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Title of Lord to be made for the Purpose of Enfranchisement.
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XXII. Previous to any Enfranchisement under this Act, it shall be lawful for the Lord and Steward, if they shall see fit, and if there shall be no Steward then for the Lord alone, to make a solemn Declaration, in such Form as the said Commissioners shall direct, and to be taken and subscribed as solemn Declarations are by an Act made and passed in a Session held in the Fifth and Sixth Years of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, Chapter Sixty-two, directed to be taken and subscribed, stating therein the Nature and Extent of the Estate and Interest of the Lord in the Manor of which he is such Lord, and the Date and short Particulars of the Deed, Will, or other Instrument under which he claims or derives Title, and the Name and Style or other Designation or Description of the Person in whose Name the Court of any such Manor was then last holden, and the Date or Time of the Holding of such Court, and the Incumbrances, if any, whether by Mortgage, Judgment, or otherwise, which affect such Manor; and it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners and they are hereby directed to approve of such Title for the Purposes of this Act, which Approval shall be testified under their Hands and Seal, upon such Evidence alone, unless they shall be of opinion that further Information is necessary in the respects aforesaid; but if the said Commissioners shall consider that such Evidence does not fully and truly disclose all such Particulars as are necessary, or if no such Declaration shall be made, or if the Lord shall refuse or decline or fail to give such Information and Evidence as they shall deem proper and necessary to show a satisfactory primd facie Title in the Lord, or in Persons claiming under or in trust for him, and if the said Commissioners shall consider either that the Title of the Lord is not satisfactory, or that the Incumbrancers should be protected, then, if they think the Justice of the Case requires it, they may direct that the Enfranchisement Consideration shall be invested as herein-after directed in case of Lords under Disability.
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