The Schools Sites Act of 1841 ( 4 & 5 Vict. c. 38) is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

(the

long title In certain jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and other Westminster-influenced jurisdictions (such as Canada or Australia), as well as the United States and the Philippines, primary legislation has both a short title and a long title. The ...

of which is ''An Act to afford further Facilities for the Conveyance and Endowment of Sites for Schools'') which allowed land-owners to sell or donate a maximum of one

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

of land to

charities A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...

for the provision of schooling 'poor persons'. The act covered

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

was also covered until the Education (Scotland) Act 1942 (although any donated land in Scotland under the act prior to this was not affected by the latter act). The Schools Sites Act 1841 was invoked 164 years later, on 27 October 2005, in the case of ''Fraser & Another v.

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

Diocesan Board of Finance A Diocesan Board of Finance, often abbreviated to DBF, is an institution of the Church of England which owns land and controls a number of financial matters in each of the Church's dioceses. Such Boards have existed in every diocese of the Church s ...

''. The Board had sold land given under the act, mostly then used for residential development, and had kept the proceeds, despite a provision in the act that required funds raised from selling such land to be given back to the heirs of the original donor, should the land cease to be used for educational purposes. The case went all the way to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

, which ordered the proceeds of the sale to be paid to the descendants of the original donor of the land, as the act had required.Judgments - Fraser and another (Appellants) v. Canterbury Diocesan Board of Finance and others (Respondents)
publications.parliament.uk The case of ''Fraser & Another'' appeared on the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

TV programme ''

Heir Hunters ''Heir Hunters'' is a BBC television programme focusing on attempts to find missing or unknown heirs, entitled to deceased people's estates before the British Treasury lawfully collects the money. The show follows the work of probate researchers ...

''.

External links

References

United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1841 United Kingdom Education Acts 1841 in education {{UK-statute-stub