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LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - LONG TITLE

An Act to afford greater Facilities for the Establishment of
Institutions for the Promotion of Literature and Science and the
Fine Arts, and to provide for their better Regulation.
[11th August 1854]
Preamble rep. by SLR 1892

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 1
Conveyances of land as sites for certain institutions.

1. Any person in... Ireland, being seised in fee simple, fee tail,
or for life, of ... lands of freehold... tenure, and having the
present beneficial interest therein, may grant, convey, ..., by way
of gift, sale, or exchange, in fee simple or for a term of years,
any quantity not exceeding one acre of such land, whether built
upon or not, as a site for any such institution as herein-after
described: Provided, that no such grant made by any person seised
only for life of and in any such... lands shall be valid, unless,
if there be any person next entitled to the same in remainder, in
fee simple or fee tail, and if such person be legally competent,
he shall be a party to and join in such grant: Provided also,
that where any portion of waste or commonable land shall be
gratuitously conveyed by any lord of a manor for any such purpose
as aforesaid, the rights of all commoners and others having interest
of a like nature in the said land shall be barred and divested by
such conveyance.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 4
Provision where land ceases to be used for the purposes of the
institution.

4. Provided, that upon any land so granted by way of gift as
aforesaid, or any part thereof, ceasing to be used for the purposes
of the institution, the same shall thereupon immediately revert to
and become again a portion of the estate..., ... as the case may
be, to all intents and purposes, as fully as if this Act or any
such grant as aforesaid had not been passed or made; except that
where the institution shall be removed to another site the land...
may be exchanged or sold for the benefit of the said institution,
and the money received for equality of exchange or on the sale may
be applied towards the erection or establishment of the institution
upon the new site.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 5
Conveyances by persons under incapacity.

5. Where any person shall be equitably entitled to any... land, but
the legal estate therein shall be vested in some trustee or
trustees, it shall be sufficient for such person to convey the land
proposed to be granted for the purpose of this Act, without the
trustee or trustees being party to the conveyance thereof; and where
it is deemed expedient to purchase for the purpose aforesaid any
land belonging to or vested in any infant or lunatic, such land
may be conveyed by the guardian ... of such infant or the
committee of such lunatic respectively, who may receive the purchase
money for the same, and give valid and sufficient discharges to the
party paying such purchase money, who shall not be required to see
to the application thereof.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 6
Conveyances by corporations, trustees, &c.

6. Any corporation, ecclesiastical or lay, whether sole or aggregate,
and any officers, ..., trustees, or commissioners, holding land for
public, ecclesiastical, ..., charitable, or other purposes or objects,
may, subject to the provisions herein-after mentioned, grant, convey,
... for the purpose of this Act such quantity of land as
aforesaid, in any manner vested in such corporation, officers, ...,
trustees, or commissioners: Provided, that no ecclesiastical
corporation sole, being below the dignity of a bishop, shall be
authorized to make such grant without the consent in writing of the
bishop of the diocese to whose jurisdiction the said ecclesiastical
corporation shall be subject: ...; and that no property held upon
trust for charitable purposes shall be granted without the consent
of the Charity Commissioners.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 7
Conveyances by majority or quorum of trustees or commissioners.

7. Where any officers, trustees, or commissioners,..., shall make any
such grant, it shall be sufficient if a majority or quorum
authorized to act of such officers, trustees, or commissioners,
assembled at a meeting duly convened, shall assent to such grant,
and shall execute the deed of conveyance, although they shall not
constitute a majority of the actual body of such officers, trustees,
or commissioners; ....

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 8
Where part only of lands subject to a rent or under lease is
conveyed, the rent and fine upon renewal of lease may be
apportioned.

8. If part only of any land held in fee subject to a perpetual
rent, or comprised in a lease for a term of years unexpired, shall
be conveyed or agreed to be conveyed for the purpose of this Act,
the rent payable in respect of the lands subject thereto, and any
fine certain or fixed sum of money to be paid upon any renewals
of the lease, or either of such payments, may be apportioned
between the part of the said land so conveyed or agreed to be
conveyed and the residue thereof, and such apportionment may be
settled by agreement between the parties following; that is to say,
the person for the time being entitled to the rent, where the land
is held in fee, or the lessor or other the owner subject to such
lease of the lands comprised therein, the person entitled to the
fee subject to the rent, or the lessee or other party entitled to
the land by virtue of such lease or any assignment thereof for the
residue of the term thereby created, and the party to whom such
conveyance as aforesaid for the purpose of this Act is made or
agreed to be made; and when such apportionment shall so be made it
shall be binding on all under-lessees and other persons and
corporations whatsoever, whether parties to the said agreement or
not.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 9
Liabilities of tenants, and remedies of landlords, as to lands not
conveyed.

9. In case of any such apportionment as aforesaid, and after the
lands so conveyed or agreed to be conveyed as aforesaid shall have
been conveyed, the person entitled to the fee or other estate in
the lands subject to the rent, the lessee, and all parties entitled
under him to the lands not included in such conveyance shall, as
to all future accruing rent, and all future fines certain or fixed
sums of money to be paid upon renewals, be liable only to so much
of the rent or of such fines or sums of money as shall be
apportioned in respect of such last-mentioned lands; and the party
entitled to the rent charged or reserved shall have all the same
rights and remedies for the recovery of such portion of the rent
as last aforesaid as previously to such apportionment he had for
the recovery of the whole rent charged or reserved; and all the
covenants, conditions, and agreements, except as to the amount of
rent to be paid, and of the fines or sums of money to be paid
upon renewals, in case of any apportionment of the same
respectively, shall remain in force with regard to that part of the
land which shall not be so conveyed as aforesaid, in the same
manner as they would have done in case such part only of the land
had been subject to the rent or included in the lease.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 10
Any number of sites may be granted for separate institutions.

10. Any person or corporation may grant any number of sites for
distinct and separate institutions, although the aggregate quantity of
land thereby granted by such person or corporation shall exceed the
extent of one acre, provided that the site of each institution do
not exceed that extent.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 11
Grants of sites may be made to corporations or trustees for the
purpose of unincorporated institutions.

11. Where the institution shall not be incorporated, the grant of
any land for the purpose of such institution, whether taking effect
under the authority of this Act or any other authority, may be
made to any corporations sole or aggregate, or to several
corporation sole, or to any trustees whatsoever, to be held by such
corporation or corporations or trustees for the purpose of such
institution.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 12
Application of 1850 c.28.

12. The provisions of the Trustee Appointment Act, 1850, shall be
applicable to the conveyance of lands in... Ireland made or to be
made to trustees, not being corporations, for the purposes of such
institutions.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 13
Form of grants, &c.

13. All grants, conveyances, and assurances of any site for an
institution under the provisions of this Act may be made according
to the form following, or as near thereto as the circumstances of
the case will admit; (that is to say,)

to me, or us, or the said paid,] grant and convey... to all
[description of the premises], and all my, or our, or the right,
title, and interest of the to and in the same and every part
thereof, to hold unto and to the use of the said corporation, and
their successors, or of the said , and his or their [heirs or
executors or administrators or successors], for the purposes of the
said Act, and to be applied as a site for , and for no other
purpose whatever; such to be under the management and control of
[set forth the mode in which and the persons by whom the
institution is to be managed and directed; in cases where the land
is purchased, exchanged, or demised, usual covenants or obligations
for title may be added]. In witness whereof the conveying and other
parties have hereunto set their hands and seals [or seals only, as
the case may be,] this day of . Signed, sealed, and delivered by
the said in the presence of , of ."

S.14 rep. by SLR 1976. S.15 rep. by SLR (NI) 1954

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 16
Application of purchase money for land sold by ecclesiastical
corporation sole.

16. Where any land shall be sold by any ecclesiastical corporation
sole for the purpose of this Act, and the purchase money to be
paid shall not exceed the sum of twenty pounds, the same may be
retained by the party conveying for his own benefit; but when it
shall exceed the sum of twenty pounds it shall be applied for the
benefit of the said corporation in such manner as the bishop in
whose diocese such land shall be situated shall by writing under
his hand, to be registered in the registry of his diocese, direct
and appoint; but no person purchasing such land for the purpose
aforesaid shall be required to see to the due application of any
such purchase money.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 17
Application of the purchase money of sites purchased from
incapacitated persons, &c.

17. In cases not otherwise provided for in this Act, the clauses
sixty-nine, seventy, seventy-one, seventy-two, seventy-three,
seventy-four, and seventy-eight of the Lands Clauses Consolidation
Act, 1845, shall apply in respect of the application of the
purchase money of all sites purchased from incapacitated persons,
corporations, and trustees hereby empowered to sell.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 18
Trustees may sell, exchange, or let lands or buildings.

18. If it shall be deemed advisable to sell any land or
building... held in trust for any institution, or to exchange the
same for any other site, the trustees in whom the legal estate in
the said land or building shall be vested may, by the direction or
with the consent of the governing body of the said institution, if
any such there be, sell the said land or building, or part
thereof, or exchange the same for other land or building suitable
to the purposes of their trust, and receive on any exchange any
sum of money by way of effecting an equality, and apply the money
arising from such sale or given on such exchange in the purchase
of another site, or in the improvement of other premises used or
to be used for the purposes of such trust; and such trustees may,
with like direction or consent, let portions of the premises
belonging to the institution not required for the purposes thereof,
for such term, and under such covenants or agreements, as shall be
deemed by such governing body to be expedient, and apply the rents
thereof to the benefit of the institution.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 19
Trustees to be indemnified from charges.

19. The trustees of such institution who by reason of their being
the legal owner of the building or premises shall become liable to
the payment of any rate, tax, charge, costs, or expenses, shall be
indemnified and kept harmless by the governing body thereof from the
same, and in default of such indemnity shall be entitled to hold
the said building or premises and other property vested in them as
a security for their reimbursement and indemnification, and, if
necessity shall arise, may mortgage or sell the same, or part
thereof, free from the trusts of the institution, and apply the
amount obtained by such mortgage or sale to their reimbursement, and
the balance (if any) to the benefit of the institution...

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 20
Personal property of institutions, how to be vested.

20. Where any institution shall be incorporated, and have no
provision applicable to the personal property of such institution,
and in all cases where the institution shall not be incorporated,
the money, securities for money, goods, chattels, and personal
effects belonging to the said institution, and not vested in
trustees, shall be deemed to be vested for the time being in the
governing body of such institution, and in all proceedings, civil
and criminal, may be described as the monies, securities, goods,
chattels, and effects of the governing body of such institution, by
their proper title.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 21
Suits by and against institutions, how to be brought.

21. Any institution incorporated which shall not be entitled to sue
and be sued by any corporate name, and every institution not
incorporated, may sue or be sued in the name of the president,
chairman, principal secretary, or clerk, as shall be determined by
the rules and regulations of the institution, and, in default of
such determination, in the name of such person as shall be
appointed by the governing body for the occasion: Provided, that it
shall be competent for any person having a claim or demand against
the institution to sue the president or chairman thereof, if, on
application to the governing body, some other officer or person be
not nominated to be the defendant.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 22
Suits not to abate or discontinue.

22. No suit or proceeding in any civil court shall abate or
discontinue by reason of the person by or against whom such suit
or proceedings shall have been brought or continued dying or ceasing
to fill the character in the name whereof he shall have sued or
been sued, but the same suit or proceeding shall be continued in
the name of or against the successor of such person.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 23
Judgment recovered against persons suing or sued on behalf of an
institution, how to be enforced.

23. If a judgment shall be recovered against the person or officer
named on behalf of the institution, such judgment shall not be put
in force against the goods, chattels, or lands, or against the
body, of such person or officer, but against the property of the
institution; and a writ of revivor shall be issued, setting forth
the judgment recovered, the fact of the party against whom it shall
have been recovered having sued or having been sued, as the case
may be, on behalf of the institution only, and requiring to have
the judgment enforced against the property of the institution.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 24
Institution may make byelaws.

24. In any institution the governing body, if not otherwise legally
empowered to do so, may, at any meeting specially convened according
to its regulations, make any byelaw for the better governance of
the institution, its members or officers, and for the furtherance of
its purpose and object, and may impose a reasonable pecuniary
penalty for the breach thereof, which penalty, when accrued, may be
recovered in any local court of the district wherein the defendant
shall inhabit or the institution shall be situated, as the governing
body thereof shall deem expedient: Provided always, that no pecuniary
penalty imposed by any byelaw for the breach thereof shall be
recoverable unless the byelaw shall have been confirmed by the votes
of three fifths of the members present at a meeting specially
convened for the purpose.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 25
Members liable to be sued for subscriptions in arrear or property
wrongfully detained.

25. Any member who may be in arrear of his subscription according
to the rules of the institution, or may be or shall possess
himself of or detain any property of the institution in a manner
or for a time contrary to such rules, or shall injure or destroy
the property of the institution, may be sued in the manner
herein-before provided; but if the defendant shall be successful in
any action or other proceeding at the instance of the institution,
and shall be adjudged to recover his costs, he may elect to
proceed to recover the same from the officer in whose name the
suit shall be brought, or from the institution, and in the latter
case shall have process against the property of the said institution
in the manner above described.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 26
Members guilty of offences may be prosecuted and punished as
strangers.

26. Any member of the institution who shall ... wilfully and
maliciously, or wilfully and unlawfully, destroy or injure the
property of such institution, ... whereby the funds of the
institution may be exposed to loss, shall be subject to the same
prosecution, and if convicted shall be liable to be punished in
like manner, as any person not a member would be subject and
liable to in respect of the like offence.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 27
Institutions enabled to alter, extend, or abridge their purposes, or
amalgamate with other institutions.

27. Whenever it shall appear to the governing body of any
institution (not having a Royal Charter, nor established by nor
acting under any Act of Parliament,) which has been established for
any particular purpose or purposes that it is advisable to alter,
extend, or abridge such purpose, or to amalgamate such institution,
either wholly or partially, with any other institution or
institutions, such governing body may submit the proposition to their
members in a written or printed report, and may convene a special
meeting for the consideration thereof according to the regulations of
the institution; but no such proposition shall be carried into
effect unless such report shall have been delivered or sent by post
to every member ten days previous to the special meeting convened
by the governing body for the consideration thereof, nor unless such
proposition shall have been agreed to by the votes of three fifths
of the members present at such meeting, and confirmed by the votes
of three fifths of the members present at a second special meeting
convened by the governing body at an interval of one month after
the former meeting.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 28
Power to Board of Trade to suspend such alteration, &c.

28. If any members of the institution, being not less than two
fifths in number, consider that the proposition so carried is
calculated to prove injurious to the institution, they may, within
three months after the confirmation thereof, make application in
writing to the Lords of the Committee of Her Majesty's Privy
Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations, who, at their discretion,
shall entertain the application, and if, after due inquiry, they
shall decide that the proposition is then calculated to prove
injurious to the institution, the same shall not be then carried
into effect; but such decision shall not prevent the members of
such institution from reconsidering the same proposition on a future
occasion.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 29
Dissolution of institutions and adjustment of affairs.

29. Any number not less than three fifths of the members of any
institution may determine that it shall be dissolved, and thereupon
it shall be dissolved forthwith, or at the time then agreed upon,
and all necessary steps shall be taken for the disposal and
settlement of the property of the institution, its claims and
liabilities, according to the rules of the said institution
applicable thereto, if any, and if not, then as the governing body
shall find expedient: Provided, that in the event of any dispute
arising among the said governing body, or the members of the
institution, the adjustment of its affairs shall be referred to the
judge of the county court of the district in which the principal
building of the institute shall be situated, and he shall make such
order or orders in the matter as he shall deem requisite, or, if
he find it necessary, shall direct that proceedings shall be taken
in the [High Court] for the adjustment of the affairs of the
institution.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 30
Application of surplus upon a dissolution.

30. If upon the dissolution of any institution there shall remain,
after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities, any
property whatsoever, the same shall not be paid to or distributed
among the members of the said institution or any of them, but
shall be given to some other institution, to be determined by the
members at the time of the dissolution, or in default thereof by
the judge of the county court aforesaid: Provided, however, that
this clause shall not apply to any institution which shall have
been founded or established by the contributions of shareholders in
the nature of a joint stock company.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 31
Members defined.

31. For the purposes of this Act, a member of an institution shall
be a person who, having been admitted therein according to the
rules and regulations thereof, shall have paid a subscription, or
shall have signed the roll or list of members thereof; but in all
proceedings under this Act no person shall be entitled to vote or
be counted as a member whose current subscription shall be in
arrear at the time.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 32
Governing body defined.

32. The governing body of the institution shall be the council,
directors, committee, or other body to whom, by Act of Parliament,
charter, or the rules and regulations of the institution, the
management of its affairs is entrusted; and if no such body shall
have been constituted on the establishment of the institution, it
shall be competent for the members thereof, upon due notice, to
create for itself a governing body to act for the institution
thenceforth.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 33
To what institutions the Act applies.

33. The Act shall apply to every institution for the time being
established for the promotion of science, literature, the fine arts,
for adult instruction, the diffusion of useful knowledge, the
foundation or maintenance of libraries or reading rooms for general
use among the members or open to the public, or public museums and
galleries of paintings and other works of art, collections of
natural history, mechanical and philosophical inventions, instruments,
or designs: Provided, that the Royal Institution, ..., shall be
exempt from the operation of this Act.

S.34 rep. by SLR 1976

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ACT 1854 - SECT 35
Short title.

35. In all deeds, documents, proceedings, suits, and prosecutions,
this Act may be cited and described by the name of the Literary
and Scientific Institutions Act, 1854.