HC Deb 05 June 1884 vol 288 c1535
MR. ARTHUR O'CONNOR

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether Mr. Thomas Walpole, of the Queen's County, is one of the Land Law Sub-Commissioners; and, if so, whether he is the same Mr. Walpole who, about the year 1875, handed to his tenant, Michael Higgins, what he (Mr. Walpole) termed a letter of lease, as between himself and Higgins, bearing no date and having the signature of neither the landlord nor the tenant attached, and which the tenant never agreed to; whether this document contained a clause depriving the said tenant of the benefit of the Land Act of 1870, so that the tenant thereby forfeited all claim for improvements under that Act, or any other Act which might be passed; and, whether, considering this, and that he is himself a middleman landlord, Mr. Walpole will be continued in the office of Sub-Commissioner?

MR. TREVELYAN

I am informed that about the year 1875 Mr. Walpole handed to Higgins a memorandum of agreement which he had drawn up at Higgins's request, embodying terms which had been previously agreed upon between them. By the terms of the agreement Higgins contracted himself out of the benefits of the Land Act and future land legislation. This he did for considerations already agreed to; and his rent was fixed at £19, being £5 a-year less than Mr. Walpole himself paid to the head landlord.