Lawrence Papers / Estate & Family Trust Business for Revd. Charles Lawrence / Correspondence between William James Shannon, Solicitor (19 Upper Ormond Quay, Dublin), and Lawrence, 1893-11-04

Lawrence to Shannon advising that senior creditors have not yet being paid their interest because the ‘Junior Estate creditors enforced payment out of their turn by treats of Law and the putting on of a Receiver.  It was in order to protect the Senior creditors that I found it necessary with the Sanction of the Judge to appoint my Agent Mr Mahon, Receiver under Deed’.  The Receiver is now bound by the Schedule of priorities.  He proceeds to give some detail on how the estate’s current status came about.  He also advised that if £9,000 or £10,000 were borrowed at 4 to 4.5%, the sum would pay off all the charges, and thus take the property out of the court and put off the sale for the time being.  It would also be necessary for the Junior creditors to fall back on the Deed of 1864, and ‘…thus procure for themselves a smaller income and prevent by so doing the sale of the estate, in which case they might not be able to get more than £100 a piece’ (p3).

‘The younger children having succeeded on an appeal in breaking the Deed of 1865 by which we all took £500 each instead of £1,000 provided for us under the Settlements of 1848. The necessity for this step was due to the fact that a very large position of the property was sold in 1851. Thus reducing the area over which the £13,000 for younger children was spread.  The late Captain Lawrence purchased that estate in 1853.  The most of his brothers and sisters were under age and unable to sign a release of their charge at that time.  In order to preserve the inheritance the property was bought by Captain Lawrence subject to the uses and trusts of the Settlement of 1848.  My brother John succeeded in 1863 when he carried out the Original intention of Captain Lawrence as contained in the Deed of Release known as the 1864 Deed.  When this Deed was broken on appeal in 1880 the property was unable to meet the new charge and had to come out of my private means which quite swallowed up my charge of £5,000.  This fact with the Act of 1881* the no rent manifesto, bad rents etc made it a difficult matter to meet the Interest on the £13,000. It was not until Mr Mahon took up the Agency that I saw the perilous position in which I was placed’. (p2)

* Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881 which gave tenants real security. Alternatively it could be referring to the Conveyancing Act, 1881. An Act for simplifying and improving the practice of conveyancing: and for vesting in trustees, mortgagees, and others various powers commonly conferred by provisions inserted in settlements, mortgages, wills, and other instruments: and for amending in various particulars the law of property: and for other purposes.