[1663/6/76]¹

Act in favour of [John Cranston], lord Cranston

Anent a supplication presented to the estates of parliament by Dame Marie Leslie, lady Cranston, mentioning that the whole estate of the Lord Cranston, being forfeited and uplifted by the late usurpers, and the petitioner having no more than £30 sterling or thereby yearly out of the said estate during the years of forfeiture, for entertaining herself and numerous family of nine children and many servants, was thereby not only reduced to great straits and necessities, but also the said Lord Cranston, her husband, was forced to engage himself and his friends in great debts for the necessary subsistence of so numerous a family, and the said estate, before the said forfeiture, being burdened with great debts, for which no annualrents were paid during the time of the forfeiture, the said estate being intromitted with by the usurpers and the debts thereby increasing to a greater sum than the estate was able to bear, the Lord Cranston, for preventing the ruin which the rigidity of his creditors by comprisings and other legal executions threatened against his estate, was forced to make transactions with them, partly² by renewing of securities and converting annualrents into principal sums and condescending to their unreasonable and covetous desires, without any favour, ease or abatement of principal sums, annualrents or expenses, tending to the utter undoing of himself, his family and estate. And seeing he has been drawn to such disadvantageous agreements and transactions, and thereby forced to sell and put away diverse considerable baronies of land, the far better part of his estate, and that far within the worth, and to convey the house and lands of Cranston, the ancient and chief dwelling place of that family, in all conscience and equity it would seem very reasonable that he should be restored against anything done to his prejudice through the iniquity of these times, and the severity of his creditors and that so just and reasonable a remedy should rather be granted to him than to any other forfeited person who have not yet transacted with their creditors; humbly therefore, desiring that such favour may be allowed and extended to the Lord Cranston for restoring him against all deeds done to his hurt and loss as may be granted to any other in the like condition. Which supplication, being at length heard and considered by the estates of parliament, and they considering that, by the commission granted on 2 September instant concerning the payment of annualrents due by persons forfeited by the usurpers, it is provided that nothing to be done by virtue of that commission shall prejudice any creditor of the foresaid persons of any of the annualrents they have received for these years of the forfeiture by virtue of any voluntary transaction, or shall prejudice them of any other voluntary transaction or condition between the said creditors and debtors foresaid; the king's majesty, with advice and consent of his estates in parliament, does declare that the Lord Cranston is not to be comprehended within the forgoing clause, but is to have the benefit and deduction of annualrents conforming to the said commission, notwithstanding of any former transactions, reserving always to the creditors all their just defences to be considered by the commissioners mentioned in the said commission.