| Presbyterian Church Ordinance 1876 |
| 2020 REVISED EDITION |
| This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021 |
| An Ordinance to empower the Trustees of the Presbyterian Church in Singapore to sell certain property, and for other purposes. |
| [24 March 1876] |
| Whereas by an indenture dated 3 August 1866, and made between the Reverend Arthur Tidman, of the London Mission House, Finsbury, London, Doctor of Divinity, the Foreign Secretary of the Missionary Society usually called the London Missionary Society, of the first part, and the Reverend William Jeffrey, Minister of the Presbyterian Congregation at Singapore, John James Greenshields, Matthew Little, Robert Jamie, John Anderson, Robert Little, M.D., and John Stowe Young, respectively of Singapore, inhabitants, of the second part, the said Arthur Tidman, as such Secretary, in pursuance of the resolution of the Board of Directors of the said Society, by which the affairs of the said Society are managed, did, in consideration therein mentioned, subject nevertheless to the trust and purposes contained in the said recited indenture, assign unto the said William Jeffrey, John James Greenshields, Matthew Little, Robert Jamie, John Anderson, Robert Little, M.D., and John Stowe Young, their executors and assigns, all that piece or parcel of land, hereditaments and premises, comprised in a certain indenture, No. 215, made or bearing to be made between the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies, of the one part, and C. H. Thompson, of Singapore, in the East Indies, of the other part, dated 25 January 1827, whereby the said United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies did, for the consideration therein mentioned, demise and let to the said C. H. Thompson, his executors, administrators, representatives, and assigns, the said piece or parcel of land and hereditaments for the term of 999 years from the day of the date thereof, which said piece or parcel of land and hereditaments were thereafter, on 30 September 1828, assigned by the said C. H. Thompson to the Treasurer and Secretary of the said Missionary Society, for and on behalf of the said Society: |
| And whereas the edifice or chapel erected on the said last mentioned piece or parcel of land, and which has hitherto been used as a place of Christian worship by the members and congregation of the Presbyterian Church, is in a dilapidated condition and unsafe to be used as a public place of worship, and in consequence of the great increase of traffic, factories, public‑houses, and other noisome trades, the services of the church are frequently interrupted and disturbed; and it is desirable, therefore, that a more suitable place of worship should be erected in another more eligible locality: |
| And whereas the Governor, acting for and on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, upon the application of the members of the Deacons’ Court of the Presbyterian Church in Singapore, has granted unto the Reverend William Dale, Minister of the Presbyterian Congregation at Singapore, Robert Little, M.D., John Hutchison Robertson, M.D., Samuel Dunlop, John Anderson, Robert Jamie, Alexander Maughan Martin, Thomas Cuthberton, James Parker Niven, William McKerrow, and William Alexander Pickering, their heirs and assigns, a piece or parcel of land situate in the town of Singapore, in trust, for the purpose of having a building or buildings erected thereon for religious worship and use of the members of any denomination of Christians holding as their confession of faith the ecclesiastical documents received by the different branches of the Presbyterian Church, and known as the Westminster Standard; and in order to provide the required funds for the building of a new church or place of worship as aforesaid, it is expedient that the said piece or parcel of land and hereditaments on which the said chapel or place of worship is now standing should be sold and disposed of; but as doubts have arisen as to whether the said trustees have power under the indenture herein first recited to sell the same, and it is expedient for the furtherance of religion that the said buildings for religious worship should be erected and the proposal herein recited be carried into effect: |
| It is hereby declared and enacted by the Governor of the Straits Settlements, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, as follows: |
| Short title |
| 1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Presbyterian Church Ordinance 1876. |
| Power to sell land comprised in Indenture No. 215 |
| 2. The said trustees, William Jeffrey, John James Greenshields, Matthew Little, Robert Jamie, John Anderson, Robert Little, M.D., and John Stowe Young, or the survivors of them, or any 2 or more of such surviving trustees who are for the time being resident within the Colony may sell and dispose of the said piece or parcel of land comprised in and demised by the hereinbefore recited indenture of lease, No. 215, made between the said United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies, of the one part, and the said C. H. Thompson, of the other part, dated 25 January 1827, and also all erections and buildings which have been erected and are now standing on the said premises, with power also to execute assurances, give effectual receipts for the purchase money, and do all other acts and things for completing such sale as they, or the survivors of them, or any 2 or more of such survivors, think proper. |
| Application of proceeds of sale |