§ MR. D. A. THOMAS (Merthyr Tydvil)I beg to ask the honourable Member for Salford as representing the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, whether the provisions of the Bill now before Parliament to authorise the sale of All Saints' Church, Cardiff, and to apply the proceeds to building an English Church in another part of the parish, have been approved by the Ecclesiastical Commis 54 sioners; whether he is aware that All Saints' was erected at the expense of the late Marchioness of Bute for the use of the Welsh speaking inhabitants of Cardiff; that the site was subsequently conveyed by the trustees of the will of the late Marchioness to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners; and that the church-wardens and officers of the new Welsh church, dedicated to Dewi Sant, and situate in the parish of All Saints, are strongly opposed to the diversion of the endowment from the original intention of the donor, and desire that the proceeds of any sale of All Saints' Church shall be applied to completing the present Welsh Church building, and liquidating the debt thereon; and whether the Commissioners will reconsider the matter?
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONER (Mr. LEES KNOWLES, Salford, W.)In answer to the first part of the Question, sufficient details of the scheme embodied in the Bill have never been submitted to the Commissioners to enable them to express a definite opinion upon the scheme, and they have not approved the provisions of the Bill. All Saints' Church, Cardiff, and its site were conveyed to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners under the provisions of the Church Building Acts by deed dated 3rd October, 1866, by trustees, it is believed, of the Bute Estate, and, although it was stated that the Church was erected at the expense of the late Marchioness of Bute, yet, the trustees under such deed received a consideration of £2,998 15s. 0d. The Commissioners were not aware when they took such conveyance that the Church was intended for the use of the Welsh-speaking inhabitants of Cardiff, and the Church of All Saints' became, and now is, the Parish Church of the Ecclesiastical district of All Saints', Cardiff. With regard to the last paragraph of the Question, it is not proposed by the Bill that the Ecclesiastical Commissioners should have conferred upon them any duties or obligations outside the existing Statutes, and there is, therefore, no necessity for making them consenting parties.
§ MR. GRIFFITH BOSCAWEN (Kent, Tonbridge)Arising out of my honourable Friend's answer, I should like to ask whether, if the Commissioners have 55 not approved of the Bill, it is to be understood that they have expressed any disapproval of it.
§ MR. LEES KNOWLESI am not aware that the Commissioners have expressed any disapproval of the Bill.