§ 27. Mr. KINGasked the hon. Member for the Doncaster Division, as representing the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, whether the Ecclesiastical Commissioners hold lands or other property in trust for the incumbent of Gatcombe St. Olave, in the Isle of Wight; if so, what is the annual value of such property; what is the total annual value of the incumbency; whether the Ecclesiastical Commissioners are promoters of a private Bill, now before this House, entitled the Oxford University (St. Edmund Hall and Gatcombe Rectory) Bill; and whether it is part of the settled policy of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to alienate parochial endowment for the benefit of the older universities?
I understand that this question will be answered by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for the Hallam Division of Sheffield.
§ Mr. STUART-WORTLEYThe Ecclesiastical Commissioners hold no property in trust for the incumbent of Gatcombe, and have no recent information as to the annual value of the benefice. The Commissioners are not the promoters of the private Bill to which the hon. Member's question refers, nor have they been consulted thereon. No question, therefore, arises of any policy of the Commissioners in relation to the alienation of parochial endowments.