MR. HUMEsaid, he wished to move for the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into the state of the Prerogative Court. He had abstained from bringing forward this question till the Report of the Commission, which lately sat on the subject of the Prerogative Courts, was laid on the table of the House; but in that Report the only paragraph which he found in relation to this subject was a statement that the custody of testamentary instruments was most unsatisfactory, and that 465 the great number of places occupied by such deposits rendered it difficult and expensive, and in many instances impracticable, to make those researches which often become necessary. In the appendix, three witnesses spoke of the state of the country deposits for wills, and one of those witnesses, Mr. Trevor, said not one of them was fire-proof. With regard to Doctors' Commons, he had himself examined it yesterday, and the room was so narrow and inconvenient that it was scarcely possible to pass the fifteen or sixteen persons who were there engaged in making references. Besides, the accumulation of wills during the last 300 years was enormous. There was in fact, no room for more; and it was a curious circumstance that the property where they were deposited was leasehold, that the lease expired in 1857, so that if they did not take immediate steps, the property, wills, and all, would fall into the hands of the proprietor. He was anxious, therefore, that they should now inquire where better accommodation could be procured. He would suggest that they should be removed to Somerset House, and placed under the care of Major Graham, the Registrar General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, whose admirable and carefully prepared statistical information respecting the public health was generally appreciated, and where great convenience would be found from having the wills placed in connection with the registers of mortality.
THE SOLICITOR GENERALsaid, that the question was one of paramount importance. It was one that had engaged the attention of successive Governments. He now hoped that we were on the eve of seeing something done to remedy the evil. He only regretted that the Motion had not been so worded as to point to the great convenience of having a place of deposit of wills adjoining that place of great statistical information, which was in immediate connection with the subject of wills, and which was so admirably arranged by the intelligent officer to whom the hon. Member had alluded. If such a plan could be effected it would prove of the greatest possible advantage, not only to the lawyers, but to every class of persons connected with property.
§ MR. HADFIELDsaid, he begged to thank the hon. Member for Montrose for bringing forward this subject. By the Testamentary Jurisdiction Bill, which had passed the House of Lords, it was proposed that all wills throughout the country should 466 be deposited in London, and therefore it was high time that inquiry should be made how those wills could be best placed for the purposes both of safety and accessibility.
MR, MALINSsaid, that the second reading of the Testamentary Jurisdiction Bill was fixed for the 29th instant, and that, among other subjects, that relating to the custody of wills would then come under the consideration of the House. It was extremely inconvenient, therefore, that when a discussion upon that question was about to take place in a few days, the Government should accede to such a proposition as that which had just been made by the hon. Member for Montrose. He might also observe, that for the last two centuries wills were accessible in the most easy and ready manner to all who might wish to see them. In fact, in those cases where the names of the parties and the date at which the will was made were known, the instrument might be procured in ten minutes, at a charge of only ls. A Commission had also investigated the subject, and under those circumstances he trusted the hon. and learned Gentleman the Solicitor General would be induced to pause before he assented to the appointment of the Committee.
MR. HUME ,in reply, said that if the hon. and learned Gentleman referred to the Report of the Royal Commissioners, he would find that they had not investigated the subject of the custody of wills. The appointment of the Committee would not interfere with the question he intended to bring upon the Motion of the second reading of the Testamentary Jurisdiction Bill; and under any circumstances, whether that Bill passed or not, it was quite certain that a proper place must speedily be found for the deposit of wills.
Motion agreed to.
Select Committee appointed—
to inquire into and report upon the state of the present public registry of the Prerogative Court, used as a Testamentary Office, and whether a better office can be established for the keeping and preservation of Wills.