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IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - LONG TITLE

An Act for regulating the management by the Trustees of the
Presbyterian Church in Ireland of certain trust properties for the
said Church, and for other purposes.
[16th June 1871]
Preamble (which recites the Irish Church Act 1869 (c.42) ss.23, 29
(which provided for the commutation of the life interests of
ministers or assistant ministers of protestant non-conforming
congregations in Ireland): that upwards of three-fourths of the whole
number of the ministers of the general assembly of the Presbyterian
Church in Ireland authorized to commute under the said Act had
already commuted their life interests for capital sums under the
provisions of the said Act (which ministers who had already commuted
are herein-after designated "the said commuting ministers"): that the
said commuting ministers and the said general assembly duly appointed
certain persons to be trustees to receive the said capital sums
pursuant to the said Act: that, in order to enable the said
trustees to pay to each of the said commuting ministers an annuity
for his life, provided he should so long continue in his office of
minister, equal to the annuity commuted by him as aforesaid, and at
the same time to preserve undiminished the entire amount of the
said commutation money as a source of permanent endowment for the
church, certain members of the church agreed to raise by voluntary
annual contribution or otherwise a certain amount of income, to be
called "the sustentation fund" of the said church (and herein-after
designated as "the said sustentation fund"), the same to be applied
in each and every year so long as any such life annuity should be
payable as aforesaid to supplement the annual income arising from
the said commutation money, so far as might be required for the
payment in full of the several annuities: that the said commuting
ministers had agreed that the commutation money payable in respect
of their life interests should be vested in the said trustees, on
certain trusts contained in and declared by a deed dated 18th July
1870: that certain colleges and other property and trust funds
connected therewith which had been given and bequeathed for the
education of ministers for the said church were vested in certain
trustees for the said church; that certain churches, manses, and
other property connected therewith, were vested in certain trustees,
for congregations connected with the said church; that certain trust
funds and moneys given and bequeathed by members of the said church
for missions and other charities connected with the said church,
were vested in or under the control of divers trustees for the
said church,and portions thereof had been invested on mortgages of
lands and in other securites) rep. by SLR 1893 (No.2)

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 1
Short title.

1. This Act may be cited for all purposes as "The Irish
Presbyterian Church Act, 1871."

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 2
Trustees.

2. ... the trustees named in said deed, and their successors
appointed as herein-after expressed shall be "The Trustees of the
Presbyterian Church in Ireland" for the purpose of carrying into
effect the provisions of this Act, and are in this Act referred to
as "the trustees."

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 3
Commutation moneys vested in trustees.

3. ... all moneys paid or payable in respect of the annuities of
ministers who at the date of such passing have commuted the
annuities payable to them respectively under the said Act, and all
securities therefor, and the right to receive and realize the same
respectively, are transferred to and vested in the trustees and
their successors, subject to the directions and enactments affecting
the same herein-after contained.

Ss.48 rep. by SLR 1980

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 9
Trust moneys to be held for permanent endowment of ministers for
the time being of Presbyterian Church.

9. ... the said commutation fund, and the stocks, funds, and
securities in which the same shall be invested, shall ... be held
by the trustees upon such trusts by way of permanent endowment for
the benefit of the ministers for the time being of congregations of
the Presbyterian Church in Ireland in connexion with and under the
jurisdiction of the said general assembly as the said assembly shall
direct: Provided always, nevertheless, that the interest, dividends,
and annual income only of the said fund shall be applied for the
benefit of such ministers, and that such preference as the general
assembly may in its absolute and uncontrolled discretion think right
shall be given to the claims of congregations whose ministers shall
have so commuted as aforesaid.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 10
Trusts of sustentation fund.

10. The trustees shall receive from the treasurer of the
sustentation fund all sums given, subscribed, or bequeathed thereto,
and shall ... pay and apply such sums as the said general assembly
may from time to time direct: Provided always, that donations and
bequests given or bequeathed to or in favour of the said
sustentation fund, and directed to be permanently invested or
otherwise given or bequeathed as an endowment fund for the
sustentation of the ministry of the said church, and received by
the trustees, shall be invested by them and unless the respective
donors or testators shall otherwise direct, the interest, dividends,
and annual income thereof shall be paid and applied by the trustees
as the general assembly may from time to time direct, and if such
donor or testator shall specifically direct the trustees to apply
the same to the support of the minister of any particular
congregation, the same shall be applied accordingly by the trustees.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 11
Gifts, bequests, or transfers to trustees to be held on trusts.

11. It shall be lawful for the trustees, if they shall think fit,
with the approval of the said general assembly, to accept or take
a transfer of any other gift or bequest of personal property given
or bequeathed for the endowment or permanent use or benefit of the
said church, or any college, congregation, mission, or charity
connected therewith, or to take a transfer from any trustee or
other person in whom the same shall be vested of any endowment or
fund or securities for the purpose aforesaid, and the trustees shall
hold such personal property so given, bequeathed, or transferred as
aforesaid on the trusts declared by or contained in the deed, will,
or other instrument of endowment.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 12
Mode of investment of trust funds.

12. The trustees may from time to time invest the said commutation
fund, and all other moneys that shall come to their hands under
the provisions contained for the said church, in any of the public
stocks or funds or government securities of the United Kingdom or
India, or any colony or dependency of the United Kingdom, or upon
mortgage of real securities in England, Wales, or Ireland, or in
any other securities whatever which the said general assembly of the
said church shall from time to time appoint; and no trustee shall
be liable for any loss occasioned by the depreciation or failure of
any such investment or otherwise, save by his own wilful default;
and the trustees from time to time, at their discretion, may vary
or transpose such stocks, funds, and securities into or for others
of the same or a like nature.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 13
Incorporation by Royal Charter.

13. It shall be lawful for Her Majesty by charter to incorporate
the trustees with power, ... to hold land to such extent as is in
this Act provided, but no further or otherwise, and the trustees
when so incorporated by charter shall continue to act in the
execution of this Act.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 14
Power to invest funds in purchase, &c. of lands for manses, &c.
not exceeding thirty acres for each church.

14. It shall be lawful for the trustees, when incorporated by
charter as aforesaid, to invest all moneys vested in them for that
purpose in the absolute purchase, or in procuring leases or fee-farm
grants subject to annual or other rents, and with or without fines,
of lands for the erection thereon of churches, or of manses for
the use of the ministers of said church, or for schools or other
buildings in connexion with said church buildings, or for other
church purposes, the lands so to be purchased not to exceed thirty
acres for each congregation, and to sell, grant, or demise the
lands so purchased to trustees, for the minister and congregations
of each church, for such sum or at such rent and for such term
as the trustee shall think fit, or to permit such ministers and
congregations to occupy and use the same at such rent and upon
such terms and conditions as the trustees shall think fit; and the
trustees may execute all such deeds, grants, leases, or other
documents as may be necessary for the purpose aforesaid.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 15
Power to vest colleges, church buildings, &c. in trustees.

15. It shall be lawful for the trustees of any college, church
building, schoolhouse, manse, or other real property whether freehold
or chattel, held in trust for the said church or any congregation
in connexion therewith, or any person or persons in whom the same
may be vested, if they or he respectively shall think fit, to
grant, assign, or otherwise vest in the trustees when incorporated
by charter as aforesaid, with their concurrence, such college, church
building, schoolhouse, manse, or other real property, whether freehold
or chattel, to be held by the trustees upon such trust and subject
to such rights as at the time of such grant, assignment, or
vesting affected the same respectively, and the former trustees shall
be thereupon released from the trusts thereof respectively.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 16
Power to hold lands for colleges, &c.

16. It shall be lawful for any person whomsoever, entitled so to
do, to give, grant, devise, bequeath, or assure, by any deed, will,
or other instrument sufficient in law to create or convey an estate
therein, any messuages, lands, hereditaments, or any estate therein,
to the trustees when incorporated by charter as aforesaid for any
college, or for any church building or schoolhouse in connexion with
any congregation or church, or for a hall for the meeting of the
said general assembly: Provided always, that under the provisions
aforesaid or otherwise not more than thirty acres shall be held in
trust for any congregation, nor more than one hundred acres in
trust for any college, nor more than twenty acres in trust for
erecting thereon a hall, offices, or other buildings for the use of
said general assembly: Provided always, nevertheless, that any such
gift, grant, bequest, or assurance of lands in excess of the
acreage hereby authorized to be held as aforesaid shall be void as
to the excess only.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 17
Power to sell surplus lands.

17. The trustees, when incorporated by charter as aforesaid, may
from time to time sell, lease, exchange, or otherwise dispose of,
on such terms and in such manner as they think fit, or mortgage,
any lands vested in them, and not being otherwise required for
purposes of the said church or any of the colleges or congregations
connected therewith, and may enter into, execute, and do all
contracts, assurances, and things necessary or proper in that behalf;
and every such sale or lease as aforesaid may be made either
absolutely for a sum in money, or for any annual rent or rents,
to be made payable as the trustees direct, or partly for a sum of
money and partly for such rent or rents as aforesaid, as the
trustees think fit, and the trustees may afterwards sell any rent
so to be made payable.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 18
Directions as to business accounts, &c.

18. The trustees shall conduct their business at such place, and
keep such minute books, and shall keep and render such accounts,
and make such reports, from time to time, and hold such meetings,
as the said general assembly of the Presbyterian Church shall from
time to time direct and require.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 19
Power to appoint officers.

19. It shall be lawful for the trustees from time to time to
appoint a treasurer or treasurers, secretary, and such other officers
and agents, and to prescribe for them such duties, and to pay them
such remuneration for their services, as the trustees shall think
fit; and such treasurer or treasurers, secretary, and other officers
shall hold their respective offices on such terms as the trustees
shall determine.

S.20 spent

Power to general assembly to appoint auditors.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 21

21. The said general assembly may, at its ordinary meetings in each
year, or at any extraordinary meeting specially convened for the
purpose, appoint two or more fit and proper persons to examine and
audit the accounts of the trustees; and such auditors shall have
power to call for and require the production of all books of
account, vouchers, and documents relating to the income and
expenditure of the trust during the year to which the accounts so
to be audited may relate, and the same shall be produced to them
accordingly.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 22
Receipts by treasurer, &c. a discharge.

22. The receipt in writing of the treasurer or treasurers, or of
any of the trustees authorized in that behalf by byelaw, for any
moneys paid, and for any stocks, funds, shares, or securities
transferred to them by virtue of this Act, or in execution of any
of the trusts or powers thereof, shall effectually discharge the
person or persons paying or transferring the same therefrom, and
from being bound to see to the application or being answerable for
the loss or misapplication thereof.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 23
Contracts by trustees.

23. With respect to contracts to be made by the trustees the
following provisions shall have effect; (that is to say,)

With respect to any contract which if made between individuals would
be by law required to be in writing and under seal, the trustees
may make the same in writing under their common seal, when
incorporated by charter as aforesaid, or until incorporated under the
hands and seals of the trustees or any five of them acting on
behalf or under the direction of the trustees, and in the same
manner may vary or discharge the same:

With respect to any contract which if made between individuals would
be by law required to be in writing and signed by the parties to
be charged therewith, the trustees may make the same in writing
signed by any two of them, or by the treasurer or any person
appointed by byelaw to act in that behalf generally or in any
particular case, and in the same manner may vary or discharge the
same:

With respect to any contract which if made between individuals would
be by law valid though not reduced into writing, the trustees, or
any two of them, or the treasurer or any person acting on behalf
or under the direction of the trustees, may make the same, or
authorize the same to be made, without writing, and in the same
manner may vary or discharge the same.

Minutes of meetings to be kept.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 24

24. The said general assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and the
said trustees and executive committee of the trustees respectively,
in discharging their respective duties under this Act, or any
byelaws to be made in pursuance thereof, shall cause notes, minutes,
or copies (as the case requires) of their orders, resolutions and
proceedings, to be entered in books to be kept under their
superintendence; and every such entry shall be signed by the
moderator of the general assembly, or by the chairman of the
meeting at which the order, resolution, or proceeding entered was
passed or taken, or by the moderator or chairman, as the case may
be, of the next subsequent meeting; and every such entry so signed
shall be received as evidence in all courts and elsewhere without
proof of the meeting having been duly convened or held, or of the
persons making or taking any such order, resolution, or proceeding,
or causing the same to be entered, being members of the general
assembly or being trustees (as the case may be), or of the
signature of the person signing as chairman, or of the fact of his
having been moderator or chairman, as the case may be, all which
matters shall be presumed until the contrary is shown.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 25
Acts done at meeting of general assembly valid notwithstanding
disqualification.

25. All acts done at a meeting of the general assembly or of the
trustees, or of any committee thereof, by any person acting as a
member of the general assembly or of the trustees or committee,
shall, notwithstanding it being afterwards discovered that there was
some defect in the appointment of any such person so acting, or
that he was disqualified, be as valid as if there had been no
such defect or disqualification.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 26
Validity of gifts and bequests, notwithstanding vacancy in the office
of a trustee.

26. Any order, resolution, or proceeding of the trustees, or any
power by this Act conferred, or any gift, devise, or bequest to
the trustees, or otherwise, for the benefit of the said church, or
any congregation, college, mission, or charity connected therewith,
shall not be invalidated by reason only of there being a vacancy
among the trustees.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 27
Indemnity to trustees.

27. The trustees shall not, nor shall any of them, by being party
to or executing as such trustee any contract or other instrument,
or otherwise lawfully executing any of the powers given to the
trustees by this Act or the byelaws to be made in pursuance of
its provisions, be subject to be sued or prosecuted by any person
whomsoever, nor shall the bodies, goods, or lands of such trustees
or any of them be liable to execution of any legal process by
reason of any contract or other instrument so entered into, signed,
or executed by them, or any of them, or by reason of any other
lawful act done by them, or any of them, in the execution of any
of their powers as such trustees as aforesaid, and the trustees,
their heirs, executors, and administrators, shall be indemnified out
of the trust funds for all payments made or liabilities incurred in
respect of any acts done by them, and for all losses, costs, and
damages which they may incur in the execution of this Act, and the
trustees for the time being may apply the trust funds for the
purposes of such indemnity.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 28
Power to pay travelling expenses, &c.

28. It shall be lawful for the trustees to pay to any trustee all
travelling and other expenses incurred by him in or about the
execution of the said trusts or powers or any of them.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 29
Mode of election of trustees.

29. If any of the trustees herein-before named, or to be appointed
as herein-after provided, shall die, or be declared a bankrupt, or
file a petition for relief under any Act or Acts for the time
being in force for the relief of insolvent debtors, or make any
composition with his creditors, or cease to be a member of some
congregation in connexion with the said general assembly of the
Presbyterian Church in Ireland, or to reside in Ireland, or shall
be absent therefrom for a continuous period of twelve calendar
months, or shall, by writing under his hand, delivered to the clerk
for the time being of the said general assembly, express his desire
to be discharged, or shall refuse or become incapable to act, or
shall be removed from being one of the trustees by a vote of the
said general assembly, then and in any of such cases it shall be
lawful for the said general assembly at its annual meeting, or at
any meeting specially convened for such purpose, to appoint a person
to fill such vacancy (the successor to fill up such vacancy to be
a minister if the deceased or retiring trustee was or is a
minister, or such successor to be a layman if the deceased or
retiring trustee was or is a layman): Provided always, that no
person shall be eligible to be elected a trustee who at the time
of holding any such meeting of the general assembly is not and has
not for a period of at least two years been a member of some
congregation in connexion with the said general assembly.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 30
Power to make byelaws, with assent of general assembly, &c.

30. It shall be lawful for the trustees from time to time to make
such byelaws, rules, and regulations as may be deemed expedient
respecting the managment and disposition of the trust property,
estates, and effects vested in them, the investment of trust moneys
or funds, the transfer of any moneys or funds so invested in or
upon any other security, the appointment of such and so many
committees as may be considered necessary for the despatch of
business, and to delegate to them all or any of the powers of the
trustees, and to prescribe the powers and duties each such committee
shall possess and discharge, and to declare how many members shall
be on each committee, and how many present shall be necessary to
make a quorum of the trustees of the said committees respectively,
the giving or sending notices for and the times, places, and manner
of their meetings, and for the general conduct, management, or
control of business affairs, times of meeting, and proceedings of
the trustees; Provided always, that the said byelaws, and every
alteration, repeal, or addition thereto, shall not come into force
and effect until approved of by the said general assembly of the
Presbyterian Church, and such approval shall be duly evidenced by
the same being signed by the moderator for the time being of the
said assembly, and the clerks of assembly, or one of them; and the
said general assembly, at the annual meeting of assembly, or any
meeting specially convened for the purpose, may by the vote of a
majority at such meeting approve of, revoke, repeal, or alter,
wholly or in part, all or any part of every or any such byelaw,
rule, or regulation as aforesaid, and substitute or make any other
byelaw, rule, or regulation in lieu thereof, as such general
assembly shall think fit; and any instrument in writing which shall
purport to be a byelaw, rule, or regulation of the trustees, and
which shall be sealed with the common seal of the trustees when
they are incorporated by charter as aforesaid, or until incorporated
shall be under the hands and seals of the trustees, or any five
of them, shall be received as prima8 facie evidence of the same
being such a byelaw, rule, or regulation in all courts and before
all justices, officers, and persons whomsoever: Provided always, that
the said byelaws shall not at any time be altered by the trustees,
nor any new ones be added thereto, unless at a meeting of the
trustees duly convened for the purpose, and of which meeting
fourteen day's notice shall previously be given or sent to each
trustee in such form as may be provided by the byelaw for the
time being as to notices, such notice to specify the proposed
alteration, repeal, or addition.

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 31
Acts of general assembly.

31. The vote of the majority of the members for the time being of
the general assembly present and voting at any meeting of the said
assembly duly convened shall be considered as the act of the
assembly for any of the purposes for which said act is hereby
rendered necessary; and all votes and proceedings of the said
general assembly, which shall be signed by the moderator thereof for
the time being, and the clerks of the said assembly, or one of
them, shall be received as evidence that same were passed at a
meeting of the said assembly duly convened and constituted.

S.32 rep. by SLR 1980

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ACT 1871 - SECT 33
Costs.

33. The costs, charges, and expenses of and incident to the
obtaining and passing of this Act and carrying same into effect,
and the management of the trust estate, shall be paid by the
trustees out of the moneys which are in or may come to their
hands under the provisions of this Act.