In Ther Matter of Kellers Minors

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 17 April 1856
• Date: 17 April 1856
• Court: Rolls Court (Ireland)

Rolls.

In ther Matter of KELLERS Minors.

In the Matter of Browne a minorUNK 2 Ir. Ch. Rep. 151.

Talbot v. The Earl of Shrewsbury 4 M. & Cr. 672.

Lyons v. BlenkinENR Jac. 245.

In the Matter of Arabella F. North and others, minorsUNK 11 Jur. 7.

Fallons minors Before the Lord Chancellor, not reported.

In re Browne a minorUNK 2 Ir. Ch. Rep. 151.

328 CHANCERY REPORTS. 1856. Rolls. In the Matter of KELLERS Minors. Feb. 9. April n. A father, a THE question in this case was, whether the minors should be professedly Roman Catho- brought up in the Protestant or Roman Catholic religion ? The lie, had his children bap- Master made a special report, which, with the evidence on which tised by Ro it was founded, are fully stated in the judgment of the MASTER OF man Catholic priests, and THE ROLLS. their births entered in a Douay Bible ; but they never, Mr. Brewster and Mr. B. C. Lloyd appeared for the mother during his life, attended Ro- and testamentary guardian of the minors. man Catholic worship except Mr. Hughes and Mr. D. Sherlock, for the Rev. Mr. Foley, a on one occa- sion of great Roman Catholic clergyman. solemnity, to see mass per formed by way The following cases were cited :-In the Matter of Browne a of spectacle. He had a Pro- minor (a); Talbot v. The Earl of Shrewsbury (b); Lyons v. BlenÂtestant gover ness for the kin (c); In the Matter of Arabella F. North and others, minors (d); younger, and placed the two Fallons minors (e). elder children at a Protestant school ; and they, with his The MASTER OF THE ROLLS. sanction, at. An order of reference was made by the Lord Chancellor in this tended worship at aPh, rotestanandt matter on the 7th of October 1850, on the petition of Thomasine churc were generally Eliza Keller, the mother of the minors, widow of Thomas Keller brought up as Protestants. deceased, the father of the minors, which order was in the usual By his will he appointed his wife, who was a Protestant, their testamentary guardian.-Held, that the children who were wards of Court should be brought up as Protestants. The Court will be guided by the intention of the father as to the faith in which his children shall be brought up, and will not act on the ground of the worldly advantage of the children. The circumstance that the children have, for several years after the father's death, been brought up in a particular faith, is one which should have weight with the Court as to those of the children who are of age to have formed opinions on religious subjects. (a) 2 Ir. Ch. Rep. 151. (b) 4 M. & Cr. 672. (c) Jac. 245. (d) 11 Jur. 7. (e) Before the Lord Chancellor, not reported. CHANCERY REPORTS. 329 form on minors being made wards of Court, except that it was 1856. lls. referred to the Master to inquire and report whether a testamentary .R o In re guardian had been appointed ? The Master made his report, which KELLERS was filed on the 18th of December 1850, finding that the said Minors. Thomas Keller had by his will appointed the said Thomasine Eliza Judgment. Keller guardian of the persons of the minors during her widowhood, and that in the event of her marriage they should be made wards of the Court of Chancery. The report found the property of the minors, and the amount of maintenance to be allowed, but there was no finding in relation to the religion in which the minors should be brought up, none of the facts or circumstances to which I shall hereafter advert having been brought under the notice of the Lord Chancellor or of the Master. The report was confirmed by an order of the Lord Chancellor, bearing date the 17th of January 1851 ; and by that order it was further ordered that the minors should be maintained by and reside, with their said mother, until they should be of a proper age to be sent to school; and £200 alear was allowed for their maintenance. The further directions in the said order bad no relation to the question which now arises. An order was made on the 23rd of August 1853, by the Lord Chancellor, on the petition of the mother of the minors, whereby it was referred to the Master to inquire and report whether it would be for the benefit of the minors that they, or any and which of them, should be placed at any and what school, and what would be a proper sum to be allowed for their maintenance, clothing and education ? and it was referred to the Master to appoint a proper person to be guardian of the minors in place of their mother, she desiring to cease to act as guardian, for the reasons stated in an affidavit made by her. A further order was made by the Lord Chancellor on the 12th of December 1853, on the petition of the said Thomasine Eliza Keller, whereby it was ordered that the Master, in proceeding under 'the order of the 23rd of August 1853, should be at liberty to report special circumstances touching the religious faith in which the minors or any of them were educated during the lifetime of voL. 5. 42 330 CHANCERY REPORTS. their father, and also since his decease, and that the Master should also be at liberty, if he should so think fit, to make a special report respecting any of the other matters put forward in the said petition, bearing upon the question of the religious faith in which the minors should for the future be brought up. That order appears to have been founded on an affidavit of the said Thomasine Eliza Keller, the mother of the minors and their testamentary guardian, which states as follows :-That upon the application of the said ThoÂmasine Eliza Keller, and upon her representation that her ill health and bodily infirmity incapacitated her for the personal care of the minors, an order was made on the 23rd of August 1853, whereby it was ordered that it should be referred to the Master to inquire and report if it would be for the benefit of the said minors that they should be placed at any and what school ? and whereby it was further ordered that it should be referred to the said Master to approve of a...