1831. BADHAM V. MEE. Mee, in and by any deed or writing, deeds or writings, with or without power of revocation, by him to be duly executed in the presence of two or more credible witnesses, or by his last will and testament in writing, by him to be duly executed in the presence of and attested by three or more credible witnesses, should grant, convey, give, devise, limit, direct, or appoint the said premises, or any part thereof. And for and in default of any such grant, conveyance, gift, devise, limitation, or appointment, and subject thereto, and as to any part or parts of the said premises as should not be disposed of, or when and as the estates thereby limited should respectively fall in, cease, and determine, and subject thereto, to the use of the first son of the body of the said Richard Mee on the body of the said Margaret Durant lawfully to be begotten, in tail general; remainder to the use of the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and all and every other the son and sons of the body of the said Richard Mee, on the body of the said Margaret Durant lawfully to be begotten, in tail general; remainder to the use of the right heirs of the said Richard Mee, for ever. Then followed a power for Richard Mee to raise the sum of 5,000l., by way of mortgage for a term of six hundred years, subject to certain conditions and restrictions; and the trust of the term was declared to be for raising portions for younger children, and paying them in the mode therein prescribed. The intended marriage between Richard Mee and Margaret Durant was duly solemnized. Margaret Mee, formerly Durant, died, leaving issue of the marriage four children only, namely, Richard Mee the younger, Caroline Mee, Sarah Mee, and John Mee, of whom Richard Mee the younger, and Caroline Mee respectively attained the ages of twenty-one years before June, 1829. On the 12th June, 1798, a commission of bankrupt was awarded and issued against Richard Mee the elder, under which he was duly found and declared a bankrupt; and John Hodgetts and Thomas Brettell were chosen and appointed assignees of his estate and effects, and by indentures of bargain and sale duly inrolled, and bearing date the 14th July, 1798, the major part of the commissioners in the said commission named did, so far as they lawfully might, bargain and sell unto and to the use of the said John Hodgetts and Thomas Brettell, their heirs and assigns (inter alia) the aforesaid lands and hereditaments. The assignees advertised the lands for sale subject to the payment of the annuity of 150l. to Margaret Mee, the wife of the bankrupt; and they afterwards contracted with Mrs. Patience Mee to sell to her the whole of their estate and interest in the said premises; and accordingly, by indentures of lease and release, bearing date respectively the 9th and 10th May, 1799, the release purporting to be made between John Hodgetts and Thomas Brettell of the first part, Richard Mee of the second part, and Patience Mee of the third part, it was witnessed, that, in pursuance of the said agreement, and in consideration of the sum of 440l. to the said John Hodgetts and Thomas Brettell, or one of them, well and truly paid by the said Patience Mee, they, Hodgetts and Brettell, did, according to their respective estates and interests in the premises, bargain, sell, alien, release, and confirm unto the said Patience Mee, and to her heirs and assigns, all the aforesaid lands and hereditaments, to hold the same unto the said Patience Mee, her heirs and assigns, to and for the only proper use and behoof of the said Patience Mee, her heirs and assigns, for ever; chargeable nevertheless and subject to the contingencies mentioned in the said indenture of settlement. Mrs. Mee died in 1806, having made her will, bearing date the 15th December, 1801, and duly executed to pass freehold lands by devise; and by that will she disposed of the interest which she took in the said hereditaments under the aforesaid conveyance, in favour of certain persons who 1831. BADHAM ย. MEE. 1831. BADHAM บ. MEE. were defendants, or had transmitted their interests to the defendants in this suit. By a deed poll, dated the 2nd January, 1819, under the hand and seal of the said Richard Mee the elder, and attested in the manner required for the due exercise of the power reserved to him by the aforesaid marriage settlement-after referring to his said power, and reciting (among other things) that there were then living issue of the said Richard Mee by the said Margaret Mee deceased, four children only, namely, Caroline Mee, Richard Mee, Sarah Mee, and John Mee; and that the said Caroline Mee and Richard Mee had attained their respective ages of twenty-one years-the said Richard Mee the elder did, in pursuance thereof, direct, limit, and appoint, that, from and after the decease of him the said Richard Mee the elder, and the determination of his life estate, and the determination of the said term of six hundred years, and in the meantime subject and without prejudice to the estate for life of the said Richard Mee, party thereto, and to the said term of six hundred years, and the trusts of the same term as far as they were capable of taking effect, the said lands and hereditaments should remain to the use of the said Richard Mee the younger, his heirs and assigns, for ever; nevertheless charged and chargeable with such sum and sums of money as should become payable under the appointment thereinafter made; the same to be in satisfaction and discharge of the portions, if any, to which the said Caroline Mee, Sarah Mee, and John Mee the younger, were or might be, or might claim to be entitled to receive under or by virtue of the before-mentioned indenture of the 25th April, 1794. And the said Richard Mee the elder, in exercise and execution of the said power, did also direct, limit, and appoint the sum of 5,000l. to be raised for and paid to the said Caroline Mee, Sarah Mee, and John Mee the younger, their executors, administrators, and assigns, on the decease of him the said Richard Mee the elder, in the manner therein mentioned. Some time afterwards, Richard Mee the younger died, leaving the plaintiff, Sarah Patience Mee, his only child, him surviving. There being various equitable claims affecting the said lands and hereditaments, a suit in Chancery was instituted, in order (among other purposes) to ascertain the respective rights and interests of the different parties in the premises; and the question directed by the Master of the Rolls for the opinion of this Court, was What estate, from and after the execution of the said deed of appointment of the 2nd January, 1819, Richard Mee the younger took in the said lands and hereditaments, under the said deed of appointment, and the said deeds of the 24th and 25th April, 1794, or any or either of them. The case came on for argument in the course of the last term. Mr. Serjeant Spankie, for the plaintiffs.-By the execution of the power by Richard Mee the elder, a base fee was created, and an estate in fee simple passed to his son Richard, the appointee, or, at all events, a base fee. The power was well executed by Richard Mee the elder; and, as it was for the benefit of children, purchasers under a marriage settlement, it was not extinguished by the bankruptcy. As Richard Mee the elder merely took an estate for life, and the power did not operate upon or derogate from such estate, it was a power in gross, and consequently could not be extinguished by the destruction of Mee's life estate. The bargain and sale by the commissioners to the assignees was an innocent conveyance, and only passed what the grantor himself had a right to convey; and a conveyance of Mee's life estate did not affect the power of appointment; for, although a tenant for life, or for years, convey all his estate and inter 1831. BADHAM v. MEE. 1831. BADHAM บ. MEE. est, yet, as it is an innocent conveyance, it cannot affect a (a) 17 Ves. 388, 460; S. C. 1 Rose's Bkptcy. Cas. 40. |