Re Robert James Maxwell's Estate

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Court: Land Commission (Ireland)
• Judgment Date: 06 June 1891
• Date: 06 June 1891

Land Com.

RE ROBERT JAMES MAXWELL'S ESTATE.

Tuthill RogersECAS 1 J. & La T. 36; 6 Ir. Eq. R. 429.

Attorney-General v. Lord EardleyENR 8 Price, 39.

Attorney-General v. Maxcull Ibid, p. 76, in notis.

Tuthill v. Rogers 1 J. & La T. 82.

Hatton v. Waddy 2 Jones, 841.

— Redemption of quit-rent —— Rents "put in charge" — Meaning of.

356 LAW REPORTS (IRELAND). [L. R. I. Ex. Div. mortgagees could evict her only by virtue of their legal estate. 1891. They parted with their legal estate by their conveyance to General IRISH LAND Maquay, and therefore they gave to him, and he accepted from Cons mmox v. them, that without which they could not acquire or give posses MAWAY. sion otherwise than under their own special powers ; and in that view General Maquay's acceptance of the conveyance would have amounted to a waiver of the condition. I prefer, however, to rely on this, not as in strictness a waiver of the condition, but rather as showing that both parties contemplated that possession should be given, not by the voluntary act of the old lady, nor through the medium of any ejectment, but solely under the provisions of the Act of 1887. In my opinion the conditional order should be discharged, with costs, and the verdict had for the Land Commission should stand. ANDREWS and MURPHY, JJ., concurred. Solicitor for the plaintiffs : W. Alexander. Solicitor for the defendant : Pierce Kelly. Land Corn. 1891. RE ROBERT JAMES MAXWELL'S ESTATE. March 16. June 6. Land Purchase (Ireland) Acts-.Redemption of quit-rent-Nullum Tempos (Ireland) Acts, 48 Geo. 3, c. 47; 39 4. 40 Vict. c. 37-Rents `put in charge "-Meaning of. Quit-rent payable to the Crown, and entered in the Crown rental at the time of its creation, which has not been received for over sixty years, is not barred by 48 Geo. 3, c. 47, being a rent " duly in charge" within s. 1 of that Act, and 39 & 40 Viet. c. 37, s. 1 does not apply to a claim by the Crown to the arrears of such a rent. Attorney-General v. Lord Eardley (8 Price 39) followed. Tuthill v, Rogers (1 J. & L. 36) considered. REQUISITION by the Commissioners of Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues, for the decision of the Judicial Commissioner, as to the amount of arrears of quit rent payable in respect of the lands sold in this matter. VoL. XXVIII.] Q. B. & EX. DIVISIONS. The Solicitor-General (John Atkinson, Q. C.), and Thomas J. Wall for the Commissioners of Woods and Forests and Land Revenues. George Price, Q. C., for the owner. The facts and arguments of counsel are sufficiently stated in the judgment. BEWLEY, J. :- In this case the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Woods, June 6. Forests, and Land Revenues, seek a declaration that the yearly quit rents of £1 ls. 31d. and lls. 101d. mentioned at No. 2 in the schedule of incumbrances in this matter, and claimed as being payable to Her Majesty, are not rendered legally irrecoverable by the provisions of the Acts 48 Geo. 3, c. 47, and 39 & 40 Viet. c. 37, the said rents not having been in receipt within the last sixty years. The case is one of considerable importance, because it involves not only the question as to the right of the Crown to recover upwards of 170 years' arrears of quit rent in the present case, but also the general question as to whether quit rents come within the provisions of the Nullum Tempus Acts, 48 Geo. 3, c. 47, and 39 & 40 Vict. c. 37. Before the argument was entered on, I suggested that this question would be most properly decided in the Exchequer Division, and that the proceedings in this matter might stand over until the decision had been obtained, but the parties were unwilling to adopt this course, which would occasion delay and expense, and as they were entitled to do, required me to give my opinion on the question submitted to me. The rent of £1 ls. 31d. referred to in the requisition was created by letters patent, dated the 18th July, 1669 (22 Car. II.) by which the Crown granted to one Elia Palmer, a purchaser from certain adventurers therein mentioned, certain lands forfeited in the rebellion of 1641, including inter alia " in the town and lands of Ballyglasse,with the appurtenanees,76 acres profitable land, lying and being in the barony of Clanwilliam, in the county of Tipperary," to hold unto and to the use of the said Elia Palmer, his heirs and assigns for ever, in free and common socage, yielding and paying thereout the yearly rent of 3s. Old. of the late 358 LAW REPORTS (IRELAND). [L. R. I. Land Com. currency of Ireland. The title to the other rent of lls. 10+d. has 1891. not been stated, but I assume that it had its origin in a similar In re , grant. -MAxWELL 8 ESTATE. That these rents are rents service cannot, of course, be ques tioned. The Crown did not come within the operation of the statute Quid Emptores (18 Ed. 1, c. 1) ; and such rents do not cease to have the character and incidents of rents service...