All lands, hereditaments, estates, and property whatsoever, which by virtue of the said recited Acts or either of them, or of any other Act or Acts of Parliament, or of any conveyance, surrender, lease, or other assurance, or of any law, custom, or usage whatsoever, before and at the time of the revocation by Her Majesty herein-before mentioned were vested in the principal officers of the Ordnance, on behalf of Her Majesty, or which have been at any time before the passing of this Act held, used, or occupied, or purchased, vested, or taken by or in the name of or by any person or persons in trust for Her Majesty, for the use and service of the said department or for the defence and security of the realm, and which have not been sold, aliened, or parted with, shall from henceforth be and the same are hereby declared to be transferred to and vested in the last-mentioned Principal Secretary of State for the time being, on behalf of Her said Majesty; and when and so often as the said last-mentioned Principal Secretary of State, and any succeeding Principal Secretary of State to whom Her Majesty shall have intrusted the seals of the War Department, shall cease to hold such office, the said several lands, hereditaments, estates, and property, and all lands, hereditaments, estates, and property which hereafter shall be purchased or otherwise acquired by any such last-mentioned Principal Secretary of State for the time being, on behalf of Her said Majesty, shall by virtue of this Act be absolutely divested out of such Secretary of State so ceasing to hold such office as aforesaid, and shall by virtue of this Act be transferred to and vested in his successor in the said office, immediately upon his receiving the seals of the said department, absolutely; and the said lands, hereditaments, estates and property hereby vested and hereafter to be vested in the said last-mentioned Principal Secretary of State and his successors shall, as to such of them as were or shall have been purchased or are or shall be held for an estate of inheritance in fee simple, be so vested in such last-mentioned Principal Secretary of State and his successors, in the same manner as if the fee simple thereof had been originally conveyed to such Principal Secretary of State, as a corporation sole, and his successors; and as to all lands, hereditaments, and property purchased or held for any less estate than an estate of inheritance in fee simple, as if the same lands, hereditaments, and property had been originally conveyed, surrendered, demised, or otherwise assured to such Principal Secretary of State, as a corporation sole, and his successors, for all the existing estates or interest therein respectively, and so from time to time; [F1nevertheless, with respect to all lands or hereditaments of copyhold or customary tenure, the same shall, for the purpose mentioned in the eighth section of the M1Defence Act 1842, remain vested in or be surrendered to some person to be approved of or named by the last-mentioned Principal Secretary of State for the time being as tenant thereof.]
Textual Amendments
F1Words repealed (E.W.) (S.) by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1976 (c. 16), Sch. 1 Pt. XV
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1S. 2 repealed,but without prejudice to its application to any Minister other than the Secretary of State for War, for Air or for Defence, by S.I. 1964/458, Sch. 1 Pt. II
Marginal Citations