• Preamble

  WHEREAS William James Dempsey, formerly of Dunedin, solicitor, by his will, dated the seventeenth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, gave, devised, and bequeathed his estate to Henry Houghton, then of Dunedin, merchant, upon certain trusts therein declared; and by the said will the said testator, as to the residue of his estate, expressed his desire that the proceeds should be invested, and the proceeds thereof paid over to the Dunedin Hospital, but upon condition precedent that the Trustees of that institution should expend annually a sum not exceeding fourteen dollars in keeping in repair the tomb over his wife in East Brighton Cemetery, in Victoria, and his own at Dunedin: And by a codicil to the said will, dated the twenty-second day of June, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, the said testator declared that the gift to the Dunedin Hospital by his said will should be paid as soon as might be after his death, and not invested as directed by the said will: And whereas by the said codicil the said testator further bequeathed to the Trustees of the Reformatory School, Dunedin, two hundred dollars: And whereas it was, by Henry Samuel Chapman, Esquire, a Judge of the High Court of New Zealand, decided that the Otago Industrial School was entitled to the said bequest: And whereas the said Dunedin Hospital and Industrial School were then Provincial Government institutions, supported by annual votes of the Provincial Council of Otago, and there were then no Trustees or other persons appointed specially to manage the said Hospital and Industrial school: And whereas the said Henry Houghton, with the advice and by direction of James Macandrew, Esquire, the then Superintendent of the said Province, did, on or about the twenty-second day of April, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, with the said sum of two hundred dollars, and the residue of the said estate, amounting in all to the sum of one thousand five hundred dollars, purchase from the said Superintendent the piece of land described in the Schedule hereto: And whereas upon the conveyance to the said Henry Houghton of the said piece of land, he, by a declaration of trust dated the twenty-seventh day of August, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, with the concurrence of the said Superintendent and Provincial Executive, did thereby declare certain trusts as to granting leases and other trusts concerning the same: And whereas it was by the said declaration of trust declared that in the event of any ordinance or Act being passed thereafter by the Provincial Council of Otago, or the General Assembly of New Zealand, appointing, or under which there should be appointed, a Trustee or Trustees for the said Hospital, to convey the said piece of land to such Trustee or Trustees, subject to any lease or leases that may have been made or executed by the said Henry Houghton: And whereas the said Henry Houghton, by a deed of lease bearing date the first day of October, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, made between himself of the one part, and Charles Stewart and Hugh John Maclean therein described of the other part, did demise and lease the said piece of land to them for the term of twenty-one years from the first day of September, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two: And whereas in and by the said lease are contained covenants for the payment at the expiration by effluxion of time of the said lease, or any renewal thereof, of a sum of money equal to the then value of all buildings, erections, or improvements then on the said land, or for taking a renewal of the said term of twenty-one years at a rent to be agreed upon by the parties, or fixed by arbitration, as the value of the ground, irrespective of the permanent buildings thereon, such renewed lease to contain all the covenants and conditions contained in the said existing lease, including the covenants for renewal: And whereas the said lease is now vested in the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company (Limited), and they or their predecessors have erected valuable buildings thereon; and the said land was, by suitable conveyances, on the tenth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, conveyed to and vested in the Trustees hereinafter mentioned: And whereas by an ordinance of the Superintendent and Provincial Council of the late province of Otago passed on the thirtieth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, and intituled The Dempsey Trust Ordinance 1873, the said James Macandrew, Esquire, Superintendent of the said Province of Otago, the said Henry Houghton, Alfred Rowland Chetham Strode, and George Duncan were appointed Trustees of the said Hospital and Industrial School, for the purpose of receiving and investing the above-mentioned bequest, and disbursing the income thereof, and of giving effect to the purposes of the testator; and the said ordinance made further provisions for the appointment of new Trustees, and for the management of the said trust, and for the disposal of the income thereof: And whereas the Trustees hereinbefore named are now dead, and appointments have from time to time been made to fill their respective places: And whereas differences have arisen between the Trustees so appointed, herein called the present Trustees, and the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company (Limited), herein called the said company, as to the rights of the respective parties under the said lease: And whereas an agreement has been arrived at between the present Trustees and the said company (without prejudice) that if the Trustees obtain sufficient statutory authority in that behalf such differences shall be settled by exchanging the said lease for a lease in the form and to the effect set forth in the Schedule hereto: And whereas it is for the benefit of the said trust that the said agreement should be carried into effect, but the powers of the Trustees are insufficient for that purpose: And whereas the present Trustees have other funds arising out of the accumulation of surplus income, and may in future have further funds, and it is desirable to provide for the administration thereof:

  The references to “fourteen dollars”, “two hundred dollars”, and “one thousand five hundred dollars” were substituted, as from 10 July 1967, for references to “seven pounds”, “one hundred pounds”, and “seven hundred and fifty pounds” pursuant to section 7(1) Decimal Currency Act 1964 (1964 No 27).

  The reference to the High Court was substituted, as from 1 April 1980, for a reference to the Supreme Court pursuant to section 12 Judicature Amendment Act 1979 (1979 No 124).

BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—