made thereon, be deemed to be equivalent to notice of an act of bankruptcy, and after such notice no payment or transfer of property made by the legal personal representative shall operate as a discharge to him as between himself and the official receiver; save as aforesaid nothing in this section shall invalidate any payment made or any act or thing done in good faith by the legal personal representative before the date of the order for administration.

(10.) Unless the context otherwise requires, "court," in this section, means the court within the jurisdiction of which the debtor resided or carried on business for the greater part of the six months immediately prior to his decease; "creditor means one or more creditors qualified to present a bankruptcy petition, as in this Act provided.

(11.) General rules, for carrying into effect the provisions of this section, may be made in the same manner and to the like effect and extent as in bankruptcy.

126. No person, not being a trader within the meaning of the Saving as to Bankruptcy Act, 1861, shall be adjudged bankrupt in respect of a debt contracted before the passing of that Act.

Evidence.

debts contracted before Act of 1861.

132. (1.) A copy of the London Gazette containing any Gazette to be notice inserted therein in pursuance of this Act shall be evidence evidence. of the facts stated in the notice.

(2.) The production of a copy of the London Gazette containing any notice of a receiving order, or of an order adjudicating a debtor a bankrupt, shall be conclusive evidence in all legal proceedings of the order having been duly made, and of its date.

meetings of

133. (1.) A minute of proceedings at a meeting of creditors Evidence of prounder this Act, signed at the same or the next ensuing meeting, ceedings at by a person describing himself as, or appearing to be, chairman creditors. of the meeting at which the minute is signed, shall be received in evidence without further proof.

(2.) Until the contrary is proved, every meeting of creditors in respect of the proceedings whereof a minute has been so signed shall be deemed to have been duly convened and held, and all resolutions passed or proceedings had thereat to have been duly passed or had.

ceedings in

134. Any petition or copy of a petition in bankruptcy, any Evidence of proorder or certificate or copy of an order or certificate made by any bankruptcy. court having jurisdiction in bankruptcy, any instrument or copy of an instrument, affidavit, or document made or used in the course of any bankruptcy proceedings, or proceedings had under this Act, shall, if it appears to be sealed with the seal of any court having jurisdiction in bankruptcy, or purports to be signed

Swearing of affidavits.

Death of witness.

Bankruptcy

courts to have seals.

Certificate of appointment of trustee.

Appeal from

to High Court.

by any judge thereof, or is certified as a true copy by any registrar thereof, be receivable in evidence in all legal proceedings whatever.

135. Subject to general rules, any affidavit to be used in a bankruptcy court may be sworn before any person authorised to administer oaths in the High Court, or in the Court of Chancery of the County Palatine of Lancaster, or before any registrar of a bankruptcy court, or before any officer of a bankruptcy court authorised in writing on that behalf by the judge of the court, or, in the case of a person residing in Scotland or in Ireland, before a judge ordinary, magistrate, or justice of the peace, or, in the case of a person who is out of the kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, before a magistrate or justice of the peace or other person qualified to administer oaths in the country where he resides (he being certified to be a magistrate or justice of the peace, or qualified as aforesaid by a British minister or British consul, or by a notary public).

136. In the case of the death of the debtor or his wife, or of a witness whose evidence has been received by any court in any proceeding under this Act, the deposition of the person so deceased, purporting to be sealed with the seal of the court, or a copy thereof purporting to be so sealed, shall be admitted as evidence of the matters therein deposed to.

137. Every court having jurisdiction in bankruptcy under this Act, shall have a seal describing the court in such manner as may be directed by order of the Lord Chancellor, and judicial notice shall be taken of the seal, and of the signature of the judge or registrar of any such court, in all legal proceedings.

138. A certificate of the Board of Trade that a person has been appointed trustee under this Act, shall be conclusive evidence of his appointment.

139. Where by this Act an appeal to the High Court is Board of Trade given against any decision of the Board of Trade, or of the official receiver, the appeal shall be brought within twenty-one days from the time when the decision appealed against is pronounced or made.

Proceedings of

140. (1.) All documents purporting to be orders or certificates Board of Trade. made or issued by the Board of Trade, and to be sealed with the seal of the board, or to be signed by a secretary or assistant secretary of the board, or any person authorised in that behalf by the president of the board, shall be received in evidence, and deemed to be such orders or certificates without further proof, unless the contrary is shown.

(2.) A certificate signed by the President of the Board of Trade that any order made, certificate issued, or act done, is the order, certificate, or act of the Board of Trade shall be conclusive evidence of the fact so certified.

Time.

time.

141. (1.) Where by this Act any limited time from or Computation of after any date or event is appointed or allowed for the doing of any act or the taking of any proceeding, then in the computation of that limited time the same shall be taken as exclusive of the day of that date or of the happening of that event, and as commencing at the beginning of the next following day; and the act or proceeding shall be done or taken at latest on the last day of that limited time as so computed, unless the last day is a Sunday, Christmas-day, Good Friday, or Monday or Tuesday in Easter Week, or a day appointed for public fast, humiliation, or thanksgiving, or a day on which the court does not sit, in which case any act or proceeding shall be considered as done or taken in due time if it is done or taken on the next day afterwards, which shall not be one of the days in this section specified.

(2.) Where by this Act any act or proceeding is directed to be done or taken on a certain day, then if that day happen to be one of the days in this section specified, the act or proceeding shall be considered as done or taken in due time if it is done or taken on the next day afterwards, which shall not be one of the days in this section specified.

Notices.

notices.

142. All notices and other documents for the service of Service of which no special mode is directed may be sent by prepaid post letter to the last known address of the person to be served therewith.

Formal Defects.

proceedings.

143. (1.) No proceeding in bankruptcy shall be invalidated Formal defect by any formal defect or by any irregularity, unless the court not to invalidate before which an objection is made to the proceeding is of opinion that substantial injustice has been caused by the defect or irregularity, and that the injustice cannot be remedied by any order of that court.

(2.) No defect or irregularity in the appointment or election of a receiver, trustee, or member of a committee of inspection shall vitiate any act done by him in good faith.

Stamp Duty.

stamp duty.

144. Every deed, conveyance, assignment, surrender, admis- Exemption of sion, or other assurance relating solely to freehold, leasehold, deeds, &c., from copyhold, or customary property, or to any mortgage, charge, or other incumbrance on, or any estate, right, or interest in any real or personal property which is part of the estate of any bankrupt, and which, after the execution of the deed, convey

Sales under executions to be public.

Writ of elegit not

to extend to

goods.

Application of Trustee Act to bankruptcy of trustee.

Acting of corporations, partners, &c.

ance, assignment, surrender, admission, or other assurance, either at law or in equity, is or remains the estate of the bankrupt or of the trustee under the bankruptcy, and every power of attorney, proxy paper, writ, order, certificate, affidavit, bond, or other instrument or writing relating solely to the property of any bankrupt, or to any proceeding under any bankruptcy, shall be exempt from stamp duty, except in respect of fees under this Act.

Executions.

145. Where the sheriff sells the goods of a debtor under an execution for a sum exceeding twenty pounds (including legal incidental expenses), the sale shall, unless the court from which the process issued otherwise orders, be made by public auction, and not by bill of sale or private contract, and shall be publicly advertised by the sheriff on and during three days next proceeding the day of sale.

146. (1.) The sheriff shall not under a writ of elegit deliver the goods of a debtor, nor shall a writ of elegit extend to goods.

(2.) No writ of levari facias shall hereafter be issued in any civil proceeding.

Bankrupt Trustee.

147. Where a bankrupt is a trustee within the Trustee Act, 1850, section thirty-two of that Act shall have effect so as to authorise the appointment of a new trustee in substitution for the bankrupt (whether voluntarily resigning or not), if it appears expedient to do so, and all provisions of that Act and of any other Act relative thereto, shall have effect accordingly.

Corporations, &c.

148. For all or any of the purposes of this Act a corporation act by any of its officers authorised in that behalf under may the seal of the corporation, a firm may act by any of its members, and a lunatic may act by his committee or curator bonis.

Construction of former Acts, &c.

Construction of 149. (1.) Where in any Act of Parliament, instrument, or Acts mentioning commission of proceeding passed, executed, or taken before the commencement bankruptcy, &c. of this Act mention is made of a commission of bankruptcy or

fiat in bankruptcy, the same shall be construed, with reference to the proceedings under a bankruptcy petition, as if a commission of or a fiat in bankruptcy had been actually issued at the time of the presentation of such petition.

(2.) Where by any Act or instrument, reference is made to the Bankruptcy Act, 1869, the Act or instrument shall be construed

and have effect as if reference were made therein to the corres

ponding provisions of this Act.

sions to bind he

150. Save as herein provided the provisions in this Act relating Certain provito the remedies against the property of a debtor, the priorities Crown. of debts, the effect of a composition or scheme of arrangement, and the effect of a discharge, shall bind the Crown.

ing rights of

151. Nothing in this Act, or in any transfer of jurisdiction Saving for existeffected thereby, shall take away or affect any right of audience audience. that any person may have had at the commencement of this Act, and all solicitors or other persons who had the right of audience before the Chief Judge in Bankruptcy shall have the like right of audience in bankruptcy matters in the High Court.

152. Nothing is this Act shall affect the provisions of the Married women. Married Women's Property Act, 1882.

estates on vacancy of office

liquidation under

159. In every liquidation by arrangement under the Bank- Transfer of ruptcy Act, 1869, pending at the commencement of this Act, if at any time after the commencement of this Act there is no of trustee in trustee acting in the liquidation by reason of death, or for any the Bankruptcy other cause, such of the official receivers of bankrupts' estates Act, 1869. as is appointed by the Board of Trade for that purpose shall become and be the trustee in the liquidation, and the property of the liquidating debtor shall pass to and vest in him accordingly; but this provision shall not prejudice the right of the creditors in the liquidation to appoint a new trustee, in manner directed by the Bankruptcy Act, 1869, or the rules thereunder; and on such appointment the property of the liquidating debtor shall pass to and vest in the new trustee.

The provisions of this Act with respect to the duties and responsibilities of and accounting by a trustee in a bankruptcy under this Act shall apply as nearly as may be to a trustee acting under the provisions of this section.

standing property on close of liquidation.

160. Where a bankruptcy or liquidation by arrangement Transfer of outunder the Bankruptcy Act, 1869, has been or is hereafter closed, any property of the bankrupt or liquidating debtor which vested bankruptcy or in the trustee and has not been realised or distributed shall vest in such person as may be appointed by the Board of Trade for that purpose, and he shall thereupon proceed to get in, realise, and distribute the property in like manner and with and subject to the like powers and obligations, as far as applicable, as if the bankruptcy or liquidation were continuing, and he were acting as trustee thereunder.

estates from

London Court to

161. In every bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Act, 1869, Transfer pending at the commencement of this Act, where a registrar of registrars of the London Bankruptcy Court or of any County Court is or official receiver. would hereafter but for this enactment become the trustee under the bankruptcy, such of the official receivers of bankrupts'