CAPTAIN PRICEI beg to ask the hon. Member for Penrith (Mr. J. W. Lowther) whether the provision, by which 50 sons of naval officers have been maintained on the foundation of Christ's Hospital from the year 1798 to the present time, has been omitted from the new scheme; what is the reason for the omission; and what steps will he take to rectify it?
MR. J. W. LOWTHER (Cumberland, Penrith)The admission of 50 sons of naval officers to Christ's Hospital rested not upon any specific trust on their behalf, but upon a resolution of the Governors in the exercise of their discretion. The new scheme does not create a trust in favour of sons of naval officers, nor was it ever suggested to the Commissioners during the progress of the case that it should do so. It will still be open to Governors having presentations or nominations for competition to favour sons of naval officers, and it may be presumed that the Council of Almoners in the exercise of their rights of nomination will not be unmindful of the resolution of 1798.