• Preamble

  WHEREAS by a Crown grant dated the fifteenth day of July, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, certain land described in the First Part of Schedule 1 hereto was vested in the Right Reverend Philip Joseph Viard, Roman Catholic Bishop of Wellington, and his successors, in trust to permit the said land to be for ever used and appropriated as a site for a church or chapel for the use of persons professing the Roman Catholic religion exclusively, and to, for, and upon no other use, trust, intent, or purpose whatsoever: And whereas by a Crown grant dated the seventh day of September, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, and registered in the Deeds Registry Office, at Wellington, as Number 12724, certain land described in the Second Part of Schedule 1 hereto was vested in the said Philip Joseph Viard and his successors, Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church at Wellington: And whereas under and by virtue of the provisions of the Roman Catholic Lands Extension Act 1890, the said lands became vested in the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Wellington: And whereas the said lands have been continuously used and are still used for the purposes mentioned in the said Crown grants respectively: And whereas a Roman Catholic church and a convent have been built upon the said land described in the First Part of Schedule 1 hereto: And whereas a presbytery has been built upon the said land described in the Second Part of Schedule 1 hereto: And whereas by reason of the expansion of the business portion of the Town of Wanganui the said land described in the First Part of Schedule 1 hereto is no longer a convenient site for a Roman Catholic church and convent, and the said land described in the Second Part of Schedule 1 hereto is no longer a convenient site for a presbytery, and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Wellington has resolved to purchase more convenient freehold sites in the Town of Wanganui, and to erect thereon a Roman Catholic church, presbytery, and convent, and to lease the said lands described in the First and Second Parts of Schedule 1 hereto: And whereas for the purpose of purchasing such sites and erecting thereon a Roman Catholic church, presbytery, and convent the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Wellington has resolved to raise money on the security of mortgage of the said lands: And whereas under and by virtue of the provisions of the Roman Catholic Lands Act 1876, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Wellington is empowered to grant leases for any term not exceeding forty-two years: And whereas it is expedient that the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Wellington should have greater powers of leasing the said lands than those conferred upon him by the last-named Act: And whereas the powers requisite to enable the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Wellington to raise money on mortgage of the said lands and to grant longer leases thereof are not attainable otherwise than by legislation: And whereas the Very Reverend Charles Henry Kirk, late of the Town of Wanganui aforesaid, deceased, was for many years parish priest of the Roman Catholic Parish of Wanganui: And whereas the said Charles Henry Kirk acquired the lands described in Schedule 2 hereto with moneys belonging to the Roman Catholic Church and for the purposes of the Roman Catholic Church, but the titles to the said lands remained in the name of the said Charles Henry Kirk: And whereas the said lands have always been used and still are used for the purposes of the Roman Catholic Church: And whereas the said Charles Henry Kirk died on or about the twenty-second day of March, nineteen hundred and four, and probate of his will was, on the sixth day of April, nineteen hundred and four, granted by the District Court of Wanganui, holden at Wanganui, to the executors and trustees in the said will named: And whereas the sum of four hundred and eighty-nine dollars thirty-one and two-thirds cents was assessed by the Deputy Commissioner of Stamps, under the provisions of the Deceased Persons' Estates Duties Act 1881, and its amendments, as estate duty payable in respect of the said lands: And whereas the trustees of the will of the said Charles Henry Kirk have paid the sum of four hundred and twenty-four dollars, part of the said sum of four hundred and eighty-nine dollars thirty-one and two-thirds cents, and the balance (namely, the sum of sixty-five dollars thirty-one and two-thirds cents) remains unpaid: And whereas it is desirable that the said sum of four hundred and twenty-four dollars so paid as estate duty on the said lands should be refunded to the trustees of the will of the said Charles Henry Kirk, and that the said trustees should be exempted from payment of the said balance of estate duty:

  The references to “four hundred and eighty-nine dollars thirty-one and two-thirds cents”, “four hundred and twenty-four dollars”, and “sixty-five dollars thirty-one and two thirds cents” were substituted, as from 10 July 1967, for references to “two hundred and forty-four pounds thirteen shillings and twopence”, “two hundred and twelve pounds”, and “thirty-two pounds thirteen shillings and twopence” pursuant to section 7(1) Decimal Currency Act 1964 (1964 No 27).

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