§ MR. WOODSI beg to ask Mr. Attorney General whether, seeing that the opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown, given in 1864, regarding the records and documents in the Land Revenue Record Office, is thirty-six years 1324 old, and that the law appertaining to estates which have escheated to the Crown through want of ownership has been altered and simplified in the meantime by the 50 and 51 Vic., c. 53 — Escheat (Procedure) Act, 1887—he will at once advise the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Woods and Forests in future to allow inspection and copies of all Court Rolls relating to manorial properties held by the Crown, on payment of the legal fees, for the convenience of legitimate claimants.
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (Sir ROBERT FINLAY,) Inverness BurghsThe passing of the Escheat (Procedure) Act, 1887, does not appear to afford any reason for altering the rules regarding inspection by the public of documents in the Land Revenue Record Office. A rule allowing to persons who are not copyholders inspection and copies of all Court Rolls relating to manorial properties held by the Crown would be objectionable, particularly as the Rolls are the records of the tenant's rather than the lord's title. The present rules appear to be proper, and in special cases such as those alluded to in the question applications for leave to inspect documents can always be made to the Commissioners of Woods, and will be duly considered.