HL Deb 06 February 1894 vol 21 cc73-4
٭THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

asked permission of the House to answer a question which had been put to him on the previous evening. He had described a parish room which was used for various social and beneficent purposes, the entrance to which was through the churchyard, and the site of which, as well as the building, was given by Churchmen; and he had stated that this was nevertheless not an ecclesiastical charity in any sense. He was then asked the pertinent question, "Who were the trustees?"—as they might have been such persons as would not be touched by the clause. He had not given an answer at the moment; but he had now ascertained that the trustees were the Vicar and the Churchwardens only, no other persons being associated with them, so that here was a ease of ground, buildings, and everything having been given by Churchmen: of the gift having been used for the benefit of the parishioners for all sorts of purposes with no religious restriction whatever: and of the trustees being the Vicar and Churchwardens alone. But if the Government proposal were adopted, a majority of four new trustees would be added, and the trust would be prac-tically taken out of the hands of the Churchmen by whom it had been administered ever since its foundation in 1831.