HL Deb 03 March 1959 vol 214 cc660-1

3.7 p.m.

THE LORD BISHOP OF TRURO rose to move to resolve, That, in accordance with the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act, 1919, this House do direct that the Truro Cathedral Measure, 1959, be presented to Her Majesty for the Royal Assent. The right reverend Prelate said: My Lords, I beg to move the Resolution which stands in my name. I would just remind your Lordships that the ancient Cornish See was re-created in the year 1877 as the Diocese of Truro, and at that time the Bishop was made Dean, in the hope that some day a separate Dean might be appointed. We now see the way to the fulfilment of that hope. There is no opposition to this step in the Diocese: It will be good for the Bishop; it will be good for the Cathedral. The Church Commissioners have been sympathetic and have helped to provide the stipend, which proved the stumbling block in the past.

This Measure repeals the Acts of 1878 and 1887, though I need not bother your Lordships with its details. Its main purpose is to enable the offices of Dean and Bishop to be separated, and to sever the office of Sub Dean from the office of Rector, because there is a parish church attached to the Cathedral, so that the Dean will now become the Rector. This means that the right of patronage of appointment to the Deanery will pass from the Bishop to the Crown. When the Cathedral was built, there was nobody in whom the land could be vested, except the Bishop, because there was not yet a Dean and Chapter. It is now proposed, as a tidying-up measure, that the land should be vested as with all other cathedrals, in the Dean and Chapter. The Measure has passed through all its former stages without opposition. I beg to move.

Moved to resolve, That in accordance with the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act, 1919, this House do direct that the Truro Cathedral Measure, 1959, be presented to Her Majesty for the Royal Assent.—(The Lord Bishop of Truro.)

THE EARL OF DUNDEE

My Lords, the Government have nothing to say about this Resolution, which is in accordance with the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act, and to which I have no doubt your Lordships will agree. I have risen only because I feel that some-one ought to extend your Lordships' congratulations to the right reverend Prelate oil addressing your Lordships for the first time. We have listened with great interest to what he has told us about his Cathedral, the Dean and Chapter; and although we all know that Truro is a most delightful part of the country in which to live, we hope that the right reverend Prelate will, nevertheless, often find time to come to your Lordships' House and take part in our debates.

On Question, Motion agreed to, and ordered accordingly.