Harte v Holmes

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 24 January 1898
• Date: 24 January 1898
• Docket Number: (1896. No. 10,046.)
• Court: Queen's Bench Division (Ireland)

HARTE

and

HOLMES

(1896. No. 10,046.)

Q. B. Div.

Taxation — Exemption — Crown property — District Lunatic Asylum (Ireland) — Board of Control — County cess — Poor rate —

Belfast Harbour Commissioners v. Commissioner of ValuationIR [1897] 2 I. R. 516.

Bray v. Justices of LancashireELR 22 Q. B. D. 484.

Cameron v. The Mersey Docks Trustees 11 H. L. Cas. 443.

Colchester v. KewneyELR L. R. 1 Ex. 369.

Coomber v. Justices of BerksELR 9 App. Cas. 61.

County Council of Middlesex v. Assessment Committee of St. George's UnionELR [1897] 1 Q. B. 64.

Craig v. University of EdinburghELR L. R. 1 H. L. (Sc.) 348.

De la Beche v. Vestry of St. James 4 Ell. & Bl. 385.

Gambier v. Overseers of Lidford 3 Ell. & Bl. 346.

Hartington v. BowermanUNK Ir. R. 2 C. L. 683.

Hodgsen v. Local Board of CarlisleENR 8 E. & B. 116.

Justices of Lancashire v. ShelfordENR E. B. & E. 225.

Lonsdale v. WilsonUNK 8 Ir. L. R. 412.

Lord Amherst v. Lord SomersENR 2 T. R. 372.

Marquis of Hartington v. BowermanUNK Ir. R. 2 C. L. 683.

Martin v. Assessment Committee of West Derby UnionELR 11 Q. B. D. 145.

Mayor of London & Governors of St. Thomas' Hospital v. StrattonELR L. R. 7 H. L. 477.

Meade v. Warburton Alc. & Nap. 287.

Mersey Docks Case 11 H. L. Cas. 443.

Mersey Docks Trustees v. Cameron 11 H. L. Cas. 443.

Queen v. ManchesterENR 3 E. & B. 336.

Queen v. Shephard 1 Q. B. 170.

Queen v. StewartENR 8 E. & B. 360.

Reg. v. Commissioners of Salter's Load SluiceENR 4 T. R. 730.

Reg. v. LiverpoolENR 7 B. & C. 61.

Reg. v. M' CannELR L. R. 3 Q. B. 141, 677.

Reg. v. Overseers of West DerbyELR L. R. 10 Q. B. 285.

Reg. v. St. Martin'sELR L. R. 2 Q. B. 493.

Reg. v. Temple 2 Ell. & Bl. 160.

Roe v. Darnley 1 H. & B. 442.

Sheppard v. Overseers of BradfordENR 16 C. B. (N. S.) 369.

Smith v. BirminghamENR 7 E. & B. 483.

The King v. Comissioners of Salter's Load SluiceENR 4 T. R. 730.

The King v. St. Luke'sENR 2 Burr. 1053.

The Mersey Docks Trustees v. Cameron 11 H. L. Cas. 443.

The Queen v. Lady E. Ponsonby 3 Q. B. 14.

The Queen v. M'CannELR L. R. 3 Q. B. 141, 677.

The Queen v. M'CannELR L. R. 3 Q. B. 141.

The Queen v. Temple 2 Ell. & Bl. 160.

The Queen v. West Derby OverseersELR L. R. 10 Q. B. 285.

Tunnicliffe v. Overseers of BirkdaleELR 20 Q. B. D. 450.

West Bromwich School Board v. Overseers West BromwichELR 13 Q. B. D. 929.

656 THE IRISH REPORTS. [1898. Q. B. Dir. HA_RTE v. HOLMES (1). 1897. Nov. 10, 11. (1896. No. 10,046.) 1898. Jan. 18, 24. Taxation—Exemption--Crown property—District Lunatic Asylum (Ireland) —Board of Control—County eerie—Poor rate—Valuation Act, 1854 (17 18 Via. c. 8), s. 2. District Lunatic Asylums in Ireland under the superintendence of the Board of Control (2) are Crown property and exempt from taxation. In order that premises should be exempt from taxation as being used for public or charitable purposes it is necessary that they should be in fact distinguished in the Valuation Lists as so used. CASE STATED, pursuant tO R. S. C. (Ir.), Order XXXIV , Rule 1, to the following effect (3) :— The action was brought by the collector of county oess for the barony of Nethercross, county Dublin, against the defendants, the Commissioners for the general control and correspondence and for the superintending and directing the erection, establishment, and regulation of asylums for the lunatic poor in Ireland, known as the Board of Control, to recover £50 9s. lid., one year's arrear of county cess, due on the 8th June, 1894, out of the lands and preÂmises known as Portrane Demesne, in the barony of Nethercross, in the occupation of the defendants. The plaintiff's warrant, dated 8th June, 1894, was duly issued to him, having attached thereto a copy of the revised valuation (1) Before Sin PETER O'Burxii, L.C.J., PAILES, C.B., and O'BRIEN, J. (2) See now 61 & 62 Viet. c. 37, s. 9. (3) The question at issue had been first raised on a case stated by the Recorder of Dublin, which was argued before the Queen's Bench Division (Sir P. O'Brien, L.C.J., and. O'Brien, J.) on the 6th and 7th of February, 1896, and was subsequently at re-argument in Michaelmas Term, 1896 (before the same Judges and Gibson, J.), when, at the suggestion of the Court, the civil bill and case stated thereon were withdrawn by the parties, in order that the present action might be instituted in the High Court. VOL. II.] QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION. 657 lists for the barony. These lists had been received on the 10th Q. B. Div. April, 1894, by the secretary of the county Dublin Grand Jury 1897. from the treasurer of the county, and had been put before the HA RTE Grand Jury at the Presenting Term, 1894, when the present- HOLMES. ments for the barony of Nethercross (Rated subsequently on the 27th April, 1894) were passed. A copy of the material parts of the Valuation Lists is printed on the next page. The plaintiff having been informed in or about August, 1894, that the Board of Control had purchased the lands of Portrane from Count James Considine (who was returned as the owner of the same in the Valuation Lists), for the purpose of erecting thereon a lunatic asylum auxiliary to the Richmond District Lunatic Asylum, by letter addressed to the Board of Control or their secretary, in the month of August, 1894, applied for payment of £50 9s. lid., the amount of Grand Jury cess applotted on the lands of Portrane, on the basis of the revised Valuation Lists. The plaintiff, however, received no reply from the Board of Control, but, in the month of September, 1894, received from the secretary of the Board of Governors of the Richmond Lunatic Asylum a letter acknowledging the demand for Grand Jury cess addressed to the Board of Control, and stating that the notice had been sent to the Commissioner of Valuation, with a request that Portrane might be put in the exemption column. By indenture, dated 20th February, 1894, Count Considine, as beneficial owner, granted to the Board of Control, their succesÂsors and assigns, the said lands of Portrane therein described, to hold for the purpose of the intended lunatic asylum at Portrane aforesaid. The members of the Board of Control (of whom, however, the Chairman of the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland for the time being is one) are appointed from time to time by the Lord Lieutenant, pursuant to the power contained in the Act 18 & 19 Viet. o. 109, s. 5, and are removable at pleasure, and are in practice changed from time to time. The Board of Control are charged with the duty of generally controlling asylums for pauper lunatics in Ireland, and with superintending and directing the erection, establishment and regulation of all such asylums, but the immediate management of A a • 00 5 co • '."' b ii. COUNTY OF DUBLIN-BARONY OF NETHERCROSS-PARISH OF DONABATE. EASTER TERM, 1894. No. Names. Area. Rateable Annual Valuation. Total Annual Valuation lua Va of Rateable Property. Full Rate. Townland & Occupiers. r Immediate Lessors. Description of Tenement. Land. Buildings. Portrane Demesne. A. 31. P. £ 8. d. £ 8. d. £ 8. d. £ 0. d. 0. S. 12. 81 82 Count Considine, Reps. E. Evans, House, Offices, & Lands, Ruins, . . . 228 3 „..... 3 206 15 — 0 49 0 — 0 255 15 — 0 26 12 10 — _ 83 Elias Evans, . Count Considine, House and Garden, . 0 1 20 0 5 0 0 15 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 180 Count Considine, Immediate Lessor, Gate Lodge and Land, 240 2 9 226 10 0 1 10 0 228 0 0 23 15 0 VOL. II.] QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION. such asylums is carried on by a local board of governors, who are appointed from time to time by the Lord Lieutenant under statuÂtory powers, and who manage the asylums under their direction subject to rules and regulations made, on the suggestion and recommendation of the Board of Control, by the Lord Lieutenant in Council, pursuant to the Act 1 & 2 Geo. 4, c. 33, s. 5, for the good conduct and management of such asylums in general or any asylum in particular. The members of the Board of Control, and also the Governors, are bound to act gratuitously (1 & 2 Geo. 4, c. 33, s. 5), although several of them are salaried officials of other departments. The Portrane Asylum is intended to be an auxiliary to the Richmond District Lunatic Asylum, and will be managed by the same Governors, and the house now standing in Portrane Demesne, which is used as a temporary auxiliary asylum, is now managed by the Governors of the Richmond District Lunatic Asylum. The funds for the support of the Richmond District Lunatic Asylum and of the Portrane Asylum, and the said temporary asylum, like those of other district lunatic asylums, are (except the profits of any lands attached to said asylums respectively) entirely derived from public sources, being partly levied by the Grand Juries of the counties comprised in the lunacy district off those counties and partly supplied by an annual contribution from the Imperial Treasury. Since the conveyance of the 20th February, 1894, the mansion house of Portrane and temporary buildings have been used as a temporary auxiliary lunatic asylum, pending the erection of perÂmanent buildings, and the grazing of the said lands of Portrane was in 1894 and 1895 let to different persons, and the receipts applied for the purposes of the said temporary auxiliary asylum. The question submitted for the opinion of the Court was—Whether, under the circumstances mentioned, the defendants are liable to pay the said Grand Jury eess? The Solicitor-General (Dunbar Barton, Q. C.), and Jefferson, for the plaintiff. The claim to exemption is based either on the ground that the Q. B. Div. premises are used for " public purposes," and entitled therefore to 1897. be distinguished as exempt in the Valuation Lists, or on the ground HARTE that the premises in the occupation of the defendants are Crown v. Holm ES. property. The former claim to immunity is untenable, since it is only when so distinguished in the lists that the premises are to be deemed to be exempt : see the...