8 & 9 V., c. 62. Further Provision as to Stock and Dividends Unclaimed. Sect. 1.—After reciting the 56 G. 3, c. 60 (see Dig. Parts III., tit. STOCK), it is enacted, that in every case in which any dividend accrued due on any stock has not been demanded for the period of ten years or upwards preceding the last day on which the same has become due, it shall immediately after the expiration of such period of ten years be paid to the account of the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt, and shall be by them invested in the manner directed by the recited Act, and it shall be lawful for the Bank or the High Court of Chancery to direct the payment of such dividends to any persons claiming to be entitled thereto in the same manner as is by the said Act directed in respect to the stock transferred to the said commissioners as therein mentioned. Sect. 2.-No retransfer of any capital stock exceeding the sum of 201., or of any terminable annuities exceeding 11. per ann., shall be made from the account of the said commissioners under the authority of the recited Act, or of this Act, to any person, nor shall payment be made under the same authority of any dividend exceeding 201. on the whole, until three calendar months after application has been made for the same, nor until such notice has been given thereof as the governor and company of the bank are hereinafter authorized to require, and the said governor and company shall require the person making application to give public notice by such advertisements as they think fit; and every such notice shall state the name and description and addition of the person in whose name the unclaimed stock or dividends stood when transferred to the said commissioners, and the amount thereof, and the name of the claimant, and the time at which such retransfer will be made, if no other claimant sooner appear and make out his claim, and when stock is directed to be transferred, or such dividends to be paid by any order of the High Court of Chancery, such notice shall also state the purport of such order. Sect. 3.-Any person before the actual retransfer of any such capital stock or annuities, or before payment of any such dividends to any such claimant as aforesaid, may apply to the Court of Chancery by motion or petition to rescind, alter or vary any order made for such transfer or payment, and (Sect. 4) after reciting that the sum of 3,6637. 138. 8d., arising from unclaimed dividends on East India annuities have continued unclaimed for forty years, it is enacted that the same shall be paid to the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt, subject to the claims of the proprietors of the stock in respect whereof the dividends accrued, in the same manner as if the same had been paid over under the provisions of the recited Act; and (Sect. 5) the Lord High Treasurer or the Commissioners of H. M.'s Treasury may authorize the said governor, &c. to inquire into the circumstances of any stocks, funds, annuities or dividends remaining unclaimed for the time being, with a view to ascertain the owners thereof, and to allow to the said governor, &c. such compensation as may be reasonable for their trouble and expenses to be incurred by them in and about the notices and advertisements hereby directed, and other the services required or authorized by this Act, which compensation may be deducted rateably from the stocks and dividends to be from time to time retransferred or paid, and with reference to which such trouble, costs and expenses have been incurred, and such services performed respectively, or the same may be paid by the said commissioner out of the stocks and dividends to be by them received by the recited Act, or this Act; and (Sect. 6) the word "Stocks" in this Act shall extend to any stocks, funds, or annuities which now are or at any time hereafter shall be transferable at the Bank of England; and words importing the singular number and masculine gender shall include many as well as one, and females as well as males. DRAINAGE. Synopsis of the Statutes. THE 3 & 4 V. c. 55, contains various provisions for enabling the owners of settled lands to defray the expenses of draining the same by way of mortgage, and this Act has been amended and repealed by the 8 & 9 V., c. 56, see INFRA. 8 & 9 V., c. 56, amending 3 & 4 V., c. 55. Sect. 1.-Recites and repeals 3 & 4 Vic. c. 55; and (Sect. 2) any proceedings now pending may be completed under the provisions of this Act, as if the same had commenced after the Act had passed. Sect. 3.-Any person entitled in possession to any land as tenant by the curtesy, or for his own life, or any other life, or for years determinable on any life, or any infant 8 & 9 V., c. 56, amending 3 & 4 V., c. 55. entitled as aforesaid by his guardian or next friend, or any idiot or lunatic by the committee of his estate, or any married woman entitled as aforesaid for her separate use by her next friend, or the husband of any married woman entitled as aforesaid in her right, or any feoffees, or trustees for any charitable or other purposes, or any ecclesiastical or other corporation aggregate or sole, or any mortgagee or incumbrancer in fee in possession of the land mortgaged or incumbered, or any person entitled in fee to any equity of redemption, and in possession of the land mortgaged, shall be at liberty to apply to the High Court of Chancery, by petition to the Lord Chancellor, or the Master of the Rolls, for leave to make any permanent improvements in the land by draining the same, by tiles, stones, or other durable materials, or by warping, irrigation, or embankment, in a permanent manner, or by erecting thereon any buildings of a permanent kind incidental or consequential to such draining, &c., and shall in such petition be at liberty to pray that the expense of making any such permanent improvement may be made a charge on the inheritance of the land under the provisions of this Act. Sect. 4.-Upon the presentation of any such petition as aforesaid, the court without requiring the attendance of any counsel or solicitor may refer it to one of the Masters to make all necessary and proper inquiries, and consider all estimates and valuations produced before him in relation to the matter of such petition, and thereupon to report whether in his opinion it will be beneficial to all persons interested in the land that such permanent improvements should be made; and (Sect. 5) the Master's report shall be filed, and on confirmation thereof by the court such improvements may be made; and the Master may thereupon certify that any person advancing money for the purpose of making such improvements will, upon its appearing that such sum of money has been expended, be entitled to a charge on the land for the repayment of the money advanced with interest; provided that upon application to the court to confirm the Master's report, the same may be referred back to him, to review the same, or to receive fresh evidence, or otherwise. Sect. 6.-After endorsement by the Master on the certificate of the amount of expenses, the same shall become a charge on the inheritance, and such charge shall have priority over other charges, except tithe-commutation, rent-charges, and any quit or chief rents incident to tenure, and a memorial of such certificate charging hereditaments in the counties of Middlesex and Yorkshire in England, or any hereditaments in Ireland, may in all respects be registered as deeds now are respectively in those parts, and without payment of any fee; and (Sect. 7) such certificate shall be filed in the report office, and a duplicate thereof, signed by the master, shall be delivered to the person advancing the money, and shall be legal evidence of his title to the money; and the security shall take effect as from the granting of the certificate. Sect. 8.-The money to be advanced, or so much thereof as shall from time to time remain unpaid, shall bear interest at such rate as may be agreed on, not exceeding five per cent. per ann. from the time it is advanced, and shall be paid half-yearly; and (Sect. 9) the principal money so to be advanced shall be repaid by equal annual instalments; and such instalments shall, in the case of improvements by drainage, warping, irrigation, or embankment, be not less than twelve nor more than eighteen in number, and in the case of erecting buildings, shall not be less than fifteen nor more than twenty-five in number. Sect. 10.-Any person on whose petition such charge shall be made, and every succeeding tenant for life, or other person having only a limited interest, shall be bound to pay the interest and instalments as they become due during the continuance of his title, and on the termination thereof by death or otherwise, the inheritance shall remain chargeable with no more than six months' arrears of interest, and one-half of the last instalment then due, and the interest and instalments thereafter to become due; and (Sect. 11) every tenant for life and other person having only a limited interest shall be bound to keep in repair any buildings, embankments, or other works done under the provisions of this Act, and as if he were tenant for life, subject to impeachment for waste. Sect. 12. For simplifying the proceedings under this Act, the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain and of Ireland, with the assistance of the Master of the Rolls, may from time to time make such orders as they may think proper. Sect. 13.-Where any portion of land proposed to be drained or otherwise improved is in the actual occupation of any one person, the consent in writing of such person shall be necessary in order to give validity to the application of the proprietor in respect of the land, anything hereinbefore contained to the contrary notwithstanding; and (Sect. 14) May make such orders.-For an order of Court made in pursuance of this clause see the end of this Act. 8 & 9 V., c. 56, amending 3 & 4 V., c. 55. the Master may appoint a surveyor to make reports as to the matters referred to him; and the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain and of Ireland may also appoint persons to give evidence before the Master: Provided always, that persons hereby authorized to apply to the Court of Chancery in Ireland may apply to the Court of Exchequer in Dublin, instead of the Lord Chancellor, and the Lord Chief Baron of such court shall in all respects have the same powers. ORDER OF COURT. March 4, 1846, Law Journ. (N. S.) c. 119. I. Any person entitled to land within the meaning of the said Act may present to the Lord Chancellor, or to the Master of the Rolls, a petition in the form hereinafter set forth, with such variations as the nature and circumstances of the case may require. In the matter of the Act (8 & 9 V. c. 56), &c. To the Right Hon. the Lord Chancellor, or the Right Hon. the Master of the Rolls. Sheweth, That the lands hereinafter mentioned, viz. (&c. &c. &c.) are now vested in your petitioner, as tenant for life (or otherwise, in some other character described in the Act), and that your petitioner claims to be entitled to make permanent improvements in the said lands, by such means as are in the said Act mentioned, and to cause the expense of making the same to be made a charge on the inheritance of the said lands, under the provisions of the said Act. That the said lands are in the actual occupation of C. D., who hath consented in writing to this application. Your petitioner therefore prays, that your petitioner may be at liberty to make permanent I hereby consent to this petition. (Signed) C. D., occupying tenant of the lands sought to be improved. II. The petitioner, in any such petition presented to the Lord Chancellor, is to mark the same, at or near the top or upper part thereof, with the name of one of the ViceChancellors. III. The Master of the Rolls, in the case of any such petition presented to him, and the Vice-Chancellor with whose name any such petition presented to the Lord Chancellor shall be marked, may upon consideration of such petition, and without any attendance of counsel, solicitor, or petitioner therein, if he shall so think fit, make an order on such petition to the effect following, or to such other like effect, with such variations as the nature and circumstances of the case may require. Date. In the matter of, &c. and (Form of Order.) In the matter of the Act, (8 & 9 V. c. 56.) Upon consideration, &c. of the petition, &c., it is ordered, that it be referred to the Master in rotation, to inquire and state to the court whether the petitioner is entitled in possession to the lands in the petition mentioned, or any or which of them, within the meaning of the said Act of Parliament, and whether the said lands are in the actual occupation of C. D., in the said petition named; and if so, under what title, and whether the said C. D. has consented, in writing, to the said petition, and to the improvements proposed to be made under the provisions of the said Act. And if the Master shall find that the petitioner is so entitled, and that the said C. D. is in such occupation, and has so consented, let the Master further inquire and state to the court what, if any, other persons or person are or is entitled to or interested in the said lands, or any of them, in remainder or reversion, or by way of mortgage charge, or otherwise; and the petitioner is to be at liberty to lay before the Master proposals for making permanent improvements in the said lands by any such means as are in the said Act mentioned, 8 & 9 V., c. 56, amending 3 & 4 V., c. 55. and to set forth in such proposals the nature and extent of such improvements, and the estimated expense thereof, and the estimated value of the permanent improvements proposed to be made. And the Master is to inquire and state whether such proposed improvements are permanent improvements within the meaning of the said Act; and if so, what will be the expense of making the same, and what will be the value of such permanent improvements. And whether it will be beneficial to all persons interested in the said lands, that such permanent improvements should be made under the provisions of the said Act. And the Master is to require such evidence to be produced before him, and, if he shall think proper, is to cause such surveys of the said lands to be made, as shall appear to him to be necessary to enable him to make a satisfactory report on the matters referred to him. IV. The Master to whom the said reference may be made is to require proof of the deed, will, or other instrument under which the petitioner claims to be entitled to the land, and of the manner in which the petitioner claims title under the same, but he is not otherwise to require proof of the title to the land. V. The Master, if he shall think it necessary for the due prosecution of the reference, may direct the petitioner to serve any other person interested in the land with notice of the proceedings; and such person, so served, may afterwards attend such proceedings as a party thereto; but if such person, being so served, shall decline or neglect to attend pursuant to such notice, the Master may proceed in his absence, and he is to state the same in his report. VI. The Master is, during the reference, to be at liberty to apply, by note in writing to the judge by whom the order was made, for any special directions, or for leave to state any special circumstances, touching the matters referred to him; and if he shall receive any such special directions or such leave, he is to state the same, and his proceeding thereon, in his report. VII. The proceedings upon the reference are to be conducted according to the general rules and orders of the Court of Chancery, so far as they are consistent with those orders. VIII. The Master's report is to be filed in the Report Office. IX. Any person interested in the land, is, within fourteen days after the filing the report, to be at liberty to petition the Lord Chancellor in case the reference was made by him, or any Vice-Chancellor, or the Master of the Rolls, in case the reference was made by him, that such report may be reviewed. X. If such petition shall be presented, the judge by whom the reference was made, is to take the same into his consideration; and if he shall so think fit he may dispose thereof, either by dismissing the same or by referring the matter back to the Master, with or without special directions. XI. The judge considering such petition that the Master's report may not be confirmed, may direct any person interested to attend, and may, if he shall think it necessary, but not otherwise, direct the same to be argued by counsel in open court or otherwise. XII. If a reference back to the Master is made the proceedings are to be as on the original reference. XIII. If no petition that the report may be reviewed is presented, the person who has obtained the report, may, after the expiration of fourteen days from the filing of the report, present a petition for its confirmation, and for leave to make the proposed improvements under the provisions of the Act, and such petition may be in the form hereinafter set forth, with such variations as the nature and circumstances of the case may require. In the matter of, &c. and (Form of Petition.) In the matter of the Act (8 & 9 V., c. 56.) To the Right Hon. the Lord Chancellor, or the Right Hon. the Master of the Rolls. That in pursuance of an order made in the matter, bearing date the day of, Mr. the Master, to whom the said matter was referred, has made his report bearing date the day of, and for the reasons therein stated has found [here state the Master's finding]. That the said report has been filed in the Report Office of this Court, and that no special application has been made to review the same. Your petitioner, therefore, humbly prays your lordship that the said report may be con 8 & 9 V., c. 56, amending 3 & 4 V., c. 55. firmed absolutely, and that your petitioner may be authorized to make such permanent improvements as are certified in the said report, under the provisions of the said Act. XIV. On the presentation of such last-mentioned petition, the judge by whom the reference was made is to consider the same, and is to dispose thereof by confirming the report and giving the permission asked, or by referring the matter to the Master, or by dismissing the petition, or otherwise, as the justice of the case may require : XV. On the consideration of such last-mentioned petition the judge may require the attendance of the persons interested: and if he shall think it necessary, but not otherwise, may direct the matter to be argued by counsel in open court or otherwise. XVI. The order confirming the report shall be in the form following, with such, if any, variations as the nature and circumstances of the case may require. Date. (Form of Order.) In the matter of, &c. and In the matter of the Act, &c. did on the day of -, prefer his petition to the Right Hon. -, thereby setting forth, and praying that he might be at liberty to make permanent improvements in the lands therein-mentioned, under the provisions of the said Act; and thereupon his lordship, on consideration of the matter of the said petition did, by his order, dated the day of —, refer it to the Master to make the inquiries therein mentioned; and in pursuance of the said order the said Master has made his report, dated the day of and the said report was duly filed in the Report Office, on the day of and no application has been made that the same may not be confirmed; and the said A. B. doth now, by his petition, pray that the same may be confirmed, and that he may be at liberty to make such permanent improvements as are specified in the said report, under the provisions of the said Act; his Lordship, on consideration of the matter of the said petition, and of the said Master's report, doth hereby order that the said report be confirmed, and that the said petitioner be at liberty to make such permanent improvements in the said lands as are in the said report mentioned, under the provisions of the said Act. XVII. The Master by whom the report was made may upon production to him of the order confirming the same, and giving leave to make the improvements, deliver to the party who has obtained the order a certificate to the effect and in the form hereinafter stated, with such variations as the nature and circumstances of such case may require. Date. In the matter of, &c. and (Form of Certificate.) In the matter of the Act, &c. Whereas, [Recite 1st, the Order of Reference. 2nd, the Report. 3rd, the order confirming the Report, and authorizing the improvements to be made.] Now, therefore, I, the said Master, in pursuance of the said Act, do hereby certify, that any person advancing money for making the said permanent improvements specified in my said report will, upon its being made to appear to me, that such money, to the amount specified in my said report, has been fully expended in making the said improvements, or in paying the expense of obtaining the authority of this court, become and be entitled to a charge on the inheritance of the land for the repayment of the money advanced, with interest; but such charge is to be subject to the terms and conditions provided by the said Act, and before the same can become effective, the amount of money expended as aforesaid is to be stated by me by way of indorsement on this certificate. XVIII. Such certificate is to be made in duplicate, and one copy thereof is to be filed in |