WHEREAS it is expedient to incorporate certain Trustees of Saint Paul’s Presbyterian Church, in the City of Christchurch, in connection with the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, and to give them perpetual succession, and to enable them to hold property, to sell the same, to grant leases, to borrow money, and to give security therefor, and to sue and be sued, and generally to manage the property of the said Church:

Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

1 Short Title.

The Short Title of this Act is “The Saint Paul’s Presbyterian Church (Christchurch) Trustees Incorporation Act, 1881.”

2 Interpretation.

In this Act,—

The term “the said church” means the Saint Paul’s Presbyterian Church in Cashel Street, in the City of Christchurch:

The term “the Trustees” means the Trustees of the said church appointed by this Act, and their successors for the time being:

The term “communicants” means the male communicants upon the roll of the said church.

3 Trustees’appointment and incorporation.

Perpetual succession.

John Anderson, John Miln, Robert Sutherland, William Chrystal, and Robert William Black, shall be the first Trustees of the said Church under this Act, and shall hold office until their successors in office shall be appointed in manner hereinafter provided. The Trustees shall be and are hereby constituted a body corporate, and shall have perpetual succession.

4 Appointment of new Trustees.

Whenever it shall be deemed necessary to appoint new Trustees under this Act, or whenever the number of the Trustees shall be reduced below three, the appointment of new Trustees shall be made as follows:—

A meeting of the communicants shall be called by advertisement in at least one of the local newspapers published in Christ-church aforesaid, such advertisements to appear at least three times, the first of such times being not less than fourteen days before the day of meeting. At such meeting twenty of the communicants shall be a quorum. The communicants present at such meeting shall proceed to elect such Trustees as may be necessary. The votes of the majority of the communicants present at the meeting shall decide such election. Such Trustees, when appointed, shall hold office until the next election of Trustees.

5 Removal of Trustees.

If any of the Trustees shall die, or resign, or decline to act, or become insane, or be convicted of a felony or misdemeanour, or from any cause become unfit or incapable to act as a Trustee hereunder, or become bankrupt or insolvent, or take advantage of any Act for the relief of insolvent debtors, or compound with his creditors, or be absent from the colony for the space of twelve months without the consent of his co-Trustees, or be requested to resign by two-thirds of the communicants who may be present at a meeting to be called as above-mentioned, then, upon the happening of any of the events aforesaid, the office of such Trustee shall thereupon become vacant, and a new Trustee may be elected in the manner hereinbefore mentioned.

6 Number of Trustees.

The number of the Trustees shall at no time exceed five.

7 Defective election.

Whenever any election shall fail to be made, or be from any cause ineffectually made, the Trustees for the time being shall continue to hold office until a valid election shall be made.

8 Evidence of appointment of new Trustee.

First Schedule.

In appointing new Trustees under the powers herein contained, it shall be sufficient for all purposes to enter, in a book of the Trustees, a minute in the form or to the effect set forth in the First Schedule hereto; and such minute, if attested by at least one witness, shall be conclusive evidence of such appointment, and shall be primâ facie evidence of any other statement therein contained; and it shall not be necessary to prove in any action, suit, proceeding, or matter, that any Trustee has been duly appointed under this Act, otherwise than by the production of such minute, and all acts done by any such Trustee shall be valid notwithstanding any defect that may afterwards be discovered in his appointment.

9 Chairman and Treasurer.

Quorum.

The Trustees appointed hereby shall, as soon as conveniently may be after the passing of this Act, hold a meeting and elect one of their number to be Chairman, and also elect one of their number to be Treasurer. And within ten days after any vacancy occurring in such office of Chairman or Treasurer, the Trustees shall hold a meeting and appoint a new Chairman or Treasurer as aforesaid. In case of the absence of the Chairman from any meeting, the Trustees present may elect one of their number to act as Chairman during such absence. At every such meeting the Chairman for the time being shall have an original vote, as well as a casting vote if necessary. The Trustees shall fix the number which shall constitute a quorum.

10 Trustees may sue and be sued.

The Trustees may sue and be sued in the name of their Chairman, and no action, suit, or other proceeding to which the Trustees through their Chairman shall be a party, shall abate or be discontinued by reason solely of the change of Chairman, but may be continued and judgment may be entered up for or against the Trustees in the name of their Chairman for the time being.

11 Indemnity in actions.

In any actions or suits raised by or against the said Trustees the property of the corporation only shall be liable, and the Trustees shall incur no personal responsibility.

12 Vesting of lands described in Second Schedule.

From and after the coming into operation of this Act the lands described in the Second Schedule hereto shall be and are hereby vested in the Trustees and their successors:

As to the land firstly therein described, upon the same trusts as the same is now subject to, except so far as the same are altered by this Act:

And as to the lands secondly, thirdly, and fourthly therein described, upon trust for a site for a church or for a site for a residence for the minister for the time being of the said church, or for a site for a school and a residence for a schoolmaster for the time being of the said school, or upon trust for such other purposes as shall conduce to the more effectual endowment of the said church, the support of the minister thereof, the maintenance of religious worship therein, or for educational purposes in connection with the said church, as to the said Trustees shall seem expedient.

13 Trustees may hold real and personal property.

Real and personal property, including money, may be conveyed, assigned, and given to the Trustees, and held by them in trust for the more effectual endowment of the said church, the support of the minister thereof, the maintenance of religious worship therein, or for educational purposes in connection with the said church, as to the said Trustees shall seem expedient.

14 Power to sell, mortgage, &c., lands firstly described in the Second Schedule.

Third Schedule.

It shall be lawful for the Trustees for the time being, from time to time, to have and exercise all and singular the powers of selling, exchanging, mortgaging, and leasing the land firstly described in the Second Schedule to this Act, or any part thereof, as are set forth in the Third Schedule to this Act, notwithstanding any trust, power, proviso, or restriction contained in or imposed by any deed affecting the said land.

15 Power to sell, mortgage, &c., remainder of lands described in the Second Schedule, and other lands.

It shall be lawful for the Trustees for the time being, from time to time, to have and exercise all and singular the powers of selling, exchanging, mortgaging, and leasing the lands and premises secondly, thirdly, and fourthly described in the Second Schedule to this Act and hereby vested in the Trustees, and all lands and premises hereafter to become vested in them, or any part thereof respectively, as are set forth in the Third Schedule to this Act.

16 Third Schedule.

Execution of deeds by Trustees.

The signatures of the majority in number of the Trustees for the time being, to any deed, document, or instrument whatsoever, shall, when the same have been duly attested according to law, be a sufficient execution of such deed, document, or instrument, so that the whole estate or interest of the Trustees in the premises shall pass as fully and effectually as if all of the Trustees had signed such deed, document, or instrument.

17 Remedies and powers, how exercised.

All rights, remedies, and powers now existing, or which hereafter may exist or arise under, upon, or in respect of any deed, agreement, matter, or thing, made, entered into, or done by any former or present Trustees, or which exist or hereafter may arise in respect of or in anywise relating to the property, real or personal, for the time being held by the Trustees, shall be exercised and enforced in the name of, and only by and against, as the case may be, the Chairman, and not otherwise.

SCHEDULES

FIRST SCHEDULE

Memorandum of the appointment of a new Trustee [or new Trustees] under and by virtue of “The St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church (Christchurch) Trustees Incorporation Act, 1881,” which has taken place at a meeting of the male communicants of the said Church, duly convened and held for the purpose at on the day of , of which A.B., of was Chairman.

[Names and Addresses of Trustees.]

Dated at the City of Christchurch, this day of , 18.

A.B., Chairman.

Signed by the said A.B., as Chairman of the said meeting, at and in the presence of the said meeting, on the day and year aforesaid, in the presence of

C.D., of Christchurch.

SECOND SCHEDULE

All that piece or parcel of land containing by admeasurement a quarter of an acre or thereabouts, statute measure, be the same more or less, being the Section numbered 928 on the map or plan of the Chief Surveyor of the Provincial District of Canterbury, setting out and describing the Town of Christchurch. Commencing at the south-east corner of the said section, thence in a straight line in a westerly direction and having frontage on Lichfield Street, a distance of one chain, and back therefrom at a right angle in a northerly direction, and forming a rectangular block, a distance of two chains fifty links.

2.

All that parcel of land containing one rood, more or less, numbered 925 on the map of the Chief Surveyor of the said Provincial District, setting out the Town of Christchurch, and having a frontage upon Madras Street and Cashel Street.

3.

All that parcel of land containing by admeasurement one rood or thereabouts, statute measure, be the same more or less, fronting upon Cashel Street, in the City of Christchurch, and being the Section numbered 927 on the map or plan of the Chief Surveyor of the Provincial District of Canterbury, setting out and describing the said City of Christchurch.

4.

All that piece of land situated in the City of Christchurch, containing one rood, be the same a little more or less, being Section No. 940: as the same is mentioned and described in certificate of title vol. xviii., folio 182.

THIRD SCHEDULE

The Trustees may sell and absolutely dispose of, either together or in parcels, and either by public auction or private contract, all or any part of the said trust property, or may exchange the said property, or any part thereof, for any other freehold hereditaments situate in the Provincial District of Canterbury, and give (out of any money in their hands applicable to such a purpose) or receive any money by way of equality of exchange, and may borrow money on mortgage of the said property, or any part thereof, and may execute all such conveyances, transfers, mortgages, or other deeds or documents as may be requisite for effecting such sale, exchange, or mortgage.

2.

Provided always that all moneys arising from such sale, exchange, or mortgage as aforesaid, after payment of the costs and expenses payable by the Trustees in relation to such sale, exchange, or mortgage, shall be expended in the absolute purchase of other freehold lands or hereditaments in the Provincial District of Canterbury, or, in the case of money arising from mortgage as aforesaid, in building or making permanent improvement on the property of the said Church, and not in payment of the current expenses of the said Church.

3.

All lands which shall be so purchased or received in exchange as aforesaid shall be held by the Trustees upon like trusts to those upon which the property so sold or given in exchange was held by them.

4.

The Trustees may, from time to time, by any deed, lease any portion of the trust property vested in them in respect of which no trust shall have been created inconsistent with the exercise of the present power, for any term not exceeding thirty-three years in possession, and not in reversion, and without taking any fine or premium, at such rent, and subject to such covenants and provisions, as the Trustees may deem reasonable; and may apply the rents of the property so leased to the purposes to which the annual income or proceeds of the trust property shall for the time being be properly applicable.

5.

The receipt in writing of any of the Trustees, or of their agent duly authorized on that behalf, shall be a good and effectual discharge for all money paid to them or him, under or by virtue of the trusts in them reposed, and shall exonerate the person or persons paying such money from all obligation of seeing to the application thereof; and it shall not be incumbent on any purchaser or other person, to or with whom such sale, exchange, or lease as aforesaid shall be made, to inquire as to the necessity for, or propriety of, such sale, exchange, or lease.

6.

Every Trustee shall be chargeable for such money only as he shall actually have received, although he shall have joined in any receipt for money received by any co-Trustee, and shall not be answerable for the act of any co-Trustee, nor for any loss which may arise by reason of any trust money being deposited in the hands of any banker, society, or agent, or for the insufficiency or deficiency of any security upon which the trust money, or any part thereof, may be invested, or for any loss in the execution of the trust, unless the same shall happen through his own wilful neglect or default.

Saint Paul's Presbyterian Church (Christchurch) Trustees Incorporation Act 1881