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II BROWN.
SHIRT v. CARR [1717]

Lord Great Chamberlain of England, referred to this house; and having consulted the Judges, and considered their answers, which were unanimous to questions of law which arose in the course of the examination; the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in parliament assembled, beg leave to certify to his Majesty, that upon the death of the late Duke of Ancaster, who died seised of the office of Great Chamberlain, the same descended to the now Lady Willoughby of Eresby, and Lady Charlotte Bertie, his sisters and co-heirs. It belongs to both, and not to the eldest only; and they may execute the said office by such deputy, not being under the degree of a Knight, as his Majesty shall be pleased to approve of. (MS. Jour. sub anno 1781. p. 634.)

N.B. The questions of law put to the Judges were, 1st, Whether the right of Lord Percy to the office of Lord Great Chamberlain of England, supposing his pedigree and case to be as stated by his counsel, is barred by the statute of limitations? 2d, Whether the right of the Duchess of Atholl to the said office, supposing her pedigree and case to be as stated by her counsel, is barred by the statute of limitations? 3d, The late Duke of Ancaster having died seised of the office of Great Chamberlain of [173] England, leaving Lady Willoughby of Eresby, and Lady Charlotte Bertie, his sisters and co-heirs, the elder being married—does the said office belong to the eldest alone, or to both; or in either case is the husband of the eldest entitled to execute the said office, or may both sisters execute it by deputy, and how must such deputy be appointed; or does it devolve upon the King to name a proper person to execute the office during the incapacity of the heir?


CHURCH.

Case 1.—Robert Shirt,—Plaintiff; Charles Carr,—Defendant (in Error) [19th February 1717].

[Mew's Dig. v. 1232. Benefices Act, 1898 (61 & 62 Vict. c. 48), s. 12.]

[On the division of an old parish into three new parishes by act of parliament, it was provided, "That the right of patronage and presentation to the said three churches, should belong to the Dean and Chapter of D. and their successors, for ever, in such manner as the presentation to the rectory of the old parish did belong to them, and not otherwise." One of these new parishes becoming vacant, the Dean and Chapter nominated J. S. to the cure, but did not present him to the Ordinary for institution. Held, that this rectory was presentative and not a donative; that the word presentation, is a known term of the law, and when spoken of a benefice with cure of souls, as in this case, imports the patron's presenting his clerk to the Ordinary, to be admitted and instituted; and that the subsequent relative words, viz. "In such manner as the presentation to the rectory of the old parish did belong to them, and not otherwise," referred only to the right which the Dean and Chapter had of putting in an incumbent, but not the manner in which it was to be done.]

In Easter term, 1709, the plaintiff brought an ejectment in the Court of Common Pleas, in Ireland, for the rectory of the parish of St. Paul, in the county of the city of Dublin, and twenty acres of land in that parish, on the demise of William Williamson, clerk to which the defendant having pleaded not guilty, and issue being joined, the cause was tried at the bar of the said court, on the 18th of November following, on which trial, the plaintiff gave the following evidence, viz.

That King Henry VIII. by letters patent, dated the 10th day of May, in the 33d year of his reign, reciting, that there was, and time out of mind had been, an episcopal See in the metropolitan church of the Holy Trinity in Dublin, and also that there was, and time out of mind had been, in the same church, a monastery or priory, consisting of a prior and convent, did thereby transpose and change the priory into a Dean and Chapter, and made the prior Dean, one of the monks Precentor, another [174] Chancellor, another Treasurer, and six others Vicars-choral, and incorporated

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