Stannaries Act 1855

V As to Suits by Creditors for Payment of Debts of Adventurers in a Mine.

In Suits on the Equity Side of the said Court by Creditors prosecuted according to Custom against the Purser or other principal Agent of the Adventurers, or against one or more of the Adventurers in a Mine in the Stannaries, to enforce Payment of their Demands by Sale of the Ores, Machinery, Materials, and Effects for the Time being belonging to the Adventurers, and being upon or about the Mine or fraudulently removed therefrom, it shall be lawful for the Vice-Warden, upon special Application in that Behalf, to order that Service of Process on the Defendant in any Part of England or Wales to compel Appearance and Answer shall be sufficient Service, although he may not then be personally within the Jurisdiction of the said Court; and upon Proof of such Service and of the Default of the Defendant to appear and answer the Petition within the Time prefixed by the Court, it shall be lawful for the Plaintiff to enter an Appearance for the Defendant, and thereupon such Proceedings shall be had in the Suit, and such Decrees and Orders made, as if the Process had been duly served on the Defendant within the Jurisdiction of the said Court; and any Adventurer shall, upon Application to the Vice-Warden or Registrar, be let in to defend the Suit, either separately or jointly with the other Defendant, within Twenty Days after the filing of the Petition, or within such other Time as the Vice-Warden shall allow ; and where several Creditors of the same Adventurers shall sue separately for Payment and Sale, the Vice-Warden shall have Power to consolidate the Suits in such Way as shall seem to him necessary or expedient for the convenient Trial of the Matters in issue in the said Causes and for the saving of Expense to the Suitors; and all further Notices, Orders, Summonses, Warrants, and other Process in the Cause or consolidated Causes shall be deemed to be well served if served on the Defendant in any Part of England or Wales; and if upon Sale of the Ores, Machinery, Materials, and Effects in any suet Suit the Proceeds of the Sale shall be found insufficient to satisfy the Debts of the Plaintiff or. Plaintiffs and of the other Creditors who shall be admitted according to Custom to prove their Debts before the Registrar of the Court and the Costs of Suit and Expenses of Sale, it shall be lawful for the Registrar, at the Instance of the Plaintiff in the Suit or of any Creditor so admitted to Proof, and by Permission of the Vice-Warden on an Application by the Plaintiff or Creditor stating the Amount of Debts remaining unsatisfied and the Number of Adventurers, whether within or out of the Jurisdiction, so far as they can be ascertained by the Applicant, to proceed to apportion the Amount of Debts, Costs, and Expenses remaining unsatisfied rateably among all the Adventurers or Persons liable to contribute to the Payment of the said Debts, whether they be within the Jurisdiction or elsewhere, according to the Number of Shares or the Interest of each in the said Mine or Adventure ; and it shall be competent for the Registrar to call for, and by Summons and Attachment within the Stannaries or Subpoena under the Seal of the Court to enforce, Production, before him of the Cost Book or Books, Lists of Shareholders, Accounts, Bills, Resolutions of the Adventurers or Committees thereof, and all other Books, Papers, and Documents of the Adventurers relating to the Mine or the Management thereof, and by like Summons and Attachment or Subpoena to call before him and to examine the Purser, Managers, or other principal Agents of the Adventurers, whether the several Documents above mentioned or the Persons so called before him be within the Stannaries or elsewhere in any Part of England or Wales, and to make a List of all the Persons so liable to contribute at the Time of filing the Petition or their personal Representatives, with the Amount apportioned upon each; and when the Registrar shall have made such List and Apportionment, a Copy of the List shall be sent to the Account House of the Mine, or the principal Office or Place of Business of the Adventurers, and Notice shall be served on each Person named in the List of the Sum charged upon him, and a reasonable Time, to be fixed by the Registrar according to the Circumstances of each Case, shall be allowed to him to dispute the Apportionment before the Registrar, who shall hear and determine all Objections thereto; and when the List shall have been finally settled by the Registrar, he shall report thereon generally to the Vice-Warden, and if the Report shall be confirmed upon Exception or otherwise there shall be a Decree for Payment in conformity with the said Report, and the several Sums so apportioned and charged upon each Contributory shall in and by the said Decree be made payable to the Registrar, who shall forthwith demand Payment thereof, and thereupon it shall be lawful for the said Plaintiff or Creditor, at whose Instance the Apportionment shall have been made and Decree obtained, after such Demand and a Refusal of Payment, to proceed to levy from each Contributory in the said List the Sum therein charged upon him in the Manner herein-after provided for enforcing Decrees and Orders on the Equity Side of the said Court, and for this Purpose the said Plaintiff or Creditor shall be deemed to be a Party entitled to the Benefit of the said Decree within the Intent and Meaning of the said Provision, and the Sums received or levied shall be forthwith paid over by him to the Registrar, who shall deduct therefrom and allow to the Party who shall have so received or levied the same his reasonable Costs and Expenses in and about the said Apportionment and obtaining the said Decree and levying the Monies so payable under it, and shall distribute the Residue rateably among the several Creditors in the Proportion of the Debts remaining due to them respectively: Provided always, that all Notices and Demands required by this Act to be served on or made upon Adventurers and other Persons named in the Registrar's List as Contributories shall be deemed to be sufficiently served if sent by Post prepaid, addressed to the Party at his last known Address; unless the Registrar shall order that the same shall be served in some other Way, in which Case Service shall not be sufficient unless it be in conformity with such Order.