> +<p>There is one further point on which a question sometimes arises in +connection with offertories and collections in church. With reference +to offertories gathered at the time of the celebration of Holy Communion at +an ordinary Service the Churchwardens and Incumbent are expressly directed +by the rubric to dispose of them to such pious and charitable uses as they +shall think fit, wherein if they disagree it shall be disposed of as the +Ordinary shall appoint. The Incumbent has the responsibility of +arranging with reference <!-- page 55--><a name="page55"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 55</span>to collections made not in connection with the +celebration of the Holy Communion. Incumbents are thankful when the +Churchwardens help them with their advice as to what objects shall be +brought before the congregation. In the case of all collections, for +whatsoever purpose they be made, it is most desirable for the avoiding of +any possible difficulty that a written statement should be put upon the +Church door on the Sunday after, stating the amount of the collections made +on the previous Sunday. If the collection be made for any charitable +or missionary society the official receipt for the money collected and sent +should also be affixed to the church door.</p> +<p>This leads me to mention another point of considerable importance. +In these days of monetary difficulties and agricultural depression the +frequency of offertories is often a question difficult of solution. +It is perhaps still more difficult wisely to decide the objects for which +the offertory shall be made. With regard to local objects there can +of course be <!-- page 56--><a name="page56"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +56</span>no question. We recognise in these days the power of the +pence, and no one grumbles at the collection of money for purely parochial +purposes. But it is when our people are asked for money for objects +outside the parish that the difficulty really arises. But it ought to +be remembered that we do not lead individual isolated lives apart from our +fellows. The parish is not the centre of the universe. The +tendency of the uneducated mind is to isolate itself from the interests of +others, and to look at all matters from a purely selfish point of +view. The parish is an accidental collection of individual souls in a +particular diocese. The diocese is an aggregation of separate +parishes scattered through an assigned area. The members of the +Church in a particular parish and diocese are members of the Holy Catholic +Church, which by its very nomenclature abrogates individual +isolation. It follows, therefore, that parochial interests must not +absorb attention to the exclusion of larger and less personal +objects. The Body is one, and the members of the Body should work +together <!-- page 57--><a name="page57"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +57</span>for the good of the whole. Corporate as well as individual +life is a reality, and this fact must not be lost sight of in connection +with our offertories. I venture to say that a parish which confines +its offertories to local and parochial purposes will lose by the very +contraction of its sympathies. The duty that lies upon us as trustees +of God’s gifts to utilize them for His honour and glory, should be +pointed out. The privilege of being allowed to help with our +substance, those who stand in need of our assistance, should be duly urged; +and the warmth which is thus kindled in the heart towards others will react +in infusing fresh life into the support of parochial institutions. +The habit of giving grows by use. The blood must not stagnate round +the heart, or the extremities will soon suffer. Your fingers die +because the action of the heart is weak. The promise is that +“He that watereth others shall be watered also himself.”</p> +<p>I have no intention of entering into many details in this matter, but I +cannot be wrong in enforcing this principle. Church work at <!-- page +58--><a name="page58"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 58</span>home and +abroad, as distinct from parochial organizations, should be systematically +brought before all congregations however small: Church work at home, +including home missions; and Church work abroad, including foreign +missionary societies.</p> +<p>Let me give very emphatically this caution. If aggrieved +parishioners come to a Churchwarden and endeavour to persuade him to join a +cave of Adullam, he should be careful not to be rash or hasty in his +answer. He must not take all for granted which heated partisans may +allege, but remember there are always two sides to every question. We +are none of us infallible in our judgment, and many matters after +consultation with others assume a very different aspect to that which at +first sight they seemed to present. If difficulties arise he must not +threaten. It does more harm than good. Let him try what +conciliation will do. Let him see whether common ground of action +cannot be found. Certainly it is unwise to rush into print; it only +tends to inflame the smouldering <!-- page 59--><a name="page59"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 59</span>embers of a quarrel which, but for the +unfortunate publicity given to it, might soon have come to a happy +termination.</p> +<p>Churchwardens <i>must</i> work with the Clergy and the Clergy with the +Churchwardens if they are to be a blessing in the parish in which they are +elected to serve. They have not been brought by chance into +connection with the Incumbent of their parish, for chance is not a word to +be found in the Christian’s dictionary.</p> +<p>With regard to all these cases, if difficulties arise in connection with +any of them it is seldom, if ever, wise to stand out for strict law. +If the matter cannot be settled amicably the interposition of the Rural +Dean or Archdeacon, or, as a final resort, the Bishop, will often smooth a +wrinkled brow and restore to a parish the inestimable blessing of +peace.</p> +<p>It is because I feel the great importance and usefulness of the office +of a Churchwarden, that I have ventured, in accordance with the wish so +kindly expressed by those to whom the foregoing words were in substance +<!-- page 60--><a name="page60"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +60</span>addressed, to publish them in this more permanent form; and I have +only to express the hope that they may be found useful in pointing out to +Churchwardens that their office, far from being a sinecure, may, if +faithfully used, tend very directly to the furtherance of our common +Master’s cause, and that work done by them in a spirit of faith and +love will not lose its reward in the great Hereafter.</p> +<p style="text-align: right">GEORGE HENRY GUILDFORD.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Close</span>, <span +class="smcap">Winchester</span>,<br /> +<i>August</i>, <i>1897</i>.</p> +<h2><!-- page 61--><a name="page61"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +61</span>APPENDIX I.</h2> +<h3>QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION.<br /> +(<i>Before</i> <span class="smcap">Lord Coleridge</span> <i>and</i> <span +class="smcap">Mr. Justice Mathew</span>.)<br /> +<span class="smcap">the queen v. harding</span>, <span class="smcap">vicar +of beckenham</span>.</h3> +<p>This case raised the question whether, in new parishes under the Church +Building Acts, it is necessary that Churchwardens shall be residents in the +parish or whether it is enough that they are rated occupiers. The +question had arisen under these circumstances. There was a new Church +built and consecrated in Beckenham, Kent, in 1875, and by an Order in +Council in 1878 a district was constituted and annexed to it under the +Church Building Act, 59 Geo. III, cap. 134, sec. 16, constituting a +“district chapelry.” In 1885, on the death of the +Incumbent, all the fees of the district became due and payable to the +Minister of the new Church, and then, by the operation of Lord +Blandford’s Act (19 and 20 Vict., cap. 104), the district became a +separate parish for ecclesiastical purposes; and the question was <!-- page +62--><a name="page62"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 62</span>what effect +this had as to the election of Churchwardens. Under 8 and 9 Vict., +cap. 70, sec. 6, it was provided that “two fit and proper persons +should be annually elected Churchwardens, they residing within the +district;” and if that statute applied, it was admitted the +Churchwardens must be resident. But it was disputed whether it did +apply, or whether at common law Churchwardens must be resident. In +Lord Blandford’s Act it is provided, in sec. 14, that wherever and as +soon as banns of marriage are authorised to be published in a consecrated +Church or Chapel to which a district belongs, and the Incumbent is by such +authority entitled, for his own benefit, to the fees arising from the +performance of such services, then such district shall become and be a +separate parish for ecclesiastical purposes, as is contemplated in 6 and 7 +Vict., cap. 37, sec. 15, and all the provisions of the same shall apply; +and then, under that Act, sec. 15, when any Church or Chapel shall be +built, etc., such district shall from and after consecration be deemed to +be a new parish for ecclesiastical purposes. This, however, did not +in terms, it will be seen, deal with the present question, and appeared to +leave it open, <!-- page 63--><a name="page63"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +63</span>and so it will be seen it was discussed in the alternative on the +ground that at common law Churchwardens must be resident, and that is not +altered by one Act, and is re-enacted in the other. However, in the +present case it appeared that it had not been so understood, and on April +25, 1889, when, at Easter, two Churchwardens were chosen for the new +district parish of Christ Church, Beckenham, one of them was a gentleman +who had been chosen in previous years, and who is not a resident, though he +is a rated occupier in the parish. The gentleman in question, a Mr. +Matthews, was elected by a majority of three; no objection was taken at the +time, but afterwards his opponent, a Mr. Hayland, desired to raise the +objection, and on June 24th last obtained a rule <i>nisi</i> for a +<i>mandamus</i> to the vicar to hold a new election of churchwarden on the +ground that the election of Mr. Matthews was invalid, as he was not a +resident in the parish, he having premises there, a “store” and +some stabling for which he was rated, but not living in the parish. +The case now came on to be argued.</p> +<p>Mr. Dibden appeared for the applicant.</p> +<p>Mr. Jeune, <span class="smcap">q.c.</span> (with Mr. Houghton), appeared +on the part of the vicar to show cause.</p> +<p><!-- page 64--><a name="page64"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +64</span>Lord Coleridge said, in giving judgment, that the party elected +was not entitled to hold the office. The effect of the statute was +that the new parish was to be treated for all purposes as the old +one—that it was to be subject to the same law. Now, it was +necessary under the old law that churchwardens should be living in the +parish. This gentleman was not so; and therefore was not under the +old law “a fit and proper person” to hold the office of +churchwarden. The Churchwarden had to discharge various duties which +required knowledge of the parish and parishioners. It was said that +there were authorities to the contrary in the Ecclesiastical Courts; but +speaking of them with the utmost respect, those were ecclesiastical cases, +and this was a common law case—that is, a case to be decided by the +common law—and he did not think that by the common law a party not +living in the parish, and perhaps living at a distance, was qualified to be +elected, and, if elected, bound to serve the office of churchwarden. +It appeared to be clear, rating would not be enough. It was admitted +that there must be some kind of occupation equivalent to actual residence, +and in the present case there was nothing of the kind. No doubt the +<!-- page 65--><a name="page65"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +65</span>parishioners were glad to have a respectable gentleman to fill the +office. No doubt the word “residence” had received under +different statutes different interpretations, the sense being necessarily +different. Sometimes it meant where a man could be found during the +day; sometimes it meant where he slept or lived; and for some purposes +perhaps this gentleman might be deemed a resident, but for this purpose it +was necessary that he should live in the parish, be acquainted with the +parishioners, and thus be able to exercise the duties of his office, which +were to be personally exercised. The rule for a <i>mandamus</i> to +the vicar, therefore, must be made absolute.</p> +<p>Mr. Justice Mathew concurred.</p> +<p>Rule absolute for a <i>mandamus</i>.</p> +<p style="text-align: right">From the <i>Times</i>, Nov. 29th, 1889.</p> +<h2><!-- page 66--><a name="page66"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +66</span>APPENDIX II.</h2> +<h3>7 Gul. IV, and 1 Vict., cap. 45, sec. 3.</h3> +<p>Be it further enacted that no such notice of holding a Vestry shall be +affixed on the principal door of such Church or Chapel unless the same +shall previously have been signed by a Churchwarden of the Church or +Chapel, or by the Rector, Vicar, or Curate of such parish, or by an +Overseer of the Poor of such parish; but that every notice so signed shall +be affixed on or near to the principal door of such Church or Chapel.</p> +<h2><!-- page 67--><a name="page67"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +67</span>APPENDIX III.</h2> +<h3>58 Geo. III, cap. 69, 3rd June, 1818.<br /> +<i>An Act for the Regulation of Parish Vestries</i>.</h3> +<p>Sec. 2.—For the more orderly conduct of Vestries be it further +enacted that in case the Rector, or Vicar, or perpetual Curate, shall not +be present the persons so assembled in pursuance of such notice shall +forthwith nominate and appoint, by plurality of votes to be ascertained as +hereinafter is directed, one of the inhabitants of such parish to be the +Chairman of and preside in every such Vestry; and in all cases of equality +of votes upon any question arising therein the Chairman shall, in addition +to such vote or votes as he may by virtue of this Act be entitled to give +in right of his assessment, have the casting vote; and minutes of the +proceedings and resolutions of every Vestry shall be fairly and distinctly +entered in a book, to be provided for that purpose by the Churchwardens and +Overseers of the Poor, and shall be signed by the Chairman and by such +other of the inhabitants present as shall think proper to sign the +same.</p> +<p><!-- page 68--><a name="page68"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +68</span>Sec. 3.—And be it further enacted that in all such Vestries +every inhabitant present, who shall by the last rate which shall have been +made for the relief of the poor have been assessed and charged upon or in +respect of any annual rent, profit, or value not amounting to fifty pounds, +shall have and be entitled to give one vote and no more; and every +inhabitant then present, who shall in such last rate have been assessed or +charged upon or in respect of any annual rent or rents, profit or value, +amounting to fifty pounds or upwards, whether in one or in more than one +sum or charge, shall have and be entitled to give one vote for every +twenty-five pounds of annual rent, profit, and value upon or in respect of +which he shall have been assessed or charged in such last rate, so, +nevertheless, that no inhabitant shall be entitled to give more than six +votes; and in cases when two or more of the inhabitants present shall be +jointly rated, each of them shall be entitled to vote according to the +proportion and amount which shall be borne by him of the joint charge; and +when one only of the persons jointly rated shall attend, he shall be +entitled to vote according to and in respect of the whole joint charge.</p> +<p><!-- page 69--><a name="page69"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +69</span>Sec. 4.—Provided and be it further enacted that when any +person shall have become an inhabitant of any parish, or become liable to +be rated therein, since the making of the last rate for the relief of the +poor thereof, he shall be entitled to vote for and in respect of the lands, +tenements, and property for which he shall have become liable to be rated, +and shall consent to be rated, in like manner as if he should have been +actually rated for the same.</p> +<p>Sec. 5.—Provided also and it is hereby further enacted that no +person who shall have refused or neglected to pay any rate for the relief +of the poor which shall be due from him and shall have been demanded of +him, <i>and</i> (see Sec. 3 of the next Act quoted) shall be entitled to +vote or to be present in any Vestry of the parish for which such rate shall +have been made, until he shall have paid the same.</p> +<h3>59 Geo. III, c. 85, sec. 1.</h3> +<p>. . . From and after the passing of this Act, any person who shall be +assessed and rated for the relief of the poor in respect of any annual +rent, profit, or value arising from any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, +situate in any parish in which any Vestry shall be holden under the said +recited <!-- page 70--><a name="page70"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +70</span>Act (58 Geo. III, c 69), although such person shall not reside in +or be an inhabitant of such parish, shall and may lawfully be present at +such Vestry . . . and have the same privileges as though he were an +inhabitant of the said parish.</p> +<p>Sec. 3 of the same Act states that the word “<i>and</i>,” +marked in italics in the above quotation from Geo. III, c. 69, was inserted +by mistake.</p> +<h2><!-- page 71--><a name="page71"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +71</span>APPENDIX IV.</h2> +<h3>14 and 15 Vict., c. 97, sec. 23.</h3> +<p>From and after the passing of this Act no select Vestry shall be formed +under the provisions of the Church Building Act, and every such select +Vestry already formed under such provisions shall be and is hereby declared +to be abolished, and all the powers and provisions therein enacted relative +to such select Vestries shall henceforth cease and determine, provided that +all matters and things done by any such select Vestry in pursuance of any +powers given them by such Acts, or any of them, shall be and remain as +valid as if such select Vestry had not been abolished.</p> +<h2><!-- page 72--><a name="page72"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +72</span>APPENDIX V.</h2> +<p>It was agreed in 1870 between some of the leading Laity of the Counties +of Hants and Surrey and the then Bishop of the Diocese that the sum asked +should only be five shillings, payable annually by each parish and +ecclesiastical district by the hands of the Churchwardens. When there +is an election of a Proctor to Convocation, an additional shilling is +added, making the total due six shillings. It was also decided at the +meeting before referred to that this charge might be defrayed out of the +offertory or other voluntary collections for Church purposes in any parish +or ecclesiastical district. I am happy to say that the cases are, +comparatively speaking, rare in which the Churchwardens decline to pay this +charge, reduced by voluntary action as it has been from the legal figure of +eighteen shillings to either five shillings or in some years six shillings, +the extra shilling being added when an election of a Proctor for the +Archdeaconry takes place.</p> +<h2><!-- page 73--><a name="page73"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +73</span>APPENDIX VI.</h2> +<p>Canons agreed upon by the Convocation for the Province of Canterbury +assembled by the king’s licence in their Synod, <span +class="smcap">a.d.</span> 1603, published by His Majesty’s authority +under the Great Seal of England.</p> +<p>89. <i>The choice of Churchwardens and their Account</i>.</p> +<p>All Churchwardens or Questmen in every parish shall be chosen by the +joint consent of the Minister and parishioners, if it may be; but if they +cannot agree upon such a choice, then the Minister shall choose one, and +the parishioners another: and without such a joint or several choice none +shall take upon them to be Churchwardens: neither shall they continue any +longer than one year in that office, except perhaps they be chosen again in +like manner. And all Churchwardens at the end of their year, or +within a month after at the most, shall before the Minister and the +parishioners give up a just account of such money as they have received, +and also what particularly they have bestowed in reparations and otherwise, +for the <!-- page 74--><a name="page74"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +74</span>use of the Church. And, last of all, going out of their +office, they shall truly deliver up to the parishioners whatsoever money or +other things of right belonging to the Church or parish, which remaineth in +their hands, that it may be delivered over by them to the next +Churchwardens by bill indented.</p> +<p>90. <i>The choice of Sidemen</i>, <i>and their joint office with +Churchwardens</i>.</p> +<p>The Churchwarden or Questmen of every parish, and two or three or more +discreet persons in every parish, to be chosen for Sidemen or Assistants by +the Minister and parishioners, if they can agree (otherwise to be appointed +by the Ordinary of the diocese), shall diligently see that all the +parishioners duly resort to their Church upon all Sundays and Holy-days, +and there continue the whole time of Divine Service; and none to walk or to +stand idle or talking in the Church, or in the Churchyard, or in the +Church-porch, during that time. And all such as shall be found slack +or negligent in resorting to the Church (having no great or urgent cause of +absence) they shall earnestly call upon them; and after due monition (if +they amend not) <!-- page 75--><a name="page75"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 75</span>they shall present them to the Ordinary of the +place. The choice of which persons, <i>viz.</i>, Churchwardens or +Questmen, Sidemen, or Assistants, shall be yearly made in Easter-week.</p> +<p>85. <i>Churches to be kept in sufficient Reparations</i>.</p> +<p>The Churchwarden or Questmen shall take care and provide that the +Churches be well and sufficiently repaired, and so from time to time kept +and maintained, that the windows be well glazed, and that the floors be +kept paved, plain and even, and all things there in such an orderly and +decent sort, without dust, or anything that may be either noisome or +unseemly, as best becometh the House of God, and is prescribed in an Homily +to that effect. The like care they shall take that the Churchyards be +well and sufficiently repaired, fenced and maintained with walls, rails, or +pales, as have been in each place accustomed, at their charges unto whom by +law the same appertaineth: but especially they shall see that in every +meeting of the congregation peace be well kept: and that all persons +excommunicated, and so denounced, be kept out of the Church.</p> +<p><!-- page 76--><a name="page76"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +76</span>88. <i>Churches not to be profaned</i>.</p> +<p>The Churchwardens, or Questmen, and their Assistants, shall suffer no +plays, feasts, banquets, suppers, church-ales, drinkings, temporal courts, +or leets, lay juries, musters, or any other profane usage, to be kept in +the Church, Chapel, or Churchyard, neither the bells to be rung +superstitiously upon holy days, or eves abrogated by the Book of Common +Prayer, nor at any other times without good cause to be allowed by the +Minister of the place, and by themselves.</p> +<p>52. <i>The names of strange Preachers to be noted in a +book</i>.</p> +<p>That the Bishop may understand (if occasion so require) what sermons are +made in every Church of his diocese and who presume to preach without +licence, the Churchwardens and Sidemen shall see that the names of all +Preachers, which come to their Church from any other place, be noted in a +book which they shall have ready for that purpose; wherein every Preacher +shall subscribe his name, the day when he preached, and the name of the +Bishop of whom he had license to preach.</p> +<p><!-- page 77--><a name="page77"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +77</span>111. <i>Disturbers of Divine Service to be +presented</i>.</p> +<p>In all visitations of Bishops and Archdeacons the Churchwardens, or +Questmen, and Sidemen shall truly and personally present the names of all +those which behave themselves rudely and disorderly in the Church, or which +by untimely ringing of bells, by walking, talking, or other noise, shall +hinder the Minister or Preacher.</p> +<p>118. <i>The old Churchwardens to make their presentments before +the new be sworn</i>.</p> +<p>The office of all Churchwardens and Sidemen shall be reputed ever +hereafter to continue until the new Churchwardens that shall succeed them +be sworn, which shall be the first week after Easter or some week +following, according to the direction of the Ordinary, which time so +appointed shall always be one of the two times in every year, when the +Minister, and Churchwardens, and Sidemen of every parish shall exhibit to +their several Ordinaries the presentments of such enormities as have +happened in their parishes since their last presentments. And this +duty they shall perform before the newly-chosen Churchwardens and Sidemen +be sworn, and shall not be suffered to pass <!-- page 78--><a +name="page78"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 78</span>over the said +presentments to those that are newly come into office and are by intendment +ignorant of such crimes, under pain of those censures which are appointed +for the reformation of such dalliers and dispensers with their own +consciences and oaths.</p> +<h2>APPENDIX VII.</h2> +<h3>18 and 19 Vict., cap. 128, sec. 18.</h3> +<p><i>Burial Board to keep in order closed burial grounds</i>, +<i>etc.</i></p> +<p>In every case in which any order in Council has been or shall hereafter +be issued for the discontinuance of burials in any churchyard or burial +ground, the Burial Board, or Churchwardens, as the case may be, shall +maintain such churchyard or burial ground of any parish in decent order, +and also do the necessary repair of the walls and other fences thereof, and +the costs and expenses <!-- page 79--><a name="page79"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 79</span>shall be repaid by the Overseers upon the +certificate of the Burial Board, or Churchwardens, <i>as the case may +be</i>, out of the rate made for the relief of the poor of the parish or +place in which such churchyard or burial ground is situate, unless there +shall be some other fund legally chargeable with such costs and +expenses.</p> +<p>The words in italics have given rise to some dispute as to their +interpretation. Some Burial Boards have claimed the right to maintain +closed churchyards. The question was brought into the Court of +Queen’s Bench in 1879, and it was decided that a Burial Board was +required to maintain a closed cemetery, and that Churchwardens were the +proper persons to maintain a closed churchyard. <a name="citation79"></a><a +href="#footnote79" class="citation">[79]</a></p> +<h2><!-- page 80--><a name="page80"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +80</span>APPENDIX VIII.</h2> +<h3>15 and 16 Vict., cap. 85, sec. 10.</h3> +<p><i>Churchwardens after order or at any time upon requisition of ten +ratepayers to convene Vestry Meeting to determine whether a burial ground +shall be provided</i>.</p> +<p>Upon the requisition in writing of ten or more ratepayers <a +name="citation80a"></a><a href="#footnote80a" class="citation">[80a]</a> of +any parish in the metropolis <a name="citation80b"></a><a +href="#footnote80b" class="citation">[80b]</a> in which the place or places +of burial shall appear to such ratepayers insufficient or dangerous to +health (and whether any Order in Council in relation to any burial ground +in such parish has or has not been made), the Churchwardens and other +persons to whom it belongs to convene meetings of the Vestry of such parish +shall convene a meeting of the Vestry for the special purpose of +determining whether a burial ground shall be provided under this Act for +the parish; and public notice of such <!-- page 81--><a +name="page81"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 81</span>Vestry Meeting, and the +place and hour of holding the same, and the special purpose thereof, shall +be given in the usual manner in which notices of the meetings of the Vestry +are given, at least seven days before holding such Vestry Meeting: and if +it be resolved by the Vestry that a burial ground shall be provided under +this Act for the parish, a copy of such resolution extracted from the +minutes of the Vestry, and signed by the Chairman, shall be sent to one of +Her Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State.</p> +<h2><!-- page 82--><a name="page82"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +82</span>APPENDIX IX.</h2> +<h3>24 and 25 Vict., cap. 125, sec. 2.</h3> +<p>The Overseers of any parish may, with the consent of the Vestry, provide +proper depositories of all the documents, books, and papers belonging to +such parish, for which no provision is otherwise made by law, and charge +the cost thereof on the poor rate.</p> +<h3>52 Geo. III, cap. 146, sec. 5.</h3> +<p>And be it further enacted that the . . . register books . . . shall be +kept by and remain in the power and custody of the Rector, Curate, or other +officiating Minister of each respective parish or chapelry as aforesaid, +and shall be by him safely and securely kept in a dry, well painted iron +chest, to be provided and repaired, as occasion may require, at the expense +of the parish or chapelry, and which said chest, containing the said books, +shall be constantly kept locked in some dry, safe, and secure place within +the usual place of residence of such Rector, Vicar, Curate, or other +officiating minister, if resident within the parish or chapelry, or in the +<!-- page 83--><a name="page83"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +83</span>parish church or chapel; and the said books shall not, nor shall +any of them, be taken or removed from or out of the said chest, at any time +or for any cause whatever, except for the purpose of making such entries +therein as aforesaid, or for the inspection of persons desirous to make +search therein, or to obtain copies from or out of the same, or to be +produced as evidence in some court of law or equity, or to be inspected as +to the state and condition thereof, or for some other purposes of this Act; +and that immediately after making such inspection, entries, or producing +the said books respectively for the purposes aforesaid, the said books +shall forthwith again be safely and securely deposited in the said +chest.</p> +<h2><!-- page 84--><a name="page84"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +84</span>APPENDIX X.</h2> +<h3>43 Geo. III, cap. 108.</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">Conveniences</span>.—Permits conveyance of +site to any Body Political or Corporate.</p> +<p>—Contains no clause avoiding the conveyance if Service is +discontinued for a time.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Inconveniences</span>.—Requires the +concurrence of Ordinary.</p> +<p>—Will be avoided (unless made for valuable consideration) if +grantor dies within three months.</p> +<p>—Must be strictly for a Church or Chapel.</p> +<p>—Must be enrolled within six months.</p> +<p>—No provision for grant by a person under disability, <i>e.g.</i>, +tenant for life.</p> +<h3><i>Place of Worship Sites’ Act</i>.<br /> +36 & 37 Vict., cap. 50.</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">Conveniences</span>.—Enables tenant for life +to convey.</p> +<p>—Does not require consent of Ordinary.</p> +<p>—Deed will not be avoided by death of grantor within twelve months +after execution of it.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Inconveniences</span>.—Contains no power of +conveyance to a Body Corporate except permission given to make +Ecclesiastical Commissioners trustees of the site.</p> +<p><!-- page 85--><a name="page85"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +85</span>—Contains clauses involving the loss of the property, +(<i>a</i>) if the land be used for any other purpose than that of a site +for a place of worship; (<i>b</i>) if Service be discontinued in the place +of worship for one year.</p> +<p>—May give difficulty as to consecration, if the Mission Room +becomes a Church, owing to possible reversion to profane uses on the +temporary discontinuance of Services.</p> +<h3>School Sites’ Act.<br /> +4 & 5 Vict., cap 38; 7 & 8 Vict., cap. 37.</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">Conveniences</span>.—Enable tenants for life +to convey.</p> +<p>—Permit conveyance to Bodies Corporate making Minister and +Churchwardens a corporation with perpetual succession for the purposes of +these Acts.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Inconveniences</span>.—Contain clauses +involving the loss of the property if used for other purposes than those of +education.</p> +<p>—Require enrolment of deeds.</p> +<h2><!-- page 87--><a name="page87"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +87</span>Churchwardens’ Manual<br /> +<i><span class="smcap">notices of the first edition</span></i>.</h2> +<p>“Churchwardens will find in the <i>Churchwardens’ Manual</i> +some useful brief notes put together by the Bishop of Guildford relative to +their duties, powers, rights and privileges.”—<i>Guardian</i>, +April 9th.</p> +<p>“The Bishop of Guildford has just published a very useful little +handbook for the use and guidance of Church wardens . . . The book is a +most helpful one with regard to Church matters.”—<i>Hampshire +Chronicle</i>.</p> +<p>“The Bishop of Guildford’s <i>Churchwardens’ +Manual</i> meets a real want, in that it provides in small compass . . . a +handy pocket book containing the many matters legal and ecclesiastical, +which concern the Churchwarden’s office . . . No one ought to assume +it without being armed with such a work as this, and an Incumbent cannot do +better than present his Churchwardens with this little +Manual.”—<i>Church Times</i>.</p> +<p>“It is a Manual which ought to be in the possession of every +holder of the important office of Churchwarden, and which other Churchmen +also would do well to familiarise themselves with, as a better +understanding of the subject would be greatly to the advantage of many +parishes; clear, precise, handy and cheap, it is precisely the handbook +that was wanted.”—<i>Winchester Observer</i>.</p> +<p>“A thoroughly useful and practical work, and just the one which +ought to be in the hands both of Incumbents and +Churchwardens.”—<i>Ecclesiastical Chronicle</i>.</p> +<h2>Footnotes:</h2> +<p><a name="footnote2"></a><a href="#citation2" +class="footnote">[2]</a> <i>Smith’s Christian Antiquities</i>, +i, 391; <i>Bingham’s Antiquities of the Christian Church</i>, B. ii, +c. 19, sec. 19.</p> +<p><a name="footnote4"></a><a href="#citation4" +class="footnote">[4]</a> 1 Will. and M., ch. 18, sec. 5; 31 Geo. III, +ch. 32, sec. 7.</p> +<p><a name="footnote5"></a><a href="#citation5" +class="footnote">[5]</a> See Appendix No. I.</p> +<p><a name="footnote6"></a><a href="#citation6" +class="footnote">[6]</a> <i>Prideaux’s Churchwardens’ +Guide</i>, p. 17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote7"></a><a href="#citation7" +class="footnote">[7]</a> 7 Gul. IV, and 1 Vict. cap. 45, sec 3. +See Appendix No. II</p> +<p><a name="footnote8a"></a><a href="#citation8a" +class="footnote">[8a]</a> 7 Gul. IV and 1 Vict., cap. 45, sec. 1, +2.</p> +<p><a name="footnote8b"></a><a href="#citation8b" +class="footnote">[8b]</a> Note 58 Geo. III, c. 69, sec. 2.</p> +<p><a name="footnote8c"></a><a href="#citation8c" +class="footnote">[8c]</a> See Appendix No. VI.</p> +<p><a name="footnote9a"></a><a href="#citation9a" +class="footnote">[9a]</a> Phillimore II, 1470.</p> +<p><a name="footnote9b"></a><a href="#citation9b" +class="footnote">[9b]</a> Dewdney <i>v.</i> Good referred to in +<i>Addresses delivered to the Churchwardens and Sidesmen of the Diocese of +Liverpool</i>, by Thomas E. Espin, <span class="smcap">d.d.</span>, +Chancellor of the Diocese. Liverpool: Holden, Church Street. p. +29.</p> +<p><a name="footnote10a"></a><a href="#citation10a" +class="footnote">[10a]</a> See Appendix No. III.</p> +<p><a name="footnote10b"></a><a href="#citation10b" +class="footnote">[10b]</a> See Appendix No. IV.</p> +<p><a name="footnote11"></a><a href="#citation11" +class="footnote">[11]</a> As far, however, as the diocese of +Winchester is concerned, see Appendix No. V.</p> +<p><a name="footnote12"></a><a href="#citation12" +class="footnote">[12]</a> <i>Cripps’ Practical Treatise on the +Law relating to the Church and Clergy</i>, 6th Ed., pp. 178, 182.</p> +<p><a name="footnote13"></a><a href="#citation13" +class="footnote">[13]</a> <i>Cripps’ Practical Treatise on the +Law relating to the Church and Clergy</i>, 6th Ed., p. 174. It may be +a question whether Lord Coleridge’s judgment as to the residence of +Churchwardens may not affect this. See Appends No. I.</p> +<p><a name="footnote14"></a><a href="#citation14" +class="footnote">[14]</a> Churchwardens are <i>ex officio</i> +Overseers under the Poor Relief Act, 1601 (43 Eliz., c. 2, s. 1), only in +the case of an ancient ecclesiastical parish, for which overseers are +appointed under that Act.—<i>Jenkin’s Local Government Act</i>, +p. 25.</p> +<p><a name="footnote22"></a><a href="#citation22" +class="footnote">[22]</a> See Appendix No VI.</p> +<p><a name="footnote30a"></a><a href="#citation30a" +class="footnote">[30a]</a> 18 and 19 Vict., cap. 128, sec +xviii. See Appendix No. VII.</p> +<p><a name="footnote30b"></a><a href="#citation30b" +class="footnote">[30b]</a> The Queen <i>v.</i> the Burial Board of +Bishop Wearmouth.—<i>Law Reports</i>, <i>Queen’s Bench +Division</i>, vol. v, p. 67. See Appendix VII.</p> +<p><a name="footnote32"></a><a href="#citation32" +class="footnote">[32]</a> See Appendix No. VIII.</p> +<p><a name="footnote34a"></a><a href="#citation34a" +class="footnote">[34a]</a> See Appendix No. IX.</p> +<p>See <i>An Address to Churchwardens</i>, by +the Bishop of Carlisle, published by the S.P.C.K., p. 13.</p> +<p><a name="footnote35"></a><a href="#citation35" +class="footnote">[35]</a> By 59 Geo. III, c. 134, s. 11.—The +Ecclesiastical Commissioners are empowered to make a table of fees for any +parish with the consent of the Vestry, and with the consent of the Bishop +of the Diocese.</p> +<p><a name="footnote43"></a><a href="#citation43" +class="footnote">[43]</a> Bishop of Carlisle’s <i>Address to +Churchwardens</i>, S.P.C.K., p. 17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote46a"></a><a href="#citation46a" +class="footnote">[46a]</a> See <i>Fuller v. Lane</i>. 2 +<i>Adams</i>, 419. Prideaux’s <i>Churchwarden’s +Guide</i>, appendix, XLVI. Phillimores’ <i>Ecclesiastical +Law</i>, II, 1801-4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote46b"></a><a href="#citation46b" +class="footnote">[46b]</a> <i>Fuller v. Lane</i>. +Prideaux’s <i>Guide</i>, XLV.</p> +<p><a name="footnote48"></a><a href="#citation48" +class="footnote">[48]</a> <i>Life of Charles Richard Sumner</i>, +<i>D.D.</i>, <i>Bishop of Winchester</i> (Murray), by the Author of this +manual, p. 250.</p> +<p><a name="footnote50"></a><a href="#citation50" +class="footnote">[50]</a> In many Dioceses now a body of trustees has +been appointed for the special purpose of holding Church properties. +It is hoped that ere long every Diocese in the country will have its own +special body for the purpose, with a carefully considered Trust Deed. +I believe that the scheme in the Arch Diocese of Canterbury is found to +work very satisfactorily.</p> +<p><a name="footnote52a"></a><a href="#citation52a" +class="footnote">[52a]</a> 1 and 2 Vict., cap. 106, sec. 95.</p> +<p><a name="footnote52b"></a><a href="#citation52b" +class="footnote">[52b]</a> Ditto, sec. 36.</p> +<p><a name="footnote53"></a><a href="#citation53" +class="footnote">[53]</a> <i>Addresses delivered to the Churchwardens +and Sidesmen of the Diocese of Liverpool</i>, by Thomas E. Espin, D.D., +Chancellor of the Diocese; p. 29. Liverpool: Holden, Church +Street.</p> +<p><a name="footnote54"></a><a href="#citation54" +class="footnote">[54]</a> <i>Cripps’ Practical Treatise on the +Law relating to the Church and Clergy</i>, p. 190. See also Canon 88 +in Appendix vi.</p> +<p><a name="footnote79"></a><a href="#citation79" +class="footnote">[79]</a> In the Court of Appeal, 1879, The Queen +<i>v.</i> The Burial Board of Bishop Wearmouth.—<i>Law Reports</i>, +Queen’s Bench Division, Vol. V, p. 67.</p> +<p><a name="footnote80a"></a><a href="#citation80a" +class="footnote">[80a]</a> Sections 10 to 42 of this Act, inclusive, +as well as secs. 44, 50, 51, and 52, are extended to the whole Country by +16 and 17 Vict., cap. 134, sec. 7.</p> +<p><a name="footnote80b"></a><a href="#citation80b" +class="footnote">[80b]</a> The provision in this section as to the +requisition of ten or more ratepayers is done away with by 18 and 19 Vict., +cap. 128, sec. 3, by which it is enacted that a Vestry can be convened for +the purpose without any previous requisition of the Churchwardens.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHURCHWARDENS' MANUAL***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 23476-h.htm or 23476-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/3/4/7/23476 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Churchwardens' Manual + their duties, powers, rights, and privilages + + +Author: George Henry + + + +Release Date: November 15, 2007 [eBook #23476] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHURCHWARDENS' MANUAL*** + + + +Transcribed from the 1897 Simpkin and Co. edition by David Price, email +ccx074@pglaf.org + + Winchester: + Printed by Warren & Son, 85, High Street. + + + + + +Churchwardens' Manual: +_THEIR DUTIES_, +_POWERS_, _RIGHTS_, _AND PRIVILEGES_. + + + BY + GEORGE HENRY, D.D., + + _Bishop of Guildford and Archdeacon of Winchester_. + + Third Edition. + + LONDON: + SIMPKIN AND CO., LIMITED. + + WINCHESTER: + WARREN AND SON, PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS, HIGH STREET. + + _All rights reserved_. + + + + +PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. + + +The fact that a Second Edition of this Manual has been called for within +a few months of its first publication, shows, I think, that it has met a +want which was previously felt by Clergy and Churchwardens. The whole of +the Manual has been revised, and additions made with special reference to +the Burial Laws, the position of District Churches as regards the Mother +Church, and the conveyance of land or buildings to trustees for mission +or other purposes, which it is hoped will add to its value. + + G. H. G. + +THE CLOSE, +WINCHESTER. + +_October_, _1890_. + + + + +PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. + + +Additions have been made to the present Edition, especially with +reference to the changes which the Local Government Act, 1894, has made +as to the duties of Churchwardens. It is hoped that these additions may +be found useful. I once more express the hope that this Manual may be +found increasingly helpful in the hands of the Churchwardens in the +carrying out of their very responsible duties as officers of the Church. + + G. H. G. + +THE CLOSE, +WINCHESTER, +_1897_. + + + + +INDEX. +Acts quoted:-- PAGE +7 Gul. IV, and 1 Vict., cap. 45, 66 +sec. 3 +58 Geo. III, cap. 69 67 +59 Geo. III, cap. 85, sec. 1 69 +14 and 15 Vict., cap. 97, sec. 23 71 +18 and 19 Vict., cap. 128, sec. 78 +18 +15 and 16 Vict., cap. 85, sec. 10 80 +24 and 25 Vict., cap. 125, sec. 2 82 +43 Geo. III, cap. 108 84 +36 and 37 Vict., cap. 50 84 +4 and 5 Vict., cap. 38; 7 and 8 85 +Vict., cap. 37 +Aggrieved Parishioners, how to 58 +deal with +Cemetery, how to be provided 32 +Churchwarden:-- +Origin of Office 1 +Who qualified to act 3 +Not to act except in concert with 9 +his colleague +Declaration to be made 10 +Legality of Election, how 12 +ascertained +Vacancy, how filled 13 +Canonical Duties 20 +Duty in connection with New 23 +Incumbent +Duty in connection with Fabric, 21, etc. +Churchyard, Church Goods, +Insurance, Church Seats, Faculty +Pews, Sequestration, Parish +Documents +Churchyard, enlargement of 31 +,, Closed, to be kept in order by 30 +Churchwardens at expense of +Parish Council +Corporation. Churchwardens not a 94 +corporation except under special +circumstances +Council, Parish--Powers of Vestry 13, etc. +transferred to with certain +exceptions +Custody of Keys of Church 53 +,, Church Bells 54 +,, Tithe Map 18 +District Churches. Banns not to 39, etc. +be asked or Marriages to be +Solemnised in the Mother Church +Ratepayers residing in District 41 +have a vote in Vestry of the +Mother Church +Music of Church, management of 53 +Offertories, power over 54 +distribution of +Sidesmen, why so called 7 +,, How elected 6 +Trust deeds. How land and 49 +buildings for mission and other +purposes should be conveyed +Vestry, Notice of, how to be 7 +signed +,, Incumbent Chairman of 8 +,, How Votes taken 10 +,, Select--abolished 10 +Notices of First Edition 87 + + + + + +The Duties of Churchwardens. + + +I am so constantly asked in the course of my inspection of the Churches +in the Archdeaconry of Winchester what are the duties and +responsibilities of Churchwardens, that I have thought it might be useful +to publish the following remarks, which were in substance delivered in my +charge to the Clergy and Churchwardens of the Archdeaconry of Winchester +in the Spring of 1889. Many requests were then made to me that I would +publish my charge as a manual for Churchwardens, and it is in consequence +of those requests that this publication has been put forth. + +Let me first refer to the origin of the office. The name appears in +connection with the ecclesiastical history of the fourth century. St. +Augustine refers to certain officers in the Church called _seniores +Ecclesiastici_. These officers were not ordained persons, but yet had +some concern in the care of the Church. They were entrusted with the +treasure and management of the outward affairs of the Church. These +persons may be looked upon as the ecclesiastical ancestors of our present +race of Churchwardens. {2} In Lyndwood's _Provinciale_ there are +allusions in some of the Provincial Constitutions of the fourteenth and +fifteenth Centuries which seem to point to officers in connection with +the Church corresponding to our present Churchwardens. It is not, +however, until after the Reformation that we find their duties distinctly +defined in successive Canons, as in 1571 (Cardwell's _Synodalia_, I, +122), in 1597 (Cardwell's _Synodalia_, I, 160), and in our own Canons of +1603. + +It is not desirable on the present occasion to trace the variations in +the duties of Churchwardens through successive centuries. Each age has, +of course, its own special features, and may require different treatment +to its predecessor, but there is no doubt whatever as to the fact that +ever since the Reformation Churchwardens have been recognised as officers +of the Church, with their position and duties distinctly defined both by +canon and statute law. Before particularising their duties I must point +out what is the law as to their election. + +Who, then are qualified to be Churchwardens? + +Aliens, Roman Catholics, Jews, children under ten years of age, and +persons who have been convicted of felony are absolutely disqualified. + +The following cannot be compelled to serve the office if they personally +object to do so: + +Peers, Sheriffs, Clergymen, Members of the House of Commons, Magistrates, +Barristers and Solicitors, Physicians and Surgeons, Dissenting Ministers, +Officers in the Navy or Army on full pay, men in the Militia or Army +Reserve, Registrars of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, Officials of the +Customs, Excise, or Post Office, and those already acting as +Churchwardens elsewhere. + +With these exceptions the law of the land is that, if a householder +dwelling in the parish be legally elected to the office, he must serve as +Churchwarden. In old parishes dissenters, if elected, may appoint a +deputy to be approved of by the Vestry. {4} But in parishes formed under +the Acts 1 and 2, Will. IV, c. 38, sec. 16; 6 and 7 Vict., c. 37, sec. +17; or 19 and 20 Vict., c. 104, which re-enacts 6 and 7 Vict., c. 37, +sec. 17, with reference to this point, it is expressly en-acted that +Churchwardens must be Churchmen. Churchwardens ought to be elected in +new parishes twenty-one days after the consecration of the Church +thereof. + +Females, although there has been no legal decision authorising their +appointment, are occasionally, if otherwise eligible, appointed to serve +the office, but it is not likely that the Courts, if called upon, would +be so ungallant as to compel a female householder, if elected, to serve +against her will. + +In my own Archdeaconry there are several ladies who have been elected +Churchwardens, and they do their duty right well. + +A Churchwarden must be resident in the parish for which he is elected to +serve. The contrary has been held to be the law for some years past, but +a decision of the Court of Queen's Bench, reported in the _Times_ of Nov. +20th, 1889, decides absolutely that both in new and old parishes none but +residents are qualified to serve as Churchwardens. {5} + +With reference to this point, the following memorandum has been issued +for use in the diocese of Rochester by Chancellor Dibden:-- + + It is desirable, wherever practicable, to be careful that the persons + chosen "live" in the parish. It sometimes happens, however, that it + is difficult to find suitable persons inside, and the parish wish to + appoint an outsider. This should never be done if objection is + raised even by a single parishioner, because the appointment is + technically faulty, and could be set aside on _mandamus_ on the + application of even one individual. If, however, the parish vestry + are unanimous, and the appointment is desirable in other respects, no + harm will ensue from the fact that the chosen churchwarden is + technically ineligible. Unless and until his position is challenged, + as by a _mandamus_, he will have the same powers and rights as any + other Churchwarden. For the election of a disqualified person as + Churchwarden is not absolutely ineffective, but the person so + elected, when once admitted, can do all lawful acts belonging to the + office until he has been displaced. + +The 90th canon of 1603 (which is the date of the setting forth of the +existing code of canons) directs that "the choice of . . . Churchwardens, +or Questmen, Sidesmen, or Assistants, shall be yearly made in Easter +week." An election at any other time is valid in law. {6} + +It is supposed that the Churchwardens were called Questmen or Searchers +from the fact that they were empowered and instructed to search for cases +of heresy, or open sin, in their several parishes, and report them to +their Ecclesiastical Superiors. + +Two derivations are given of the title of Sidesmen. Some suppose that +they are so called because they are elected as assistants to the +Churchwardens to stand by their side; other suppose the word to be an +abbreviation of Synodsmen, because in ancient times the Bishops summoned +certain persons of credit from the various parishes in order to testify +as to the morals of the clergy and people. These witnesses were called +Testes Synodales, and hence some suppose the title of Sidesmen, or +Synodsmen, to have taken its origin. Of late years in populous towns +Sidesmen have often been elected, and are found to be of great help in +assisting the Churchwardens in the execution of their duties. + +The Vestry at which the Churchwardens and Sidesmen (if any) are to be +elected must be duly summoned. The notice summoning the Vestry must be +signed either by the Incumbent, the Curate, one Churchwarden, or one +Overseer of the poor. {7} + +It is obviously advisable that the signatures of the Incumbent and of +both Churchwardens should be attached to the notice of the Easter Vestry. +This notice specifying the particular business to be transacted must be +affixed on a Sunday, three clear days before the holding of the meetings, +at or near the principal door of all the Churches and Chapels in the +parish. {8a} The Incumbent of the parish is by law the ex-officio +Chairman of the Vestry. {8b} In his absence the ratepayers present must +elect a Chairman for the occasion. The Curate does not necessarily take +his place as Chairman, unless elected to do so by the Vestry. The usual +custom in parishes is for the Incumbent to nominate one Churchwarden and +the parishioners the other. Sometimes the parishioners elect both. The +canon {8c} indeed seems to point out the election of both Churchwardens +by the joint consent of the Minister and the parishioners as the normal +mode of action, and the nomination by the Incumbent of one and of the +parishioners of another as only to be resorted to when they cannot arrive +at a common agreement. But custom goes for a long way in this matter, +and the usual course is certainly for the Incumbent to nominate one and +the parishioners the other. In the absence of the Incumbent the Curate +has the same right to nominate one Churchwarden as the Incumbent if +present would have. {9a} + +In whatever manner the election may be carried out, the two Churchwardens +subsequently stand on an absolute equality. The Incumbent's Churchwarden +is not elected to look after the Incumbent's interests only, nor the +parishioners' Churchwarden to look after the parishioners' interests +only. The interests of both must be equally dear to the one and to the +other. Nor can they act except jointly. The Vestry even is powerless to +clothe one Churchwarden with authority to act against the will of his +colleague in office. {9b} Any election by the parishioners must take +place in the usual manner. Ratepayers present, whether paying directly +or indirectly (32 and 33 Vic., c. 41, section 19), have a right to vote, +and if a poll is demanded it cannot be refused by the Chairman. The +votes must be taken in accordance with the provisions of the Vestry Acts, +58 Geo. III, cap. 69, sec. 2, 3, 4, and 59 Geo. III, cap. 85. If the +votes are equal the Chairman has by right a casting vote, in addition to +whatever number of votes he may have as an individual ratepayer. By 58 +Geo. III, cap. 69, sec. 3, it is ordered that minutes of the proceedings +shall be written out before the close of the Vestry, and after having +been read be signed by the Chairman and any of the members present who +may like to do so. {10a} + +In some new parishes there are select Vestries, but by the 14 and 15 +Vict., cap. 97, sec. 23, in parishes formed under any Church Building +Acts before 1851 they are abolished, and it was enacted that after that +date no select Vestry should be formed. {10b} + +The Churchwardens thus duly appointed must make the following declaration +before the "ordinary, or other person" qualified to receive it:-- + + "We do solemnly and sincerely declare that we will faithfully and + diligently perform the duties of the Office of Churchwardens, to the + best of our skill and understanding, and that we will present such + persons and things as to our knowledge are presentable by the + Ecclesiastical Laws of this Realm." + +This declaration ought to be made at the visitation of the Bishop, +Chancellor, or Archdeacon next ensuing upon the election. Until this +declaration is made the Churchwarden is not legally qualified to act, and +could not enforce his authority as Churchwarden if objected to. In case +of the death of the Incumbent the parish would have no legal +representative to act as the custodian of the temporalities of the Church +in that particular parish. The fee payable by law at visitations is +eighteen shillings (30 and 31 Vict., cap. 135). {11} + +If there is a dispute as to whether a Churchwarden is legally elected or +not, it is sometimes supposed that it is the Archdeacon's business at his +visitation to decide the question. Of course Archdeacons are at all +times ready, willing, and anxious to advise any persons who apply to them +for advice to the best of their power. But it is no part of their duty, +nor are they by law authorised to decide a disputed return. Their duty +is simply that of returning officers to declare the election as certified +to them by the Vestry. A copy of the minutes of the Vestry, in case of a +dispute, should be laid before them, and the aggrieved party can, if he +wishes to do so, apply for a mandamus commanding the Rector and +Churchwardens to convene a Vestry to make a fresh election. It is for +the court to grant or to refuse the application. I hope I may not be +understood as recommending this course. I am merely stating what the law +is. {12} But all these matters should, if possible, be settled out of +court. Law-suits are apt to leave an unpleasant taste behind. If such a +case should unhappily arise it might be advisable for the Archdeacon to +suggest to the parties that they should agree to submit to his decision +of the disputed question, and waive their right of appeal to a Court of +Common Law. If this were agreed to the case might be amicably settled at +once without resource being had to any external litigation. + +If a Churchwarden duly elected ceases in the course of the year to reside +in the parish he does not _ipso facto_ vacate the office, though it is a +good reason for resignation and the appointment of another in his place. +{13} + +The Churchwardens being thus duly elected, and having made the legal +declaration at the visitation, continue in office until their successors +are elected, and have in their turn made the said declaration. + +What, then, are their duties? + +The Local Government Act, 1894, has in many ways affected them. + +Churchwardens in rural parishes are no longer _ex-officio_ Overseers of +the Poor. {14} An additional number of Overseers may be appointed to +replace the Churchwardens, and reference in any Act to the Churchwardens +and Overseers, shall, as respects any rural parish (except so far as +those references relate to the affairs of the Church), be construed as +references to the Overseers, and the legal interest in all property +vested either in the Overseer of a rural parish (other than a property +connected with the affairs of the Church, or held for an Ecclesiastical +Charity), shall, if there is a Parish Council, vest in that Council.--V. +2, (_a_), (_b_), (_c_). + +The Poor Relief Act, 1819, _i.e._, 59 Geo. III, cap. 12, enabled +Churchwardens and Overseers of a parish to acquire lands, &c., and they +were made a Corporation for that special purpose alone, and for the +specific purposes mentioned in the Act. Such lands, as regards rural +parishes having a Parish Council, now come under the management of the +Parish Council. + +The Churchwardens of every rural parish are now only concerned as +Churchwardens with the affairs of the Church. What changes then, it will +be asked, are made with regard to Vestries? + +Speaking generally as to rural parishes, the powers, duties, and +liabilities of the Vestry except (i) so far as relates to the affairs of +the Church or to Ecclesiastical Charities, or (ii) any power, duty, or +liability, transferred by this Act from the Vestry to any other authority +are transferred to the Parish Council.--6, a, 1, 2. + +One word with regard to the expression, Ecclesiastical Charities. These +words include a charity, the endowment whereof is held for some one or +more of the following purposes:-- + +(_a_.) Any spiritual purpose which is a legal purpose, or, + +(_b_.) For the benefit of any spiritual person, or ecclesiastical person +as such, or + +(_c_.) For use, if a building, as a church, chapel, mission room, Sunday +School, or otherwise by any particular church or denomination, or + +(_d_.) For the maintenance, repair, or improvement of any such building +as aforesaid, or for the maintenance of Divine service therein, or, + +(_e_.) Otherwise for the benefit of any particular church or +denomination, or of any members thereof as such (Sec. 75, i). + +Any endowment of a charity other than a building held in part only for +some of the purposes aforesaid, will be dealt with by the Charity +Commissioners on the application of any person interested. + +The expression, Ecclesiastical Charity, includes any building which in +the opinion of the Charity Commissioners has been erected or provided +within forty years before the passing of this Act, mainly by or at the +cost of members of any particular church or denomination. + +The expression, affairs of the church, includes the distribution of +offertories or other collections made in any church (sec. 75). + +It may be well to add that the expression Parochial Charity, when used in +the Act, means a charity the benefits of which are, or the separate +distribution of the benefits of which is, confined to the inhabitants of +a single parish, or of a single ancient ecclesiastical parish divided +into two or more parishes, or of not more than five neighbouring +parishes. (_Ibid._) + +These also come under the management of the Parish Council. + +The provision of parish books and of a vestry room or parochial office, +parish chest, and the holding or management of parish property not being +property relating to affairs of the Church or held for an Ecclesiastical +charity, are also in rural parishes transferred to the Parish Council. + +The custody of the registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials, and of +all other books and documents containing entries wholly or partly +relating to the affairs of the Church or to Ecclesiastical charities, +except documents directed by law to be kept with the public books, +writings, and papers of the parish, remains as provided by law before the +passing of the Local Government Act, _i.e._, in the hands of the +incumbent. + +The Parish Council have a right to reasonable access to all such books +and documents referred to above, and the incumbent and Churchwardens have +a similar right with respect to books, etc., in the custody of the Parish +Council (xvii, 8). + +There is one matter connected with the particular section of the Local +Government Act, 1894, now under consideration, which has given rise to +some discussion. In whose custody should the Tithe Map and Award be +placed? Should the Incumbent or the Parish Council have the charge of +them? Now, I am no lawyer, and I should be very sorry to be supposed to +give any opinion on a question which admits of so much argument on both +sides. But I do very strongly deprecate any litigation on the matter. +It is a very doubtful point, and he who takes the question into a Court +of Law must at any rate be prepared to have to back up his opinion with a +well-filled purse. The final paragraph of Section 17, Sub-section 8, +almost seems as if the draughtsman of the act expected questions to arise +under it. It runs thus:--"The Incumbent and Churchwardens on the one +part, and the Parish Council on the other, shall have reasonable access +to all such books documents, writings, and papers, as are referred to in +this Sub-section, and any differences as to custody or access shall be +determined by the County Council." Is it not just a case in which, if +there is no cause for complaint, and no reasonable access refused, these +documents should remain in their existing custody (usually that of the +Incumbent), and that if differences arise, an amicable appeal should be +made to the County Council, and the decision of that body acquiesced in +by both parties? + +This is evidently the opinion of the President of the Board of +Agriculture (Mr. Chaplin), who on February 8th, 1897, in the House of +Commons, replied as follows to a question on this subject:-- + + I am aware that questions have arisen with regard to the custody of + documents under Sub-section 8 of Section 17 of the Local Government + Act, 1894. The Act contemplated that this would be the case, and has + provided that any questions as to such custody shall be determined by + the County Council. The Local Government Board have no jurisdiction + to determine questions as regards the Tithe Map, and it has been + their practice to inform Parish Councils to this effect. I am + advised that Tithe Maps are under the Tithe Commutation Act, 1886, to + be kept "with the public books, writings, and papers of the parish," + and the Sub-section to which I have referred requires therefore that + they shall either remain in their existing custody or be deposited in + such custody as the Parish Council may direct. + +It may be well to mention here that when there is in a rural parish an +existing Vestry Clerk appointed under the Trustees Act, 1850, he shall +become the Clerk of the Parish Council, holding office by the same tenure +as before, and while performing the duties shall not receive less salary +or remuneration than before (sec. 81, 2, 4). + +In our canons, which date from 1603, no fewer than eighteen refer to the +duties of Churchwardens. One canon enjoins them to present to the +ordinary those guilty of notorious crimes and scandals, hinderers of the +Word of God, disturbers of Divine Service, and non-communicants at +Easter. Other Canons refer to their duties in not allowing loiterers +near the Church in time of Divine Service, in providing bread and wine +for the Holy Communion, and marking those who present themselves at the +Lord's Table. Others enjoin them to take care that no stranger be +admitted to preach in Church without showing his licence; to provide a +sure coffer for the safe keeping of the registers, and to see that the +proper entries are therein made; to provide for the Church service books, +font, Communion table, and pulpit, and a chest for alms; and further, to +see that the Church is kept in sufficient reparation, that neither the +Church or Churchyard be in any way profaned; that the bells be not rung +at any time without good cause to be allowed by the minister of the place +and by themselves; to see that the parishioners duly resort to their +Church upon Sundays and holy days; that none stand idle in the +Churchyard, or make any disturbance in the Church or Churchyard during +the time of Divine Service; and further, call upon and exhort such as are +negligent in resorting to the Church that they fail not to amend their +ways; to keep the accounts connected with these matters; and, "last of +all, going out of their office they shall truly deliver up to the +parishioners whatever money or other things of right belonging to the +parish which remaineth in their hands, that they may be delivered over by +them to the next Churchwardens by bill indented." {22} + +In the fulfilment of these duties it is, in my opinion, difficult to +exaggerate the influence for good which a Churchwarden may exercise in +the parish in which his lot is cast. Of course it is possible to perform +the duties perfunctorily, or to let them slide altogether; but if his +heart is really in his work, if he is anxious to do all in his power that +the ecclesiastical machinery in the parish should work smoothly, I will +undertake to say that he will find plenty of scope for his energies. If +lethargic or antagonistic he may greatly hinder the Church's work; but if +in a friendly spirit and with words of wisdom he is always ready to meet +the Rector and consult as to the advisability of this or that particular +course of action, the office becomes neither a surplusage nor a sinecure. +There is nothing worse in a parish than either clerical or lay clan-ship. +Isolation is good neither for the one nor the other. The interests of +both are the same, and surely their hands should be joined together for +common action in the common Master's cause. + +And as it seems to me this side of his office comes into prominence in +connection with the induction of a new Incumbent. For the entering upon +a new cure is of undoubtedly great and solemn importance to the Parson +himself, but it is hardly less so to the parish. How much depends, as +regards the future peace, happiness, and prosperity of the parish, upon +the relations existing between Pastor and flock. No doubt the character, +zeal, energy, devotion, and even the idiosyncrasies, manner, and general +bearing of the Incumbent are of vital importance. Courtesy begets +courtesy. Consideration for the feelings of others is met in the same +spirit. But sometimes, I fear the Laity suppose that the peace of a +parish depends almost entirely upon the Clergyman. He is but a unit in +the parochial system. If one thing is more absolutely necessary than +another for the harmonious working of Clergy and Laity in a parish, or +the welfare of the whole, it is that there should be no suspicions the +one of the other. Perfect confidence and a generous trust should be the +rule of all dealings between Incumbents and Churchwardens. + +It cannot but be expected that an Incumbent on first coming into a parish +should find some things which he would prefer otherwise. The special +hobbies, so to speak, of his predecessor may not be his. His energies +may not be put forth on exactly the same lines as those of the Incumbent +whom he succeeds. And then sometimes the staunch friends of the former +ministry may look coldly and askant upon the new Rector's labours and +think that his very efforts in fresh and hitherto untried fields are +reflections upon the past. It should not be so. All men are not cast in +the same mould. One branch of ministerial work may be more congenial to +one parish priest than another, and it is only natural that he should be +more devoted to that particular portion of work in which he seems to be +most successful. But changes are not synonymous with reflections upon a +former _regime_. A man should not be made an offender for a word. A +Churchwarden should be prepared in all good faith to transfer his +allegiance, if called upon so to do, from one Incumbent to another. It +is no disloyalty to do so. The "King is dead; long live the King" is +loyalty alike to the past and to the newly reigning Sovereign. If old +customs are changed, old practices discontinued, the Churchwarden should +find out by private inquiry from his Rector the why and the wherefore, +and if the change is for the better he should not let love of existing +practice be stereotyped into a desire of a never changing system, which +may perchance easily slide into lethargy and somnolent repose. In these +days it does not do merely + + "Stare super antiquas vias." + +Some persons I know are so constituted that they suspect the existence of +a snake under every blade of grass. It is not a happy disposition either +for the person who is possessed with this idiosyncrasy, or in its reflex +action upon others. True charity thinketh no evil. It is far better to +be over sanguine in our charitable estimate of other men's motives, even +if we do sometimes ultimately find that our estimate was wrong, than to +be constantly living in an atmosphere of suspicion. Suspicion and +consequent mistrust often produce the very effects which otherwise would +never have had any existence at all. + +I have ventured to say these few words because I feel very strongly how +much the ecclesiastical peace of a parish depends upon the harmonious +action of the Incumbent and Churchwardens. It is not often that the case +is otherwise. Generally speaking they work zealously and actively +together, ready as occasion may arise to adopt, if necessary, new methods +of warfare in the conflict against sin and evil as fellow-workers with +the Clergy in the great work of the Church on earth. + +Let me then state, as briefly as I can, some of a Churchwarden's duties. + +I suppose him to be duly elected, and to have taken the declaration at +the visitation either of the Bishop, the Chancellor, or the Archdeacon. +It would be well that the first step should be to look to the fences of +the Churchyard and the general state of the fabric of the Church--the +roof, the tiles, the tower or spire, and the general fittings of the +Church. If any of these are found to be seriously out of order, counsel +should be at once taken with the Incumbent as to the proper course to be +adopted. In these matters a stitch in time often saves nine, and though +we have now no compulsory Church-rate to fall back upon for Church +expenses, yet in an harmoniously worked parish there really ought to be +no insurmountable difficulty in raising the sum necessary for the due +repairs of the Church and for the services of the Sanctuary. Offertories +and subscriptions can be made to supplement one another, and if what is +necessary in the way of repair is really honestly done year by year, it +will be much easier to raise the funds wanted than if by neglect and +postponement a large outlay is suddenly found to be absolutely necessary +in order to avoid some dreadful catastrophe. + +In this general preliminary survey the state of the Churchyard will +naturally come under his notice. The Churchyard is the freehold of the +Incumbent, which he holds in trust for the service which it is intended +to subserve. Sometimes an arrangement is made by him with the +Churchwardens as to the keeping the Churchyard tidy. No doubt the +Churchwardens are bound to see that the proper measures for this purpose +are taken by themselves or the Incumbent. But although our Churches, +speaking generally, are in good repair, yet it seems to me that in many +cases sufficient attention is not paid to the keeping of the Churchyard +in proper order. The days are gone by when horned cattle were allowed to +find sweet pasture in the resting-place of the dead, but sheep still +linger in some country districts. And there is often a temptation not +always successfully resisted--when the Churchyard is large--that the crop +of grass during the summer months should be allowed to grow without +interference by scythe or machine, until fit to be cut for hay. But I do +feel strongly that the temptation _should be_ resisted. Nothing so +quickly awakens doubtful feelings in the breast of a passer-by as to the +zeal, energy and devotion of the Incumbent, as a Churchyard untidy and +unkempt, paths full of weeds, hedges untrimmed, grass long and +straggling. Nothing, on the other hand, is so grateful to all the +parishioners of a particular parish as the Churchyard well kept and +looked after, the graves neat and trimmed, the whole place by its very +appearance asserting its right to the title of God's Acre. I do not like +to see the Parsonage garden filled with lovely flowers, and in beautiful +order, while the adjoining Churchyard is starved. Let each receive the +attention which is its proper due. + +With regard to closed Churchyards the obligations of the Churchwardens in +rural parishes with respect to maintaining and repairing closed +Churchyards, wherever the expenses of such maintenance and repair are +repayable out of the Poor Rate under the Burial Act, 1855, {30a} are +transferred to the Parish Council. Provided that such obligations shall +not in the case of any particular parish be deemed to attach, unless or +until the Churchwardens subsequent to the passing of this Act shall give +a certificate as in the Burial Act, 1855, provided, in order to obtain +the repayment of such expenses out of the Poor Rate (sec. 6, II, _b_). + +It has been decided that {30b} if a Churchyard is closed by order in +Council it must be kept in order by the Churchwardens, and if it be a +Cemetery formed by a Burial Board, then by the Burial Board. In the +former case the expenses would, under the Local Government Act, be repaid +to the Churchwardens in rural parishes by the Parish Council, on +presentation of the proper certificate as mentioned in the previous +paragraph. + +If the Churchyard requires enlargement, and an adjoining piece of ground +can be obtained, it is well to remember that a special Act has been +passed (30 and 31 Vict., c. 133) for diminishing the expense connected +with the consecration of ground so added to an old Churchyard. The form +of conveyance is given in the Act; the powers given in the School Sites' +Act "to persons being seised in fee simple, fee tail, or for life of and +in any manor or lands of freehold, copyhold or customary tenure, and +having the beneficial interest therein, to grant, convey, or enfranchise +by way of gift, sale or exchange in fee simple, or for term of years, any +quantity not exceeding one acre of such land as a site for a school" are +"deemed to apply to all persons desirous of granting land for the purpose +of such enlargement" (of an existing Churchyard) "in the same way as if +the said land had been granted as a site for a school." + +In cases in which it is wished to provide a burial ground under a burial +board, the first step to be taken is for a vestry to be summoned _seven_ +days before the holding of such meeting, to take the subject into +consideration, and if it is agreed to proceed in the matter, a +requisition to that effect must be sent to the Home Secretary, and the +officials of the Home Office will send down full directions as to the +mode of procedure. {32} + +The following general information on this subject may be found of use:-- + +The enlargement of a Churchyard sometimes makes it necessary that graves +should be built over, or the bodies therein contained removed to another +part of the Churchyard, and it occasionally happens that the parties +interested object to the former but are prepared to agree to the latter. +It is well, therefore, to know that this removal can take place by +faculty granted by the ordinary for that purpose without application to +the Home Secretary (20 and 21 Vict., cap. 81, s. 25). When a Churchyard +is closed and a cemetery has been provided under a burial board to be +used for interments, the custody of the old registers belongs to the +Incumbent, and he is entitled to the fees for certificates of burial +previous to the closing of the Churchyard, but the custody of the +registers of interments in the cemetery belongs to the chaplain or +officer of the burial board. The Act 52 Geo. III., cap. 146, s. 4, +requiring certificates of burials in any other place than the Churchyard +of the Parish Church to be sent to the Incumbent, has been repealed as +far as burials are concerned in grounds provided by the Burial Acts (20 +and 21 Vict., cap. 81, s. 15). + +Then I wish that it were universally acknowledged that the next step +should be for a new Churchwarden to inspect the Church goods which are +placed under his charge; to see that they tally accurately with the list +which ought to be kept in the iron chest of all movable articles +belonging to the Church in that parish. {34a} If this were universally +done we should not hear, as we do now unfortunately hear from time to +time, of Church goods having disappeared during a vacancy, or of +registers being missing which may be absolutely invaluable. Legally +speaking, the safe custody of the furniture of the Church rests upon the +Churchwardens. {34b} This list should be signed by the Incumbent and +Churchwardens, and kept in the parish chest, and include all movable +articles of Church furniture and belongings. + +There should also be a report on the fabric of the Church, mentioning the +character, date, and cost of alterations made, the date of consecration; +if a modern Church the Act under which built. Any specially +characteristic features of the Church should be mentioned. + +The inventory of Church furniture should include Church plate, with +copies of inscriptions and dates, Church linen, Service books of all +kinds, furniture of the vestry, ornaments for the Holy Table, special +gifts, brasses, lectern, everything in short that is moveable, the bells, +with inscriptions, if any, and the rules for ringers, the parish register +books, with dates carefully made of the first entry in each book. If +there are any gaps in the registers it is well to mention them. +Benefactions should be noted; also the nature of the tenure of the parish +school, with an intimation as to where the trust deed is kept. A terrier +of glebe lands, with any exchange noted, should be made. There should be +a table of the customary fees charged, {35} and of any payments due to +the Ecclesiastical Commission or to Queen Anne's Bounty, with the amount +of any receipts due from any public body. It is clear that the more +complete such a list can be made the more valuable will it be for future +generations. + +It would also be very useful to keep in connection with this inventory a +complete list of the various services held, with the amount of the +offertories and the purposes to which they are devoted. + +Then with regard to insurance of the fabric. It is most important that +this should be looked into. There is no excuse for any Church to remain +uninsured. The premium for insurance is now fixed at such a low rate +that the expense is really very small, and the Churchwardens should do +all in their power to persuade the Vestry, if persuasion is necessary, to +sanction the insurance of the Church for a proper sum. I have sometimes +found, after making enquiries on the subject and having ascertained +either that the Church was not insured, or, if insured, only for a very +small sum, that the churchwardens always supposed it was "all right." +Very seldom have any held back from doing their duty when it has been +quietly pointed out to them. An Ecclesiastical Buildings Fire Office has +been established on a sound basis, the offices of which are in Norfolk +Street, Strand, London. It is doing a very large business, and whatever +surplus profits accrue are appropriated to the support of Church work in +the various Dioceses in proportion to the amount of insurances in each, +and to such special objects as are recommended by the Bishop and +Archdeacons. I may also mention Mutual Fire Insurance Offices, such as +the Hand-in-Hand (New Bridge Street, London, E.C.) and the County Fire +(Regent Street), which are old-established offices, and which +periodically return to insurers a certain amount of the premiums paid on +their policies in cases in which no fire has taken place during the +preceding few years. Of this I am quite certain, that if an uninsured +Church were unfortunately burned down, those in the parish interested in +the erection of a new Church would have the greatest possible difficulty +in raising the necessary funds, in the face of such a manifest want of +due caution and forethought on the part of the proper authorities in past +years. + +It is, perhaps, hardly necessary for me to say that a strictly accurate +record of every sixpence that is spent upon these and such like matters +must be kept by the Churchwardens, so that at the close of their year, +when they pass on the parish books to their successors, they may be +enabled to lay before them a clear and detailed account of all the +receipts and expenses of the preceding year, with vouchers for all +payments, and to hand over the actual balance remaining after all +liabilities have been met. + +It is often supposed that Church Rates are abolished. But such is not +the case. _Compulsory_ Church Rates are done away with by 31 and 32 +Vict., cap. 109, except in cases where the rates have been legally +mortgaged, or are subject to private Acts of Parliament. Section 6, +however, of the above Act states distinctly that "this Act shall not +affect vestries, or the making, assessing, receiving, or otherwise +dealing with any Church Rate, save in so far as relates to the recovery +thereof"; and Section 9 authorises the appointment of trustees, the +Incumbent, and two householders or owners or occupiers of land in the +parish, to be nominated, one by the patron, the other by the Bishop of +the Diocese in which the parish is situate. These trustees form a body +corporate, and may, as circumstances require, pay to the Churchwardens +any funds in their hands for the building, rebuilding, enlargement, and +repair of any Church or Chapel, and any purpose to which, as before +defined in the Act, Church Rates may be applied. + +Questions are so often put to me as to the relation existing between +district parishes and the mother Church, that it may be useful if a few +points are mentioned with respect to which difficulties occasionally +arise. The preliminaries of marriage and the solemnization of the rite +itself are a fruitful source of difficulty. They have however, as a +matter of fact, been set at rest by a decision in the Court of Queen's +Bench, in the case of Fuller _v._ Alford, before Mr. Justice Cave and Mr. +Justice Day, which affects all new parishes hitherto created, or that may +hereafter be created, under the Peel and Blandford Acts. The question at +issue was as to the right of the inhabitants of a district parish to have +their banns published and to be married in the Church of the mother +parish, and as to the right of the Incumbent of the mother parish to +publish the banns, solemnise the marriage, and receive the fees for the +same in the case of residents in the district parish. The case is fully +reported in the _Times_ of March 9th, 1883. Mr. Justice Cave, in giving +judgment for the Plaintiff, said that the Act of 1843 as well as that of +1856 (the words of the latter being clearer than those of the former) +made the district a new parish for all ecclesiastical purposes, and banns +of marriage might be published and marriages solemnized, and all the laws +and customs then relating to them would apply to the new parish, the +effect of which was that the banns must be published in the Church of the +new parish. Though recent legislation had brought into prominence the +civil character of the marriage contract, and had enabled it to be +entered into before a Registrar, still he had no doubt that the +solemnization of matrimony in a Church was within the words +"ecclesiastical purposes." The inhabitants therefore of a district +parish have no more right to have their banns asked or their marriage +solemnised in the mother Church than they have in any other Church in +England, so long as they reside in that district. + +District parishes, it will be observed, are separate parishes _for +Ecclesiastical purposes_. These words affect the question as to the +right of the ratepaying parishioners of a new district voting for the +Churchwardens of the old parish. This they have a right to do on the +following ground:--The Churchwardens of an old parish have functions to +perform which are rather secular than ecclesiastical. They are in some +cases _ex-officio_ Overseers, and in many cases officially concerned in +the management of endowed charities. The creation therefore of a +district for ecclesiastical purposes does not deprive the inhabitants of +the new district of the right which they had before of voting for +Churchwardens in the old civil parish of which they continue to be +ratepayers. The ratepayers of the _whole_ of the old parish have +consequently a right to vote in vestry at the election of the +Churchwardens in the old parish. The privilege, however, is not +reciprocal, for the ratepayers in the old parish have no similar right of +attending at the vestry and voting for Churchwardens in the new district, +because they are elected "for ecclesiastical purposes" only. + +It would be impossible to speak of the duties of Churchwardens without +touching upon the vexed questions of pews. I suppose that if we could +turn the hands of the clock back for some centuries, and were then +legislating for the future of the Church with our experience of the pew +system by a prophetic anachronism clearly present in our minds, we should +hardly suggest for legislation such laws as would bring about the +existing state of things. With the Epistle of St. James in our thoughts +there are some points in our present legal system which most persons find +it difficult to justify. But it is a thorny subject, and I do not want +to dogmatise. It is, perhaps, just the one very point with respect to +which great caution is needed, much charity, much forbearance. You +cannot ride rough-shod over old prejudices, or if you do you are sure +sooner or later to suffer for it. No doubt in theory (to use the words +of the Bishop of Carlisle) the Churchwardens, as the officers of the +ordinary, have, subject to him, the sole appointment and arrangement of +the seats. They are to act to the best of their judgment, and without +favour, to the best advantage of all. {43} And for the most part, in new +Churches, this arrangement works well. Either by agreement of the heads +of the parish the Church is declared to be in the popular sense of the +term "free and open," which is perhaps on the whole the best of all or +else by mutual forbearance and general co-operation an arrangement is +arrived at by which the worshippers in Church have from time to time +seats allotted to them. + +It is not, however, in the case of new Churches that difficulties arise, +except when these new Churches take the place of old ones. Then it may +be that the old abuses of faculty pews and of supposed exclusive rights +in certain holdings have to be contended with. Cases have occurred where +supposed usurpers have been kept out of faculty pews when there is plenty +of room, or of locking up the pew when the so-called owner is absent. +Faculty pews are an anomaly, and I wish there were none, but if the title +to them can be proved they are legal and must be dealt with accordingly. +I do not imagine that any new faculties are now issued by the Courts, but +in the rebuilding of old Churches the dealing with existing faculties +requires very tender handling. It were heartily to be wished that all +legal holders of faculty pews would consent to waive their rights for the +future, for the sake of peace and the avoidance of jealousies. Of course +in such a case the Churchwardens would feel it an obligation which it +would be their pleasure to fulfil, to provide those who give up their +rights with such accommodation as their families may require. But if, as +is sometimes the case, they stand exclusively upon their rights, +Churchwardens have no power to abrogate the law, and can only look +forward to the future with hope, either that a short Act of Parliament +may be passed enacting that at the death of the present owner of a +faculty pew that particular faculty should cease, and determine, only +excepting (unless with the consent of the owner) cases in which under the +Church Building Acts the faculty was issued in consequence of money paid +down for the building of the Church with the understanding that the +faculty would be granted in consequence: or if this be not done that in +the lapse of time some holder of the faculty may regard the matter from +an unselfish standpoint and voluntarily resign his rights. + +Meanwhile it is well to remember with regard to existing faculty pews +that:-- + +1. The form of appropriation in old faculties varies considerably. In +order to ascertain the wording of a particular faculty application should +be made to the Diocesan Registrar. + +2. With regard to pews annexed by prescription to certain messuages the +right to the pew passes with the messuage, the tenant of which for the +time being has also _de jure_ for the time being the prescriptive right +to the pew. {46a} + +3. No faculty can be legally granted entitling a non-parishioner to a +seat in the body of the Church. {46b} Any faculty so worded as to allow +this is void as far as that particular point is concerned. + +4. No faculty gives power either to the owners and occupiers of the +house in respect of which the faculty has been issued to let such seats +apart from the houses, or to appropriate them to other persons. + +No Churchwarden should ever allow a parishioner to repair the pew which +he may temporarily occupy. Such an act, if done with the sanction of the +Churchwardens, may in after years seem to give a claim to proprietorship +in that particular pew. Too great care cannot be taken to avoid any +future misunderstanding. + +The matter is too often looked upon as a party question. The great Duke +of Wellington was no party man, and I cannot forbear from quoting in +connection with this subject an extract from a letter written to my +father, the Bishop of Winchester, in 1836, in response to an application +to him to support a Diocesan Church Building Society, which was then in +course of formation. The Duke writes concerning providing accommodation +in country Churches as follows:-- + + "It has frequently occurred to me that when Church room is required + the first thing to do is to prevail upon individuals to give up the + pews which they cannot use . . . If more space was required I should + propose that all pews should be given up, that the whole space of the + Church should be laid open for the accommodation of all the + parishioners indiscriminately, separate chairs of a cheap description + being provided for their accommodation. This being done, and space + being still required for the accommodation of the parishioners in + their attendance upon Divine Service, I would propose to consider the + mode of enlarging the Church, or if that could not be effected, of + building another Church or Chapel. It must never be forgotten that + another Church or Chapel would require the attendance of another + Clergyman, who must live and must be remunerated. He can be + remunerated only by the sale or hire of the pews and places in the + new place of Divine worship; and here again would commence the evil + which has in my opinion been the most efficient cause of the + non-attendance at Divine worship of the lower classes of the people + of this country." {48} + +Surely these words, which (bearing in mind who was the writer of them) +cannot be supposed to have been the offspring of heated ecclesiastical +partisanship, are well worthy of consideration, even after the lapse of +more than half a century. It does, indeed, seem sad that parochial +difficulties should so often arise in respect of Church sittings. There +is no part of the parochial machinery which more requires the free +application of the oil of common sense--Christian charity and a true +spirit of forbearing courtesy in order to avoid friction. Blessed are +the peacemakers. + +Difficulties not unfrequently arise in connection with the conveyance of +buildings or of land to be used not only for public worship, but also for +meetings, classes, etc. The subject was under the consideration of the +Committee of the Incorporated Church Building Society in 1889, and with +the co-operation of their legal advisers a statement was issued clearly +pointing out the advantages and the disadvantages of the several modes of +procedure possible. With the permission of the Church Building Society's +Committee, I add in Appendix X a summary of the conveniences and +inconveniences of the several Acts. The Minister and Churchwardens are +not a corporation with perpetual succession under the common law, though +often supposed so to be because they are specially so made for the +purpose of carrying out the Schools Sites' Acts. The advisers of the +Church Building Society on the whole recommend that a conveyance should +be made to individual Trustees, "which will be good according to the +ordinary law of mortmain as a charitable conveyance, the only real +objection to this being that if the conveyance be a gift, without price +paid, it will fail if the grantor dies within twelve months." A form of +such conveyance has been settled for the parish of Staines. This form +has been printed by the Church Building Society, but they recommend that +it should be amended by adding a power, to be used if a consecrated +Church is eventually built on the land, to revoke the trusts and convey +the land and building for the purpose of a Church to any person or body +lawfully authorised to accept such conveyance. If the Staines form is +not adopted, it is on the whole recommended that action should be taken +under 43 Geo. III, cap. 108. {50} + +I pass on to another point. On a vacancy occurring in an incumbency +either through the resignation or death of the Incumbent, certain duties +of considerable importance devolve upon the Churchwardens. During the +vacancy they are in charge of the temporalities of the incumbency, and +therefore it is necessary that a sequestration of the living should be +issued, empowering them to do such things as are necessary in connection +therewith. Application should at once be made with reference to this to +the Bishop's Registrar. It is then their duty to see that Church +property, whether in connection with the fabric, endowment, or glebe, +suffers no loss during the vacancy. They have also to provide for the +services in Church and any occasional duty which may arise. A +newly-appointed Incumbent does not become legally responsible for this +until he has been instituted, or collated, as the case may be. But it +would be well always if the Churchwardens, immediately on an appointment +being notified to them, should communicate with the Incumbent-elect and +consult with him as to the best mode of providing for the duty. It is +well that Churchwardens should know that the license of a Curate does not +lapse in consequence of the death of the Incumbent. Six weeks' notice +within six months after institution is legally necessary if a change is +to be made. {52a} The widow of a deceased Incumbent has a right to +remain in the parsonage house for two calendar months subsequent to the +death of her husband. {52b} All these points should, if possible, be +made a matter of friendly arrangement, but the actual law of the case is +as I have stated it. + +There is one question sometimes asked by Churchwardens to which it may be +well to refer. Have they the custody of the keys of the Church, the +appointment of the organist, control over the Church music, and over the +ringing of the Church bells? + +With regard to the keys of the Church. It is the undoubted fact that the +church is the freehold of the Incumbent, subject, of course, to the right +of the parishioners to be present in it at all legal Services of a +religious character. It may be often convenient that the Churchwardens +should have a duplicate key of the Church, in order that they may be able +to fulfil their duties in connection with the survey of the fabric, or +for other causes, but this must be clearly understood to be subject to +the will of the Incumbent. + +The same with regard to the musical portion of the Service or appointment +of the organist. Lord Stowell's words are:-- + + "The Minister has the right of directing the Service, _e.g._, when + the organ shall and shall not play, and when children shall chaunt + and shall not chaunt, though the organist is paid and the children + managed by the Churchwardens." {53} + +Nothing can be clearer or stronger than this. + +So too with regard to the Church bells. The Churchwardens have the +custody of the bells, and the bell ropes are in most cases Church +property placed under their charge, but the law with reference to the +ringing of the bells is undoubted; that for any occasion except that of +Divine Service the permission of the Incumbent is absolutely necessary +for the ringing of the bells. Without that permission they cannot be +rung. {54} + +There is one further point on which a question sometimes arises in +connection with offertories and collections in church. With reference to +offertories gathered at the time of the celebration of Holy Communion at +an ordinary Service the Churchwardens and Incumbent are expressly +directed by the rubric to dispose of them to such pious and charitable +uses as they shall think fit, wherein if they disagree it shall be +disposed of as the Ordinary shall appoint. The Incumbent has the +responsibility of arranging with reference to collections made not in +connection with the celebration of the Holy Communion. Incumbents are +thankful when the Churchwardens help them with their advice as to what +objects shall be brought before the congregation. In the case of all +collections, for whatsoever purpose they be made, it is most desirable +for the avoiding of any possible difficulty that a written statement +should be put upon the Church door on the Sunday after, stating the +amount of the collections made on the previous Sunday. If the collection +be made for any charitable or missionary society the official receipt for +the money collected and sent should also be affixed to the church door. + +This leads me to mention another point of considerable importance. In +these days of monetary difficulties and agricultural depression the +frequency of offertories is often a question difficult of solution. It +is perhaps still more difficult wisely to decide the objects for which +the offertory shall be made. With regard to local objects there can of +course be no question. We recognise in these days the power of the +pence, and no one grumbles at the collection of money for purely +parochial purposes. But it is when our people are asked for money for +objects outside the parish that the difficulty really arises. But it +ought to be remembered that we do not lead individual isolated lives +apart from our fellows. The parish is not the centre of the universe. +The tendency of the uneducated mind is to isolate itself from the +interests of others, and to look at all matters from a purely selfish +point of view. The parish is an accidental collection of individual +souls in a particular diocese. The diocese is an aggregation of separate +parishes scattered through an assigned area. The members of the Church +in a particular parish and diocese are members of the Holy Catholic +Church, which by its very nomenclature abrogates individual isolation. +It follows, therefore, that parochial interests must not absorb attention +to the exclusion of larger and less personal objects. The Body is one, +and the members of the Body should work together for the good of the +whole. Corporate as well as individual life is a reality, and this fact +must not be lost sight of in connection with our offertories. I venture +to say that a parish which confines its offertories to local and +parochial purposes will lose by the very contraction of its sympathies. +The duty that lies upon us as trustees of God's gifts to utilize them for +His honour and glory, should be pointed out. The privilege of being +allowed to help with our substance, those who stand in need of our +assistance, should be duly urged; and the warmth which is thus kindled in +the heart towards others will react in infusing fresh life into the +support of parochial institutions. The habit of giving grows by use. +The blood must not stagnate round the heart, or the extremities will soon +suffer. Your fingers die because the action of the heart is weak. The +promise is that "He that watereth others shall be watered also himself." + +I have no intention of entering into many details in this matter, but I +cannot be wrong in enforcing this principle. Church work at home and +abroad, as distinct from parochial organizations, should be +systematically brought before all congregations however small: Church +work at home, including home missions; and Church work abroad, including +foreign missionary societies. + +Let me give very emphatically this caution. If aggrieved parishioners +come to a Churchwarden and endeavour to persuade him to join a cave of +Adullam, he should be careful not to be rash or hasty in his answer. He +must not take all for granted which heated partisans may allege, but +remember there are always two sides to every question. We are none of us +infallible in our judgment, and many matters after consultation with +others assume a very different aspect to that which at first sight they +seemed to present. If difficulties arise he must not threaten. It does +more harm than good. Let him try what conciliation will do. Let him see +whether common ground of action cannot be found. Certainly it is unwise +to rush into print; it only tends to inflame the smouldering embers of a +quarrel which, but for the unfortunate publicity given to it, might soon +have come to a happy termination. + +Churchwardens _must_ work with the Clergy and the Clergy with the +Churchwardens if they are to be a blessing in the parish in which they +are elected to serve. They have not been brought by chance into +connection with the Incumbent of their parish, for chance is not a word +to be found in the Christian's dictionary. + +With regard to all these cases, if difficulties arise in connection with +any of them it is seldom, if ever, wise to stand out for strict law. If +the matter cannot be settled amicably the interposition of the Rural Dean +or Archdeacon, or, as a final resort, the Bishop, will often smooth a +wrinkled brow and restore to a parish the inestimable blessing of peace. + +It is because I feel the great importance and usefulness of the office of +a Churchwarden, that I have ventured, in accordance with the wish so +kindly expressed by those to whom the foregoing words were in substance +addressed, to publish them in this more permanent form; and I have only +to express the hope that they may be found useful in pointing out to +Churchwardens that their office, far from being a sinecure, may, if +faithfully used, tend very directly to the furtherance of our common +Master's cause, and that work done by them in a spirit of faith and love +will not lose its reward in the great Hereafter. + + GEORGE HENRY GUILDFORD. + +THE CLOSE, WINCHESTER, +_August_, _1897_. + + + + +APPENDIX I. + + +QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION. +(_Before_ LORD COLERIDGE _and_ MR. JUSTICE MATHEW.) +THE QUEEN V. HARDING, VICAR OF BECKENHAM. + + +This case raised the question whether, in new parishes under the Church +Building Acts, it is necessary that Churchwardens shall be residents in +the parish or whether it is enough that they are rated occupiers. The +question had arisen under these circumstances. There was a new Church +built and consecrated in Beckenham, Kent, in 1875, and by an Order in +Council in 1878 a district was constituted and annexed to it under the +Church Building Act, 59 Geo. III, cap. 134, sec. 16, constituting a +"district chapelry." In 1885, on the death of the Incumbent, all the +fees of the district became due and payable to the Minister of the new +Church, and then, by the operation of Lord Blandford's Act (19 and 20 +Vict., cap. 104), the district became a separate parish for +ecclesiastical purposes; and the question was what effect this had as to +the election of Churchwardens. Under 8 and 9 Vict., cap. 70, sec. 6, it +was provided that "two fit and proper persons should be annually elected +Churchwardens, they residing within the district;" and if that statute +applied, it was admitted the Churchwardens must be resident. But it was +disputed whether it did apply, or whether at common law Churchwardens +must be resident. In Lord Blandford's Act it is provided, in sec. 14, +that wherever and as soon as banns of marriage are authorised to be +published in a consecrated Church or Chapel to which a district belongs, +and the Incumbent is by such authority entitled, for his own benefit, to +the fees arising from the performance of such services, then such +district shall become and be a separate parish for ecclesiastical +purposes, as is contemplated in 6 and 7 Vict., cap. 37, sec. 15, and all +the provisions of the same shall apply; and then, under that Act, sec. +15, when any Church or Chapel shall be built, etc., such district shall +from and after consecration be deemed to be a new parish for +ecclesiastical purposes. This, however, did not in terms, it will be +seen, deal with the present question, and appeared to leave it open, and +so it will be seen it was discussed in the alternative on the ground that +at common law Churchwardens must be resident, and that is not altered by +one Act, and is re-enacted in the other. However, in the present case it +appeared that it had not been so understood, and on April 25, 1889, when, +at Easter, two Churchwardens were chosen for the new district parish of +Christ Church, Beckenham, one of them was a gentleman who had been chosen +in previous years, and who is not a resident, though he is a rated +occupier in the parish. The gentleman in question, a Mr. Matthews, was +elected by a majority of three; no objection was taken at the time, but +afterwards his opponent, a Mr. Hayland, desired to raise the objection, +and on June 24th last obtained a rule _nisi_ for a _mandamus_ to the +vicar to hold a new election of churchwarden on the ground that the +election of Mr. Matthews was invalid, as he was not a resident in the +parish, he having premises there, a "store" and some stabling for which +he was rated, but not living in the parish. The case now came on to be +argued. + +Mr. Dibden appeared for the applicant. + +Mr. Jeune, Q.C. (with Mr. Houghton), appeared on the part of the vicar to +show cause. + +Lord Coleridge said, in giving judgment, that the party elected was not +entitled to hold the office. The effect of the statute was that the new +parish was to be treated for all purposes as the old one--that it was to +be subject to the same law. Now, it was necessary under the old law that +churchwardens should be living in the parish. This gentleman was not so; +and therefore was not under the old law "a fit and proper person" to hold +the office of churchwarden. The Churchwarden had to discharge various +duties which required knowledge of the parish and parishioners. It was +said that there were authorities to the contrary in the Ecclesiastical +Courts; but speaking of them with the utmost respect, those were +ecclesiastical cases, and this was a common law case--that is, a case to +be decided by the common law--and he did not think that by the common law +a party not living in the parish, and perhaps living at a distance, was +qualified to be elected, and, if elected, bound to serve the office of +churchwarden. It appeared to be clear, rating would not be enough. It +was admitted that there must be some kind of occupation equivalent to +actual residence, and in the present case there was nothing of the kind. +No doubt the parishioners were glad to have a respectable gentleman to +fill the office. No doubt the word "residence" had received under +different statutes different interpretations, the sense being necessarily +different. Sometimes it meant where a man could be found during the day; +sometimes it meant where he slept or lived; and for some purposes perhaps +this gentleman might be deemed a resident, but for this purpose it was +necessary that he should live in the parish, be acquainted with the +parishioners, and thus be able to exercise the duties of his office, +which were to be personally exercised. The rule for a _mandamus_ to the +vicar, therefore, must be made absolute. + +Mr. Justice Mathew concurred. + +Rule absolute for a _mandamus_. + + From the _Times_, Nov. 29th, 1889. + + + + +APPENDIX II. + + +7 Gul. IV, and 1 Vict., cap. 45, sec. 3. + + +Be it further enacted that no such notice of holding a Vestry shall be +affixed on the principal door of such Church or Chapel unless the same +shall previously have been signed by a Churchwarden of the Church or +Chapel, or by the Rector, Vicar, or Curate of such parish, or by an +Overseer of the Poor of such parish; but that every notice so signed +shall be affixed on or near to the principal door of such Church or +Chapel. + + + + +APPENDIX III. + + +58 Geo. III, cap. 69, 3rd June, 1818. +_An Act for the Regulation of Parish Vestries_. + + +Sec. 2.--For the more orderly conduct of Vestries be it further enacted +that in case the Rector, or Vicar, or perpetual Curate, shall not be +present the persons so assembled in pursuance of such notice shall +forthwith nominate and appoint, by plurality of votes to be ascertained +as hereinafter is directed, one of the inhabitants of such parish to be +the Chairman of and preside in every such Vestry; and in all cases of +equality of votes upon any question arising therein the Chairman shall, +in addition to such vote or votes as he may by virtue of this Act be +entitled to give in right of his assessment, have the casting vote; and +minutes of the proceedings and resolutions of every Vestry shall be +fairly and distinctly entered in a book, to be provided for that purpose +by the Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor, and shall be signed by +the Chairman and by such other of the inhabitants present as shall think +proper to sign the same. + +Sec. 3.--And be it further enacted that in all such Vestries every +inhabitant present, who shall by the last rate which shall have been made +for the relief of the poor have been assessed and charged upon or in +respect of any annual rent, profit, or value not amounting to fifty +pounds, shall have and be entitled to give one vote and no more; and +every inhabitant then present, who shall in such last rate have been +assessed or charged upon or in respect of any annual rent or rents, +profit or value, amounting to fifty pounds or upwards, whether in one or +in more than one sum or charge, shall have and be entitled to give one +vote for every twenty-five pounds of annual rent, profit, and value upon +or in respect of which he shall have been assessed or charged in such +last rate, so, nevertheless, that no inhabitant shall be entitled to give +more than six votes; and in cases when two or more of the inhabitants +present shall be jointly rated, each of them shall be entitled to vote +according to the proportion and amount which shall be borne by him of the +joint charge; and when one only of the persons jointly rated shall +attend, he shall be entitled to vote according to and in respect of the +whole joint charge. + +Sec. 4.--Provided and be it further enacted that when any person shall +have become an inhabitant of any parish, or become liable to be rated +therein, since the making of the last rate for the relief of the poor +thereof, he shall be entitled to vote for and in respect of the lands, +tenements, and property for which he shall have become liable to be +rated, and shall consent to be rated, in like manner as if he should have +been actually rated for the same. + +Sec. 5.--Provided also and it is hereby further enacted that no person +who shall have refused or neglected to pay any rate for the relief of the +poor which shall be due from him and shall have been demanded of him, +_and_ (see Sec. 3 of the next Act quoted) shall be entitled to vote or to +be present in any Vestry of the parish for which such rate shall have +been made, until he shall have paid the same. + + + +59 Geo. III, c. 85, sec. 1. + + +. . . From and after the passing of this Act, any person who shall be +assessed and rated for the relief of the poor in respect of any annual +rent, profit, or value arising from any lands, tenements, or +hereditaments, situate in any parish in which any Vestry shall be holden +under the said recited Act (58 Geo. III, c 69), although such person +shall not reside in or be an inhabitant of such parish, shall and may +lawfully be present at such Vestry . . . and have the same privileges as +though he were an inhabitant of the said parish. + +Sec. 3 of the same Act states that the word "_and_," marked in italics in +the above quotation from Geo. III, c. 69, was inserted by mistake. + + + + +APPENDIX IV. + + +14 and 15 Vict., c. 97, sec. 23. + + +From and after the passing of this Act no select Vestry shall be formed +under the provisions of the Church Building Act, and every such select +Vestry already formed under such provisions shall be and is hereby +declared to be abolished, and all the powers and provisions therein +enacted relative to such select Vestries shall henceforth cease and +determine, provided that all matters and things done by any such select +Vestry in pursuance of any powers given them by such Acts, or any of +them, shall be and remain as valid as if such select Vestry had not been +abolished. + + + + +APPENDIX V. + + +It was agreed in 1870 between some of the leading Laity of the Counties +of Hants and Surrey and the then Bishop of the Diocese that the sum asked +should only be five shillings, payable annually by each parish and +ecclesiastical district by the hands of the Churchwardens. When there is +an election of a Proctor to Convocation, an additional shilling is added, +making the total due six shillings. It was also decided at the meeting +before referred to that this charge might be defrayed out of the +offertory or other voluntary collections for Church purposes in any +parish or ecclesiastical district. I am happy to say that the cases are, +comparatively speaking, rare in which the Churchwardens decline to pay +this charge, reduced by voluntary action as it has been from the legal +figure of eighteen shillings to either five shillings or in some years +six shillings, the extra shilling being added when an election of a +Proctor for the Archdeaconry takes place. + + + + +APPENDIX VI. + + +Canons agreed upon by the Convocation for the Province of Canterbury +assembled by the king's licence in their Synod, A.D. 1603, published by +His Majesty's authority under the Great Seal of England. + +89. _The choice of Churchwardens and their Account_. + +All Churchwardens or Questmen in every parish shall be chosen by the +joint consent of the Minister and parishioners, if it may be; but if they +cannot agree upon such a choice, then the Minister shall choose one, and +the parishioners another: and without such a joint or several choice none +shall take upon them to be Churchwardens: neither shall they continue any +longer than one year in that office, except perhaps they be chosen again +in like manner. And all Churchwardens at the end of their year, or +within a month after at the most, shall before the Minister and the +parishioners give up a just account of such money as they have received, +and also what particularly they have bestowed in reparations and +otherwise, for the use of the Church. And, last of all, going out of +their office, they shall truly deliver up to the parishioners whatsoever +money or other things of right belonging to the Church or parish, which +remaineth in their hands, that it may be delivered over by them to the +next Churchwardens by bill indented. + +90. _The choice of Sidemen_, _and their joint office with +Churchwardens_. + +The Churchwarden or Questmen of every parish, and two or three or more +discreet persons in every parish, to be chosen for Sidemen or Assistants +by the Minister and parishioners, if they can agree (otherwise to be +appointed by the Ordinary of the diocese), shall diligently see that all +the parishioners duly resort to their Church upon all Sundays and +Holy-days, and there continue the whole time of Divine Service; and none +to walk or to stand idle or talking in the Church, or in the Churchyard, +or in the Church-porch, during that time. And all such as shall be found +slack or negligent in resorting to the Church (having no great or urgent +cause of absence) they shall earnestly call upon them; and after due +monition (if they amend not) they shall present them to the Ordinary of +the place. The choice of which persons, _viz._, Churchwardens or +Questmen, Sidemen, or Assistants, shall be yearly made in Easter-week. + +85. _Churches to be kept in sufficient Reparations_. + +The Churchwarden or Questmen shall take care and provide that the +Churches be well and sufficiently repaired, and so from time to time kept +and maintained, that the windows be well glazed, and that the floors be +kept paved, plain and even, and all things there in such an orderly and +decent sort, without dust, or anything that may be either noisome or +unseemly, as best becometh the House of God, and is prescribed in an +Homily to that effect. The like care they shall take that the +Churchyards be well and sufficiently repaired, fenced and maintained with +walls, rails, or pales, as have been in each place accustomed, at their +charges unto whom by law the same appertaineth: but especially they shall +see that in every meeting of the congregation peace be well kept: and +that all persons excommunicated, and so denounced, be kept out of the +Church. + +88. _Churches not to be profaned_. + +The Churchwardens, or Questmen, and their Assistants, shall suffer no +plays, feasts, banquets, suppers, church-ales, drinkings, temporal +courts, or leets, lay juries, musters, or any other profane usage, to be +kept in the Church, Chapel, or Churchyard, neither the bells to be rung +superstitiously upon holy days, or eves abrogated by the Book of Common +Prayer, nor at any other times without good cause to be allowed by the +Minister of the place, and by themselves. + +52. _The names of strange Preachers to be noted in a book_. + +That the Bishop may understand (if occasion so require) what sermons are +made in every Church of his diocese and who presume to preach without +licence, the Churchwardens and Sidemen shall see that the names of all +Preachers, which come to their Church from any other place, be noted in a +book which they shall have ready for that purpose; wherein every Preacher +shall subscribe his name, the day when he preached, and the name of the +Bishop of whom he had license to preach. + +111. _Disturbers of Divine Service to be presented_. + +In all visitations of Bishops and Archdeacons the Churchwardens, or +Questmen, and Sidemen shall truly and personally present the names of all +those which behave themselves rudely and disorderly in the Church, or +which by untimely ringing of bells, by walking, talking, or other noise, +shall hinder the Minister or Preacher. + +118. _The old Churchwardens to make their presentments before the new be +sworn_. + +The office of all Churchwardens and Sidemen shall be reputed ever +hereafter to continue until the new Churchwardens that shall succeed them +be sworn, which shall be the first week after Easter or some week +following, according to the direction of the Ordinary, which time so +appointed shall always be one of the two times in every year, when the +Minister, and Churchwardens, and Sidemen of every parish shall exhibit to +their several Ordinaries the presentments of such enormities as have +happened in their parishes since their last presentments. And this duty +they shall perform before the newly-chosen Churchwardens and Sidemen be +sworn, and shall not be suffered to pass over the said presentments to +those that are newly come into office and are by intendment ignorant of +such crimes, under pain of those censures which are appointed for the +reformation of such dalliers and dispensers with their own consciences +and oaths. + + + + +APPENDIX VII. + + +18 and 19 Vict., cap. 128, sec. 18. + + +_Burial Board to keep in order closed burial grounds_, _etc._ + +In every case in which any order in Council has been or shall hereafter +be issued for the discontinuance of burials in any churchyard or burial +ground, the Burial Board, or Churchwardens, as the case may be, shall +maintain such churchyard or burial ground of any parish in decent order, +and also do the necessary repair of the walls and other fences thereof, +and the costs and expenses shall be repaid by the Overseers upon the +certificate of the Burial Board, or Churchwardens, _as the case may be_, +out of the rate made for the relief of the poor of the parish or place in +which such churchyard or burial ground is situate, unless there shall be +some other fund legally chargeable with such costs and expenses. + +The words in italics have given rise to some dispute as to their +interpretation. Some Burial Boards have claimed the right to maintain +closed churchyards. The question was brought into the Court of Queen's +Bench in 1879, and it was decided that a Burial Board was required to +maintain a closed cemetery, and that Churchwardens were the proper +persons to maintain a closed churchyard. {79} + + + + +APPENDIX VIII. + + +15 and 16 Vict., cap. 85, sec. 10. + + +_Churchwardens after order or at any time upon requisition of ten +ratepayers to convene Vestry Meeting to determine whether a burial ground +shall be provided_. + +Upon the requisition in writing of ten or more ratepayers {80a} of any +parish in the metropolis {80b} in which the place or places of burial +shall appear to such ratepayers insufficient or dangerous to health (and +whether any Order in Council in relation to any burial ground in such +parish has or has not been made), the Churchwardens and other persons to +whom it belongs to convene meetings of the Vestry of such parish shall +convene a meeting of the Vestry for the special purpose of determining +whether a burial ground shall be provided under this Act for the parish; +and public notice of such Vestry Meeting, and the place and hour of +holding the same, and the special purpose thereof, shall be given in the +usual manner in which notices of the meetings of the Vestry are given, at +least seven days before holding such Vestry Meeting: and if it be +resolved by the Vestry that a burial ground shall be provided under this +Act for the parish, a copy of such resolution extracted from the minutes +of the Vestry, and signed by the Chairman, shall be sent to one of Her +Majesty's principal Secretaries of State. + + + + +APPENDIX IX. + + +24 and 25 Vict., cap. 125, sec. 2. + + +The Overseers of any parish may, with the consent of the Vestry, provide +proper depositories of all the documents, books, and papers belonging to +such parish, for which no provision is otherwise made by law, and charge +the cost thereof on the poor rate. + + + +52 Geo. III, cap. 146, sec. 5. + + +And be it further enacted that the . . . register books . . . shall be +kept by and remain in the power and custody of the Rector, Curate, or +other officiating Minister of each respective parish or chapelry as +aforesaid, and shall be by him safely and securely kept in a dry, well +painted iron chest, to be provided and repaired, as occasion may require, +at the expense of the parish or chapelry, and which said chest, +containing the said books, shall be constantly kept locked in some dry, +safe, and secure place within the usual place of residence of such +Rector, Vicar, Curate, or other officiating minister, if resident within +the parish or chapelry, or in the parish church or chapel; and the said +books shall not, nor shall any of them, be taken or removed from or out +of the said chest, at any time or for any cause whatever, except for the +purpose of making such entries therein as aforesaid, or for the +inspection of persons desirous to make search therein, or to obtain +copies from or out of the same, or to be produced as evidence in some +court of law or equity, or to be inspected as to the state and condition +thereof, or for some other purposes of this Act; and that immediately +after making such inspection, entries, or producing the said books +respectively for the purposes aforesaid, the said books shall forthwith +again be safely and securely deposited in the said chest. + + + + +APPENDIX X. + + +43 Geo. III, cap. 108. + + +CONVENIENCES.--Permits conveyance of site to any Body Political or +Corporate. + +--Contains no clause avoiding the conveyance if Service is discontinued +for a time. + +INCONVENIENCES.--Requires the concurrence of Ordinary. + +--Will be avoided (unless made for valuable consideration) if grantor +dies within three months. + +--Must be strictly for a Church or Chapel. + +--Must be enrolled within six months. + +--No provision for grant by a person under disability, _e.g._, tenant for +life. + + + +_Place of Worship Sites' Act_. +36 & 37 Vict., cap. 50. + + +CONVENIENCES.--Enables tenant for life to convey. + +--Does not require consent of Ordinary. + +--Deed will not be avoided by death of grantor within twelve months after +execution of it. + +INCONVENIENCES.--Contains no power of conveyance to a Body Corporate +except permission given to make Ecclesiastical Commissioners trustees of +the site. + +--Contains clauses involving the loss of the property, (_a_) if the land +be used for any other purpose than that of a site for a place of worship; +(_b_) if Service be discontinued in the place of worship for one year. + +--May give difficulty as to consecration, if the Mission Room becomes a +Church, owing to possible reversion to profane uses on the temporary +discontinuance of Services. + + + +School Sites' Act. +4 & 5 Vict., cap 38; 7 & 8 Vict., cap. 37. + + +CONVENIENCES.--Enable tenants for life to convey. + +--Permit conveyance to Bodies Corporate making Minister and Churchwardens +a corporation with perpetual succession for the purposes of these Acts. + +INCONVENIENCES.--Contain clauses involving the loss of the property if +used for other purposes than those of education. + +--Require enrolment of deeds. + + + + +Churchwardens' Manual +_NOTICES OF THE FIRST EDITION_. + + +"Churchwardens will find in the _Churchwardens' Manual_ some useful brief +notes put together by the Bishop of Guildford relative to their duties, +powers, rights and privileges."--_Guardian_, April 9th. + +"The Bishop of Guildford has just published a very useful little handbook +for the use and guidance of Church wardens . . . The book is a most +helpful one with regard to Church matters."--_Hampshire Chronicle_. + +"The Bishop of Guildford's _Churchwardens' Manual_ meets a real want, in +that it provides in small compass . . . a handy pocket book containing +the many matters legal and ecclesiastical, which concern the +Churchwarden's office . . . No one ought to assume it without being armed +with such a work as this, and an Incumbent cannot do better than present +his Churchwardens with this little Manual."--_Church Times_. + +"It is a Manual which ought to be in the possession of every holder of +the important office of Churchwarden, and which other Churchmen also +would do well to familiarise themselves with, as a better understanding +of the subject would be greatly to the advantage of many parishes; clear, +precise, handy and cheap, it is precisely the handbook that was +wanted."--_Winchester Observer_. + +"A thoroughly useful and practical work, and just the one which ought to +be in the hands both of Incumbents and Churchwardens."--_Ecclesiastical +Chronicle_. + + + + +Footnotes: + + +{2} _Smith's Christian Antiquities_, i, 391; _Bingham's Antiquities of +the Christian Church_, B. ii, c. 19, sec. 19. + +{4} 1 Will. and M., ch. 18, sec. 5; 31 Geo. III, ch. 32, sec. 7. + +{5} See Appendix No. I. + +{6} _Prideaux's Churchwardens' Guide_, p. 17. + +{7} 7 Gul. IV, and 1 Vict. cap. 45, sec 3. See Appendix No. II + +{8a} 7 Gul. IV and 1 Vict., cap. 45, sec. 1, 2. + +{8b} Note 58 Geo. III, c. 69, sec. 2. + +{8c} See Appendix No. VI. + +{9a} Phillimore II, 1470. + +{9b} Dewdney _v._ Good referred to in _Addresses delivered to the +Churchwardens and Sidesmen of the Diocese of Liverpool_, by Thomas E. +Espin, D.D., Chancellor of the Diocese. Liverpool: Holden, Church +Street. p. 29. + +{10a} See Appendix No. III. + +{10b} See Appendix No. IV. + +{11} As far, however, as the diocese of Winchester is concerned, see +Appendix No. V. + +{12} _Cripps' Practical Treatise on the Law relating to the Church and +Clergy_, 6th Ed., pp. 178, 182. + +{13} _Cripps' Practical Treatise on the Law relating to the Church and +Clergy_, 6th Ed., p. 174. It may be a question whether Lord Coleridge's +judgment as to the residence of Churchwardens may not affect this. See +Appends No. I. + +{14} Churchwardens are _ex officio_ Overseers under the Poor Relief Act, +1601 (43 Eliz., c. 2, s. 1), only in the case of an ancient +ecclesiastical parish, for which overseers are appointed under that +Act.--_Jenkin's Local Government Act_, p. 25. + +{22} See Appendix No VI. + +{30a} 18 and 19 Vict., cap. 128, sec xviii. See Appendix No. VII. + +{30b} The Queen _v._ the Burial Board of Bishop Wearmouth.--_Law +Reports_, _Queen's Bench Division_, vol. v, p. 67. See Appendix VII. + +{32} See Appendix No. VIII. + +{34a} See Appendix No. IX. + +{34a} See _An Address to Churchwardens_, by the Bishop of Carlisle, +published by the S.P.C.K., p. 13. + +{35} By 59 Geo. III, c. 134, s. 11.--The Ecclesiastical Commissioners +are empowered to make a table of fees for any parish with the consent of +the Vestry, and with the consent of the Bishop of the Diocese. + +{43} Bishop of Carlisle's _Address to Churchwardens_, S.P.C.K., p. 17. + +{46a} See _Fuller v. Lane_. 2 _Adams_, 419. Prideaux's _Churchwarden's +Guide_, appendix, XLVI. Phillimores' _Ecclesiastical Law_, II, 1801-4. + +{46b} _Fuller v. Lane_. Prideaux's _Guide_, XLV. + +{48} _Life of Charles Richard Sumner_, _D.D._, _Bishop of Winchester_ +(Murray), by the Author of this manual, p. 250. + +{50} In many Dioceses now a body of trustees has been appointed for the +special purpose of holding Church properties. It is hoped that ere long +every Diocese in the country will have its own special body for the +purpose, with a carefully considered Trust Deed. I believe that the +scheme in the Arch Diocese of Canterbury is found to work very +satisfactorily. + +{52a} 1 and 2 Vict., cap. 106, sec. 95. + +{52b} Ditto, sec. 36. + +{53} _Addresses delivered to the Churchwardens and Sidesmen of the +Diocese of Liverpool_, by Thomas E. Espin, D.D., Chancellor of the +Diocese; p. 29. Liverpool: Holden, Church Street. + +{54} _Cripps' Practical Treatise on the Law relating to the Church and +Clergy_, p. 190. See also Canon 88 in Appendix vi. + +{79} In the Court of Appeal, 1879, The Queen _v._ The Burial Board of +Bishop Wearmouth.--_Law Reports_, Queen's Bench Division, Vol. V, p. 67. + +{80a} Sections 10 to 42 of this Act, inclusive, as well as secs. 44, 50, +51, and 52, are extended to the whole Country by 16 and 17 Vict., cap. +134, sec. 7. + +{80b} The provision in this section as to the requisition of ten or more +ratepayers is done away with by 18 and 19 Vict., cap. 128, sec. 3, by +which it is enacted that a Vestry can be convened for the purpose without +any previous requisition of the Churchwardens. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHURCHWARDENS' MANUAL*** + + +******* This file should be named 23476.txt or 23476.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/3/4/7/23476 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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