5 



Your Committee at once proceeded to take steps to 

 obtain the formal consent of the Trustees of the British 

 Museum to the Endowment Fund, in which they had a 

 reversionary interest as mentioned in the above letter, being 

 made available towards the discharge of the liabilities of the 

 Bristol Museum, and to obtain the sanction of the Charity 

 Commissioners to such appropriation of the Fund — these 

 proceedings were interrupted by the lamented death of Sir 

 Charles Wathen on the 14th of February 1893, and your 

 Committee were shortly after informed that the Trustees of 

 the British Museum required to be satisfied before proceeding 

 further in the matter, that the proposed arrangement would 

 be carried out by the Corporation notwithstanding his 

 death. Upon this being represented by Sir Charles's 

 executors to his residuary legatees they at once authorised a 

 formal engagement being given on their behalf to hand to 

 the Corporation the sum necessary to carry out the 

 arrangement proposed bv Sir Charles and the Trustees were 

 then satisfied that the matter would proceed. The Charity 

 Commissioners, though satisfied of the benevolent attitude 

 of the Trustees of the British Museum in consenting to 

 release their interest in the Endowment Fund insisted on 

 the Council of the Bristol Museum applying for a u scheme " 

 for the application of the Fund, and this still further delayed 

 the formal transfer of the Institution to the Corporation, 

 but the steps necessary to comply with all these formalities 

 had so far progressed by the 1st of July 1893, t ^ lat y our 

 Committee felt justified in provisionally accepting possession 

 of the premises and contents on behalf of the Corporation 

 on that day. 



It was not until the 31st of May 1894 that all legal 

 and other difficulties were overcome and by a Deed of that 

 date the premises were transferred to the Corporation and 



