HC Deb 10 July 1877 vol 235 c1045
SIR FREDERICK PERKINS

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty, Whether there is any truth in the statement which appears in "Mayfair" of today (the 9th instant), and which purports to be given on the authority of the trustees of the Mount Boon Estate, Dartmouth, that the Admiralty has been informed that the estate is not for sale; and, if so, what steps the Admiralty propose to take in order to carry out the intentions of the Department, announced by him on Monday, of adopting the recommendations of the Committee of Selection, and erecting a Naval College on the Mount Boon Estate?

MR. A. F. EGERTON

There is no truth in the report in the paper to which the hon. Member refers that the Admiralty has been informed that the estate is not for sale. The fact is that the Master of the Rolls has given his sanction to the negotiations; and the site will be kept open for acceptance or refusal till the end of the present Session.

SIR FREDERICK PERKINS

I have seen the solicitor to the trustees of the estate, and he assures me positively that the statement in Mayfair is perfectly true.

MR. A. F. EGERTON

Perhaps the hon. Member will allow me to read a letter from the solicitor to the property, dated the 31st May. I have seen him during the last few days, and he has confirmed what it states. He writes to this effect— As the Dartmouth site was, so it is and so it will be. The Master of the Rolls gave his sanction to the negotiation, and so it remains.