§ MR. T. M. HEALY (Londonderry, S.)asked the Secretary to the Treasury, Does any record exist as to the terms and conditions on which the Fort and lands of Culmore, county Derry, were sold by Government to the Irish Society of London about twenty-five years ago?
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. HENRY H. FOWLER) (Wolverhampton, E.)The fort of Culmore and the lands held with it were granted by the Crown to the Irish Society in fee in the Reign of Charles II., the Crown retaining the right to appoint a Governor of the fort, who was not only to enjoy the rents of the lands annexed to it, but also to receive an annuity of £200, Irish currency, from the Society. The legal interest in both the fort and the lands was, however, vested absolutely in the Society. The fort itself not being necessary for defensive purposes, and the Governorship being a sinecure, Her Majesty's Government determined, on the death of the last Governor of the fort, Field Marshal the Earl of Strafford, in 1859, to come to an arrangement with the Society, and it was finally agreed in 1861 that the Society should pay to the Treasury the sum of £12,000, in return for which the Crown gave up in favour of the Society all claims in respect of the lands and fort, and surrendered its right of appointing a Governor of the fort. In consequence of the arrangement, the lands became the entire property of the Society, and the liability of the Society to pay the annuity of £200 was extinguished.
§ MR. T. M. HEALYasked whether any provision had been taken in the arrangement that there should be no increases of rents on the tenants' improvements?
§ MR. HENRY H. FOWLERI can hardly answer a Question without No- 498 tice which relates to what took place in 1859.