Untitled

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 30 June 1880, Page 2

Tbe Lord Mayor of Dublin tele* * praphs that further help is required for alleviation of the distress whieb. still exists in Ireland. The oldest lawyer m Scotland has just passod away in Ihe person of Charles "Winchester, advocate, Aber* ' deen, who had reached the age of 100. lie attended the Grammar School in Aberdeen along with Lord Byron He was noted as a class'eal scholar. Tbo deceased retaiued prssession of his intellectual faculties till within a few days of his death, aod his tp^mory was perfect. The fact of the Right Hon. Jdm Bright having accepted a seat in the npwly-formed Gladstone Ministry aa Chaneehir of the Duchy of Lancaster, has set people enquiring what ia the Duchy of Lancaster, and what are th > duties of its Chancellor! The following information on the subject,, extracted from " Chambers' Ency* elopse lia," will therefore interest at least some of our readers : — " Laneister ia a duchy and County Palatini of England, ereat ed by royal charter, in which it differs from Durham and Chpster. Rrfwarrl 111. on the death of Henry Duke of Lancaster conferred the Dncby on John Gaunt and his heirs for ever. Dnring the Wars of the Rises Ilenry IV. and Edward IV. both endeavored so to settle the dttdiy that it should descend to the heirs of their body apart from the Crown, and continue with Ihem in the event of tbeir losing the latter. The result of these several attempts has bee© the preservat'on of the duchy as a separate possession in order and government, but united in point of inheritance. The revenues of the dnehy form no part of those hereditary in lieu of which the Civil list was granted, 'he net proceeds are paid over to the P. ivy Purse, and wholly exempted from Parliamentary control, except that the annual account for receipt and expenditure is presented. The County Palatine forms, only a portion of thd duchy, which inoludes considerable estates not within the Coanty Palatine* There is a Chancellor of the duchy (\,e_ of that part of it which does not lie within the county) and of the County Palatine, which two offices are gener* Uy united. Tbe-Duchy Court of Lan* caster, feeld at Westminister, aad presided over by the Chancellor of the duchy or his depnty, exerc'ses jurisdiction in all matters of equity re* lating to the lands nf the duchy. The administration of justice ins recently be^n associated to that of tbe rest of England. The office of Chancellor is a political appointment, which it is the practice to confer on a statesman eC eminence, frequently a member of the Cabinet, who is expected to devote his time to such larger questions occunvingj the- attention of Government as fall within other department. The emoluments of the office are about £2000 per annum. By 17 and 18 Vie , c. 12, the Chancellor of the duchy, with the two Lord Justices o#the Court of A p.) eal, form the Palatine court nf A ppeal.