JEVENS v. HARRIDGE. habendum for seven years, at the yearly rent of 201. By in anywise appertaining; to have and to hold the said messuage or tenement, yard, and premises aforesaid, with the appurtenances, to the said Reve Levemere, his executors, administrators and assigns, from the feast of the Nativity of our Lord Christ then next following the date of the said indenture, until the full end and term of seven years then next following, and fully to be complete and ended; yielding and paying therefore, yearly and every year, during the said term, to the said Nicholas Jevens, his executors, administrators and assigns, the yearly rent of 207. of lawful money of England, at the four usual terms in the year, that is to say, the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, St. Michael the Archangel, and the Nativity of our Lord, by even and equal portions, as by the said indenture (among other things) more fully appears. virtue of which said demise, he the said Reve in his lifetime, afterwards, to wit, on the 27th day of December, in the 15th lessee entered, year aforesaid, entered into the said messuage with the appurtenances, and was thereof possessed; and being so thereof possessed, the said Reve afterwards, to wit, on the last day of September, in the 17th year of the reign of our said lord the now king, at the parish of St. Martin in the Fields aforesaid, and died intes- in the county aforesaid, died intestate, being so as aforesaid possessed of the premises aforesaid; after whose death, to wit, on the last day of September, in the 17th year aforesaid, administration of all and singular the goods and chattels, rights and credits, which were of the said Reve at the time of his death, by Gilbert, by Divine Providence, archbishop of Canterbury, primate and metropolitan of all England, at the parish and county aforesaid, was, in due form of law, committed to the said Johanna; and afterwards, to wit, on the same day and year last aforesaid, the said Rowland and Johanna entered into the tenements aforesaid, and were thereof possessed, by virtue of the said demise, and of the commission of the said administration; and the said 107. for the rent of the said premises, with the appurtenances, for the half of one year, ending on the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary last past, were in arrear to the said Nicholas, and yet are in arrear and unpaid, whereby an action hath accrued to the said Nicholas, to demand and have of the said Rowland and Johanna the said 107.; yet the said Rowland and Johanna (although often required, &c.) have not yet paid to the same Nicholas the said 104, but to pay the same to him tate. Administra tion to the wife. Defendants entered. [ 3 ] 101. rent due. Breach. JEVENs v. HARridge. Imparlance. forth. have hitherto altogether refused, and still do refuse, to the damage of the said Nicholas of 51., and there of he brings suit, &c. And now at this day, to wit, on Friday next after the Morrow of the Holy Trinity in this same term, until which day the said Rowland and Johanna had leave to imparl to the said bill, and then to answer, &c. before our lord the king at Westminster, come as well the said Nicholas by his said attorney, as the said Rowland and Johanna by Thomas Gregge, their attorney; and the said Rowland and Johanna defend Defendants crave oyer of the wrong and injury when, &c. and pray oyer of the in- the Indenture. denture in the said declaration mentioned; and it is read to them in these words, to wit, "This indenture made the 26th Indenture set day of November, in the year of our Lord 1663, and in the 15th year of the reign of our sovereign lord Charles the Second of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, king, defender of the faith, &c., between Nicholas Jevens, of the parish of St. Martin in the Fields, in the county of Middlesex, coachman, of the one part, and Reve Levemere, of the parish of St. Martin aforesaid, gent., of the other part, witnesseth, that the said Nicholas Jevens, for and in the consideration of the rents and covenants hereafter mentioned, hath demised, granted, and to farm let, and by these presents doth demise, grant, and to farm let, unto the said Reve Levemere, all that brick messuage or tenement, with the yard and back sides thereunto adjoining, as the same heretofore was in the occupation of the said Nicholas Jevens, and is now in the occupation of the said Reve Levemere or his assigns, situate and being in Little Bridges-street, and near unto Vinegar-yard, in the parish of St. Martin aforesaid, with all lights, easements, profits, commodities, and appurtenances whatsoever to the same premises belonging, or in anywise appertaining to have and to hold the said messuage or tenement, yard and premises, with the appurtenances, unto him the said Reve Levemere, his executors, administrators and assigns, from the feast of the Birth of our Lord Christ next ensuing the date hereof, unto the full end and term of seven years from thence next ensuing, and fully to be complete and ended, yielding and paying therefor, yearly and every year during the said term unto him the said Nicholas Jevens, his executors, administrators and assigns, the yearly rent of twenty pounds of lawful money of England, at the four usual times in the year, (that is to say,) the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, St. Michael the [ 4 ] JEVENS v. Archangel, and the Nativity of our Lord Christ, by even and HARRIDGE. equal portions; and if it shall happen the said yearly rent of twenty pounds to be behind and unpaid in part, or in all, over or after any of the feast-days aforesaid, wherein the same ought to be paid, or within ten days next over or after any, every, or any of them, being lawfully demanded, that then and from thenceforth it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Nicholas Jevens, his executors, administrators or assigns, into or upon the said messuage or tenement, yard and premises, with the appurtenances before-mentioned to be demised, and into every or any part thereof wholly to reenter, and the same to have again, retain, repossess and enjoy, as in his or their estates. And the said Reve Levemere, for him, his executors, administrators and assigns, doth covenant, promise and grant to and with the said Nicholas Jevens, his executors, administrators and assigns, by these presents, that he the said Reve Levemere, his executors, administrators and assigns, shall and will well and truly pay, or cause to be paid, unto the said Nicholas Jevens, his executors, administrators or assigns, the said yearly rent of twenty pounds at the four usual feast-days in the year, or within ten days next after every or any of them, by even portions, according to the reservation aforesaid. And the said Nicholas Jevens, his executors and administrators, doth covenant, promise and grant, that he or they shall or will, at his or their own proper costs and charges, keep, sustain and maintain the said messuage or tenement and premises, with the appurtenances in, by, and with all and all manner of needful and necessary reparations and amendments whatsoever, when and as often as need shall be and require during the said term of seven years, so as always that he the said Nicholas Jevens, his executors, administrators, workmen, labourers or assigns, be not, and shall not, at any time or times in the said term, be let, hindered, debarred or denied to come into, out of, or from the messuage or tenement and demised premises, for the repairing and amending of the same premises, or any part thereof, by the said Reve Levemere, his executors, administrators, tenants or assigns. And the said Nicholas Jevens for him, his executors and administrators doth further covenant, promise and grant to and with the said Reve Levemere, his executors, administrators and assigns, by these presents, that he the said Reve Levemere, his executors, administrators and assigns, paying the said yearly rent of 201 and performing the covenants and agreements on his or their part before mentioned, shall or lawfully may, peaceably and quietly, occupy, possess and enjoy the said messuage or tenement, and premises, with the appurtenances, without the let, trouble, denial or interruption of the said Nicholas Jevens, his executors, administrators or assigns, during the said term. In witness whereof the parties abovesaid to these indentures interchangeably have set their hands and scals the day and year above written." Which being read and heard, the said Rowland and Johanna say, that the said Nicholas ought not to have or maintain his said action thereof against them, because they say, that in a statute made in the parliament of the lord Henry the Eighth, late king of England, held at Westminster in the 32d year of his reign, it was (amongst other things) ordained by the authority of the same parliament, that all leases of any dwelling-house or shop within this realm, or any the king's dominions, made to any stranger, artificer or handicraftsman born out of the king's obeisance, not being a denizen, from and after the feast of St. Michael the Archangel then next coming after the making of the said act, should be void and of none effect. And the said Rowland and Johanna further say, that the said indenture in the said declaration. mentioned was made by the said Nicholas Jevens to the said Reve Levemere on the said 26th day of November, in the 15th year aforesaid, at the said parish of St. Martin in the Fields, in the county aforesaid; and that the said Reve Levemere at the time of the demise, and of making the indenture in the said declaration above mentioned, was a stranger and an artificer, born out of the obeisance of our said lord the now king, and not a denizen, that is to say, at Paris, in the kingdom of France. And so the said Rowland and Johanna say, that the said lease and the said indenture in the said declaration mentioned, made as aforesaid to the said Reve Levemere by the said Nicholas, became, by virtue of the said act, void and of no effect. And this the said Rowland and Johanna are ready to verify: wherefore they pray judgment, if the said Nicholas ought to have or maintain his said action thereof against them, &c. W. Wild. Demurrer in the usual form. And for causes of demurrer in law upon that plea, the said Causes. Nicholas, according to the form of the statute in such case lately made and provided, shews, and to the court here sets [6] JEVENS v. forth the causes following, that is to say, for that the plea HARRIDGE. aforesaid is double, repugnant in itself, and wants form, &c.* * See post. 160. note (1). vult. Joinder in demurrer. W. Powlet. day next But because the court of our said lord the king now here Curia advisare is not yet advised of giving their judgment of and upon the premises, a day thereof is given to the parties aforesaid before our lord the king, at Westminster, until after to hear their judgment of and upon the premises, for that the court of our lord the king here is thereof not yet, &c. Case 1. In a plea of void leases to houses and necessary to aver that the messuage (a) demised was a dwelling-house or shop. S. C. 1 Sid. 308. Jevens against the Administrators of Levemere. THE HE plaintiff brought an action of debt for rent against the defendants Harridge, and Johanna his wife, as the administratrix of one Reve Levemere, and declared that he, on the 26th of November, in the 15th year of the now king, by indenture demised to the said Reve Levemere in his lifetime, shops), it seems one messuage, with the appurtenances, in the parish of St. Martin in the Fields, in the county of Middlesex, to have, from the feast of Christmas then next coming, for seven years, rendering the rent of 207. yearly, at the four usual feasts, by equal portions, by force of which demise the said intestate Levemere, after the feast of Christmas, entered and was pos116. 118. S. C. sessed; and afterwards, to wit, on the last day of September, in the 17th year of the now king, died intestate so possessed; and afterwards, to wit, on the same day, administration was committed to the defendant Johanna, by force whereof both the defendants entered and were possessed in right of the said Johanna as administratrix, &c.; and being so possessed, the plaintiff says that 107. of the said rent, for half a year ended on the feast of our Lady next before the bringing of the action, were in arrear and unpaid; and for that money the plaintiff brought his action in the debet and detinet. 2 Keb. 102. cited in 2 Show. 135. Pilkington v. [7] + Sect. 13. The defendants pray oyer of the indenture, which is entered in hæc verba, as appears before; and thereupon they plead the statute of 32 H. 8. c. 16.†, by which it is enacted, that all leases of any dwelling-house or shop, within this (a) [See 2 Bing. N. C. 617. Fenn v. Grafton, as to the legal import of the word "messuage." See also 4 M. & W. 567. Monks v. Dykes.] |