8244.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TTIC.O. 885
11 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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MY LORD,
No. 583.
(STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.}
LAW OFFICERS to COLONIAL OFFICE.
Temple, July 23, 1869.
We are honoured with your commande, signified to us in Sir Frederic Rogers' letter of the 19th instant, stating-
1. That he was desired by your Lordship to transmit to us a copy of draft Letters Patent which had been prepared for the purpose of separating the Straits Settlements from the diocese of Calcutta.
2. That the Straits Settlements ceased to be a part of India, and were placed under the Government of Her Majesty as part of the Colonial possessions of the Crown, by virtue of the Imperial Act 29 & 30 Vict. c. 115., and of an Order in Council of the 28th December 1866, a copy of which was annexed for reference.
3. That it had been determined, with the consent of the Bishop of Calcutta, to separate those Settlements from the diocese of Calcutta, and to annex them to the diocese of Labuan.
4. That the bishopric of Calcutta was originally created by Letters Patent of the 2nd May 1814, issued in pursuance of an Imperial Act of 53 Geo. 3. c. 155. The material sections of that Act would be found at pages 166 and 167 of an annexed of the "Law relating to India." The Letters Patent would be found at page 498 of the same volume.
copy
5. That subsequently to the date of those Letters Patent, further Letters Patent of the 13th June 1835 (which would be found at page 501 of the same volume) were issued founding the bishopric of Madras, and making the Bishop of Calcutta the Metropolitan Bishop in India, and still more recently under the provisions of an Imperial Act, 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 85. s. 89, a bishopric of Bombay had been formed out of the diocese of Calcutta by Letters l'atent of 1st October 1837. In those Lettera Patent there was a similar clause to that in the Letters Patent of 1835, by which the Bishop of the See of Calcutta for the time being was made the Metropolitan Bishop in India.
6. That, as bearing upon the present question, Sir Frederic Rogers was directed to call our special attention to the 93rd and 94th sections of the Act 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 85., which would be found at page 293 of the annexed volume.
That under those circumstances we were roquested to favour your Lordship at our earliest convenience with our opinion upon the following questions:-
1. Does the power given to Her Majesty by the 93rd section of 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 85. to assign by Letters Patent limits to the diocese of the bishopric of Calcutta, and from time to time to alter and vary the same limits as to Her Majesty shall seem fit, enable Her Majesty by Letters Patent to withdraw the Straits Settlements from that diocese; and are the proposed Letters Patent proper and sufficient for that purpose?
2. Will the Act of 29 & 30 Vict. c. 115., by which the Straits Settlements ceased to be part of India for the purposes therein mentioned, together with the proposed Letters Patent revoking so far as regards the Straits Settlernents the Letters Patent of the 2nd May 1814, the 13th June 1835, and the 1st October 1837, have the effect of destroying the metropolitical power of the Bishop of Calcutta in these Settlements?
3. If the proposed Letters Patent would not be effectual to destroy the episcopal and metropolitical power of the Bishop of Calcutta in the Straits Settlements, will the Bill of which a draft is annexed be proper and sufficient for that purpose?
In obedience to your Lordship's commands we have taken the questions submitted to us into our consideration, and have the honour to
Report
That we think it very doubtful whether the 3rd and 4th Will. 4. (ss. 52, 93, and 94) gives the Queen power to withdraw the Straits Settlements from the diocese of Calcutta so as to attach it to the diocese of Labuan. We are disposed to think that it does no more than empower the Queen to regulate the boundaries inter se of the three dioceses of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay.
2. The most natural interpretation to be put on 29 & 30 Vict. c. 115. is that it leaves entirely untouched the ecclesiastical relations of the Straits Settlements.
0 16278.-728. 25.--5/86.