ACCUMULATION (from Lat. accumulare, to heap up)

This article appears in Volume V01, Page 126 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: A10-ADA

ACCUMULATION (from Lat. accumulare, to heap up) , strictly a piling-up of anything; technically, in law, the continuous adding of the

interest

INTEREST

of a fund to the principal, for the benefit of some person or persons in the future. Previous to 1800, this

accumulation

ACCUMULATION (from Lat. accumulare, to heap up)

of property was not forbidden by English law, provided the period during which it was to accumulate did not exceed that forbidden by the law against perpetuities, viz. the period of a life or lives in being, and twenty-one years afterwards. In 1800, however, the law was amended in consequence of the eccentric will of Peter Thellusson (1737-1797), an English merchant, who directed the income of his property, consisting of real estate of the annual value of about 5000 and personal estate amounting to over 600,000, to be accumulated during the lives of his children, grandchildren and

great

GREAT

-grandchildren, living at the time of his death, and the survivor of them. The property so accumulated, which, it is estimated, would have amounted to over 14,000,000, was to be divided among such descendants as might be alive on the death of the survivor of those lives during which the

accumulation

ACCUMULATION (from Lat. accumulare, to heap up)

was to continue. The bequest was held valid (Thellusson v.

Woodford

WOODFORD

, 1798, 4 Vesey, 237). In 1856 there was a protracted lawsuit as to who were the actual heirs. It was decided by the

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

of .Lords (June 9, 1859) in favour of Lord Rendlesham and Charles Sabine

Augustus

AUGUSTUS (a name 1 derived from Lat. augeo, increase, i.e. venerable, majestic, Gr. Ee0avr6s)

Thellusson. Owing, however, to the heavy expenses, the amount inherited was not much larger than that originally bequeathed.
To prevent such a disposition of property in the future, the Accumulations Act 1800 (known also as the "Thellusson Act") was passed, by which it was enacted that no property should be accumulated for any longer term than either (1) the life of the settlor; or (2) the term of twenty-one years from his death; or (3) during the minority of any person living or en ventre sa mere at the time of the death of the grantor; or (4) during the minority of any person who, if of full age, would be entitled to the income directed to be accumulated. The act, however, did not extend to any provision for payment of the debts of the grantor or of any other person, nor to any provision for raising portions for the children of the settlor, or any person interested under the

settlement

SETTLEMENT
SETTLEMENT, ACT OF

, nor to any direction touching the produce
.
ACCUMULATOR
of timber or

wood

upon. any lands or tenements. The act was
extended to heritable property in Scotland by the Entail Amendment Act 1848, but does not apply to property in Ireland.
The act was further amended by the Accumulations Act 1892, which forbids accumulations for the purpose of the purchase of land for any longer period than during the minority of any person or persons who, if of full age, would be entitled to receive the income. (See also TRUST and PERPETUITY.)

End of Article: ACCUMULATION (from Lat. accumulare, to heap up)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/A10_ADA/ACCUMULATION_from_Lat_accumula.html">
ACCUMULATION (from Lat. accumulare, to heap up)
</a>

(Previous)
ACCRINGTON

(Next)
ACCUMULATOR

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email