1800: 41 George 3 (G.B.) c.13: An Act to enable Commissioners to purchase certain Buildings for the Accommodation of the two Houses of Parliament.
[22d December 1800.]
‘WHEREAS it is necessary, for the Accommodation of the two Houses of Parliament, that certain Houses and Buildings in Old Palace Yard should be purchased for the Publick Use; and it is expedient that the Value of such Houses, Buildings, and Tenements, should be ascertained by indifferent Persons, without Delay;’ be it therefore enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same,
[Commissioners appointed for the Purchase of Buildings for the Accommodation of Parliament, who, if the Parties refuse to sell, &c. may require the Sheriff of Middlesex to impannel a jury to ascertain the Value of the Premises.]
That George Dance, Samuel Pepys Cockerell, and John Groves, Esquires, shall be and are hereby appointed Commissioners for the Purchase of all such Houses, Buildings, and Tenements, as they may think necessary, for the completing the Purposes aforesaid; and that if any Person or Persons, seised or possessed of or interested in any Houses, Buildings, Lands, or Tenements, that shall by the said George Dance, Samuel Pepys Cockerell, and John Groves, be deemed necessary to be altered, removed, or pulled down, shall refuse to treat or agree for the Sale thereof, or shall not agree in the Sum of Money offered to be given for the same, or shall not, or cannot, produce a clear Title to the Premises they are in possession of, or the Interest they claim therein, that then and in every such Case it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners, or any two of them, by Writing under their Hands, to require the Sheriff of the County of Middlesex, who shall thereupon, and is hereby authorised and required to im-pannel, summon, and return a competent Number of substantial and disinterested Persons qualified to serve as Jurors, not less than twenty-four nor more than forty-eight; and out of such Persons so to be impannelled, summoned, and returned, a Jury of twelve Men shall be drawn by some Person, to be by the said Commissioners, or any two of them, appointed, in such Manner as Juries, for the Trial of Issues joined in his Majesty’s Courts at Westminster, are by an Act, made in the third Year of the Reign of his late Majesty King George the Second, intituled, An Act for the better Regulation of Juries, directed to be drawn; which Persons so to be impannelled, summoned, and returned as aforesaid, are hereby required to come and appear before the said Commissioners, or any two of them, at any such Time and Place as in such Summons shall be appointed, and all Parties concerned shall and may have their lawful Challenges against any of the said Jurymen, but shall not be at Liberty to challenge the Array; and the said Commissioners, or any of them, are hereby authorised and empowered from Time to Time, as Occasion shall require, to call before them all and every Person and Persons whomsoever, who shall be thought proper and necessary to be examined as a Witness or Witnesses, on his, her, or their Oath or Oaths, touching or concerning the Premises; and the said Commissioners, or any two of them, if they think fit, shall and may likewise authorise the said Jury to view the Place or Places, or Premises in question, in such Manner as they shall direct; and the said Jury upon their Oaths (which Oaths, as also the Oaths of such Person or Persons as shall be called upon to give Evidence, the said Commissioners, or any two of them, are hereby empowered and required to administer) shall enquire of the Value of such Houses, Buildings, Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments, and of the proportionable Value of the respective Estates and Interests of all and every Persons and Person seised or possessed thereof, or interested therein, or of or in any Part or Parts thereof, and shall assess and award the Sum or Sums of Money to be paid to such Person or Persons, Party or Parties respectively, for the Purchase of such Houses, Buildings, Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments, and of such respective Estates and Interests therein, and also for Good Will, Improvements, or any Injury or Damage whatever, that may affect any such Person or Persons, Party or Parties, either as Leaseholder or Tenant at Will; and the said Commissioners or any two of them, mall and may give Judgment for such Sum or Sums of Money so to be assessed; which Verdict or Verdicts, and the Judgment and Judgments, Determination and Determinations thereupon, shall be binding and conclusive to all Intents and Purposes whatsoever, against all and every Persons and Person claiming any Estate, Right, Title, Trust, Use, or Interest in, to, or out of such Houses, Buildings, Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments and Premises, in possession, Reversion, Remainder, or Expectancy, as well Infants and Issue unborn, Lunaticks, Ideots, and Femes Covert, and Persons under any other legal Incapacity or Disability, as all other Cestuique Trusts, their, his, and her Heirs, Successors, Executors, and Administrators, and against all other Persons whomsoever; and the said Verdicts, Judgments, and Determinations, and all other Proceedings of the said Commissioners and Juries so to be made, given, and pronounced as aforesaid, shall be fairly written on Parchment, and signed by the Clerk of the Peace for the Time being of the County of Middlesex.
[Upon Payment of the Sums assessed, the Parties shall convey the Premises to the Commissioners and if they cannot make a Title, refuse to convey, or cannot be found the Commissioners may order the Money to be paid into the Bank, subject to the Order of the Court of Chancery.]
II. And be it further enacted, That upon Payment of any such Sum or Sums so assessed to the Party or Parties to whom the same shall be so awarded, or on Tender thereof made at his, her, or their Dwelling House, or if he, she, or they shall have no Dwelling House, then at the House of some Tenant or Occupier of some Lands or Tenements of such Party or Parties near the said intended Works, he, she, or they shall execute a Conveyance of the Premises which shall be so purchased, to the said Commissioners, or any two of them, for the Purposes of this Act; and in case such Person or Persons to whom such Sum or Sums of Money shall be so awarded as aforesaid, shall not be able to make a good Title to the Premises, to the Satisfaction of the said Commissioners, or any two of them, or shall refuse to execute such Conveyance or Conveyances, or in case such Person or Persons, to whom such Sum or Sums of Money shall be so awarded as aforesaid, cannot be found, or if the Person or Persons entitled to such Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments, be not known or discovered, then and in every such Case as aforesaid it shall be lawful to and for the said Commissioners, or any two of them, to order the said Sum and Sums assessed and awarded for any Purchase Money, or in Recompence for any Damage as aforesaid, to be paid into the Bank of England, in the Name and with the Privity of the Accountant General of the Court of Chancery, to be placed to his Account to the Credit of the Parties interested in the said Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments, (describing them,) subject to the Order, Controul, and Disposition of the said Court of Chancery; which said Court of Chancery, on the Application of any Person or Persons making Claim to such Sum or Sums of Money, or any Part thereof, by Motion or Petition, shall be and is hereby empowered, in a summary Way of proceeding or otherwise as to the Court shall seem meet, to order the same to be laid out and invested in the Publick Funds, and to order Distribution thereof, on Payment of the Dividends thereof, according to the respective Estate or Estates, Title or Interest of the Person or Persons making Claim thereto, and to make such other Order in the Premises as to the said Court shall seem just and reasonable; and the Cashier or Cashiers of the Bank of England, who shall receive such Sum and Sums of Money, is and are hereby required to give a Receipt or Receipts for such Sum or Sums, mentioning and specifying for what and for whose Use the same is or are received, to such Person or Persons as shall pay any such Sum or Sums of Money into the Bank as aforesaid.
[After such Payment into the Bank, the Premises shall vest in his Majesty.]
III. And be it further enacted, That immediately after paying such Purchase Money as aforesaid into the Bank, the said Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments, in respect whereof the same shall have been so paid, shall vest in his Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, and for the Purposes aforesaid, who shall be deemed in Law to be in the actual Possession thereof, to all Intents and Purposes whatsoever, freed and discharged from all former and other Estates, Rights, Titles, Interests, Claims, and Demands whatsoever.