Page:History and characteristics of Bishop Auckland.djvu/169

 142 HISTORY OF BISHOP AUCKLAND. residence and abode of the objects of the said charity, in the said site so acquired as aforesaid, or in or towards the improvement, rebuilding, or complete and thorough repair of the said messuage or dwelling, or cottages or tenements so acquired as aforesaid, and the diyidends, interest, and annual produce of the remainder of the said trust fund shall from thenceforth, in the first place, be applied in or towards payment of the ground-rent, if any, payable for or in respect of the said premises, and the insurance and repair thereof, and the residue only of such annual income shall be paid and applied unto or for the use and benefit of the person or persons for the time being, entitled under the trusts hereinbefore contained. And it is hereby declared that the said premises shall be appropriated for the residence and abode of the objects of the said charity, and shall be called *' Addison's Chasity." And I hereby declare and direct that every vacancy in the trusteeship of the said charity, occasioned by the death in my lifetime or afterwards, or by the disclaimer, secession, or incompetency of any trustee, shall be supplied as soon as may be, by the appointment of a fit substitute, such appointment to be made by the said perpetual curate or incumbent, churchwardens, and sidesmen for the time being of the said parish, or the major part of them (the said perpetual curate or incumbent being one of such majority), present at a meeting duly convened for that purpose by such notice as aforesaid, and that upon every such appointment proper transfers and assignments of the said trust estate and premises shall be made and executed at the expense of the said trust estate, and that the number of the said trustees may be either increased or decreased if deemed expedient, and that aU the trusts and powers vested in the trustees hereby appointed may be executed by the trustees or trustee for the time being of the said charity, and that the trustees or trustee for the time being of the said charity shall be chargeable only to the extent of his or their respective actual receipts, and be exempt from responsibility for involuntary losses, and be entitled to retain out of the said trust fund all disbursements and expenses incident to the execution of the trusts hereby created. At a meeting of the minister, cliurchwardens, and gentlemen of the twenty-four, held in the following December, Thomas Dunn, of Eldon, aged sixty-eight, was nominated and duly elected as a fit and proper person for the benefit of the charity. The meeting was unable to agree upon a second person to receive the appointment, and was accordingly adjourned until the following day, when there was the largest meeting of the Select Vestry on record, and Mr. William French, of Bishop Auckland, aged eighty-two, was elected as the other member of the charity. These were the first persons appointed. The present recipients of the charity are Mr. John Furby, of Shildon, and Mr. George Bainbridge, of Bracks. It was unfortimately found that by reason of the bulk of Mr. Addison's money being invested on mortgage, the amount of pure personalty available for this and other charitable bequests made by the will was reduced very considerably, and the amount eventually handed over to the trustees was only £11 19s. One of the legatees imder Mr. Addison's will was a keen-witted Chancery Barrister, who was not long in discovering that the money invested on mortgage " savoured of realty," to use a lawyer's phraseology, and therefore, according to the Statutes of Mortmain, that portion of the estate could not be applied for charitable uses. Between 1862 and 1867, the mode in which the executors and the persons beneficially interested under the will of Mr. John Addison, had dealt with the charity intended for the benefit of the parish, formed the subject of comment and inquiry at almost every vestry meeting, imtil at length, in 1867, we find that Mr. Bowser reported that he had investigated the circumstances connected with the deficiency in the amount handed dkev to the trustees of the charity by the executors of the late Mr. Addison, and that he was satisfied that the trustees had received all they were legally entitled to. Digitized by Google