Ecclesiastical Commissioners
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (May 2013) |
The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were, in
History
Their appointment was one of the results of the vigorous movements for the reform of public institutions which followed the
The constitution of the commission was amended by the
The recommendations of the commission recited in the act of 1836 are too numerous to be given here. They include an extensive rearrangement of the dioceses, equalization of episcopal income, providing residences, etc. By the act of 1840 the fourth report of the original commissioners, dealing chiefly with cathedral and collegiate churches, was carried into effect, a large number of canonries being suspended, and sinecure benefices and dignities suppressed.[1]
The emoluments of these suppressed or suspended offices, and the surplus income of the episcopal sees, constitute the fund at the disposal of the commissioners. By an act of 1860, on the avoidance of any bishopric or archbishopric, all the land and emoluments of the see, except the patronage and lands attached to houses of residence, become, by order in council, vested in the commissioners, who may, however, reassign to the see so much of the land as may be sufficient to secure the net annual income named for it by statute or order. All the profits and emoluments of the suspended canonries, etc., pass over to the commissioners, as well as the separate estates of those deaneries and canonries which are not suspended. Out of this fund the expenses of the commission are to be paid, and the residue is to be devoted to increasing the efficiency of the church by the augmentation of the smaller bishoprics and of poor livings, the endowment of new churches, and employment of additional ministers.[1]
The substitution of one central corporation for the many local and independent corporations of the church, so far at least as the management of property is concerned, was a constitutional change of great importance, and the effect of it undoubtedly was to correct the anomalous distribution of ecclesiastical revenues by equalising incomes and abolishing sinecures. At the same time it was regarded as having made a serious breach in the legal theory of ecclesiastical property. The important principle, says Cripps, on which the inviolability of the church establishment depends, that the church generally possesses no property as a corporation, or which is applicable to general purposes, but that such particular ecclesiastical corporation, whether aggregate or sole, has its property separate, distinct and inalienable, according to the intention of the original endowment, was given up without an effort to defend it.[2][1]
Legislation
The Ecclesiastical Commissioners Acts 1840 to 1885 is the collective title of the following Acts:[3]
| Ecclesiastical Commissioners Act 1840 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 3 & 4 Vict. c. 113 | |
Status: Current legislation | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Text of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners Act 1840 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
- The Ecclesiastical Commissioners Act 1840 (3 & 4 Vict.c. 113)
- The 4 & 5 Vict.c. 39)
- The 13 & 14 Vict.c. 94)
- The 23 & 24 Vict.c. 124)
- The 29 & 30 Vict.c. 111)
- The 36 & 37 Vict.c. 64)
- The 38 & 39 Vict.c. 71)
- The 48 & 49 Vict.c. 31)
References
- ^ a b c d e f One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ecclesiastical Commissioners". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 853.
- ^ Cripps, H. W. Law Relating to the Church and Clergy. p. 46.
- ^ The Short Titles Act 1896, section 2(1) and Schedule 2
