be absent, by their respective attorney or attornies thereunto lawfully authorized, in writing under his or their hand and seal or hands and seals, to be attested by two or more credible witnesses; and the several persons to whom such transfers shall be made may respectively underwrite their acceptance thereof, and no other method of assigning and transferring the said annuities or any part thereof, or any interest therein, shall be good or available in law: Provided always, that all persons possessed of any share or interest in the said annuities, or any estate or interest therein, may devise the same by will in writing, attested by two or more credible witnesses, but no payment shall be made upon any such devise until so much of the said will as relates to such share, estate, or interest in the said annuities shall be entered in the books of the said office; and in default of such transfer or devise such share, estate, or interest in the said annuities shall go to the executors, administrators, successors, and assigns; and no stamp duties whatsoever shall be charged on any of the said transfers, any law or statute to the contrary notwithstanding.

xxx. Provided and enacted, That any three or more of the said Commissioners of the Treasury, or the said Lord High Treasurer for the time being, shall have power, out of the said Consolidated Fund, to discharge all such incident charges as shall necessarily attend the execution of this Act, in such manner as to them shall seem just and reasonable, and also to make an allowance for the service, pains, and labour of the said cashier or cashiers employed in receiving, paying, and accounting for the said annuities, and also for the service, pains, and labour of the said Accountant General for performing the trusts reposed in him by virtue of this Act, which allowance in respect of the service, pains, and labour of the said cashier or cashiers and Accountant General of the said Governor and Company shall be for the use of the said Governor and Company, and at their disposal only.

XXXI. That all the said consolidated 31. per centum annuities created by virtue of this Act shall be deemed and taken to be, and shall from time to time be added to, and shall form part of, the capital of the consolidated 31. per centum annuities transferrable at the Bank of England, and all and every person and persons, bodies politic and corporate whatsoever, shall have and be deemed to have a proportional interest and share in the said stock and in the annuity attending the same at the rate aforesaid, and the whole capital or joint stock, or any share or interest therein, and the proportional annuity attending the same, shall be assignable and transferrable as this Act directs, and not otherwise; and there shall be constantly kept in the office of the said Accountant General for the time being within the city of London a book or books wherein all assignments or transfers of the said capital or joint stock, or any part thereof, and the proportional annuity attending the same at the rate aforesaid, shall be entered and registered, which entries shall be conceived in proper words for that purpose, and shall be signed by the parties making such assignments or transfers, or, if any such party or parties be absent, by bis, her, or their attorney or attor nies thereunto lawfully authorized by writing under his, her, or their bands and seals, to be attested by two or more credible witnesses and the person or persons to whom such transfer or transfers shall be made shall respectively underwrite his, her, or their acceptance thereof, and no other method of assigning or transferring the said stock and the annuities attending the same, or any part thereof, or any interest therein, shall be good and available in, law; and no stamp duties whatsoever shall be charged on the said transfers or any of them.

XXXII. That if any person or persons shall forge or counterfeit, or cause or procure to be forged or counterfeited, or shall willingly act or assist in the forging or counterfeiting, any receipt or receipts for the whole or any parts of the said subscription towards the said sum of 4,000,0001., either with or without the name or names of any person or persons being inserted therein as the subscriber or subscribers thereto, or payer or payers thereof or of any part or parts thereof, or shall alter any number, figure, or word therein, or utter or publish as true any such false, forged, counterfeited, or altered receipt or receipts, with intent to defraud the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, or any body politic or corporate, or any person or persons whatsoever, every such person or persons so forging or counterfeiting, or causing or procuring to be forged or counterfeited, or willingly acting or assisting in the forging or counterfeiting, or altering, uttering, or publishing as aforesaid, being thereof convicted in due form of law, shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and liable to be transported beyond the seas for life or for any term not less than seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding four years nor less than two years, under the provisions of an Act, 7 Will. 4. & 1 Vict. c. 84, intituled, An Act to abolish the Punishment of Death in Cases of Forgery.'

XXXIII. That the said Governor and Company of the Bank of England and their successors, notwithstanding the redemp tion of all or any of their own funds, in pursuance of the Acts for establishing the same, or any of them, shall continue a corporation for the purposes of this Act until the annuities by this Act granted shall be redeemed by Parliament as aforesaid, and that the said Governor and Company of the Bank of England, or any member thereof, shall not incur any disability for or by reason of their doing any matter or thing in pursuance of this Act.

XXXIV. That no fee, reward, or gratuity whatsoever shall be demanded or taken of any of Her Majesty's subjects for receiving or paying the said subscription in Exchequer bills or any of them, or for any receipt concerning the same, or for paying the said annuities or any of them, or for any transfer of any sum, great or small, to be made in pursuance of this Act, upon pain that any officer or person offending by taking or demanding any such fee, reward, or gratuity shall for every such offence forfeit the sum of 201. to the party aggrieved, with full costs of suit, to be recovered by action of debt, bill, plaint, or infor mation in any of Her Majesty's courts of record at Westminster, wherein no essoign, protection, privilege, or wager of law, injunction, or order of restraint, or any more than one imparlance, shall be granted or allowed.

XXXV. That if any person or persons shall be sued, molested, or prosecuted for anything done by virtue or in pursuance of this Act, such person or persons shall and may plead the general issue, and give this Act and the special matter in evidence. in his, her, or their defence or defences; and if afterwards a verdict shall pass for the defendant or defendants, or if the plaintiff or plaintiffs shall discontinue his, her, or their action or prosecution, or be nonsuited, or judgment shall be given against him, her, or them upon demurrer or otherwise, then such defendant or defendants shall have treble costs awarded to him, her, or them against any such plaintiff or plaintiffs.

APPENDIX TO THE FOREGOING ABRIDGMENT OF STATUTES,

2 & 3 VICTORIA-1839.

CAP. XLVII.

AN ACT for further improving the Police in and near the Metropolis.

ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENTS.

(17th August 1839.)

1. So much of 29 Geo. 2. c. 25. as requires the appointment of constables at courts leet repealed.

2. Parts of parishes may be added to the police district.

3. Parishes added to the district to be within 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 89.

4. Repeal of 6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 50. with a certain limitation.

5. Metropolitan Police constables to act on the River Thames, &c.

6. Sum required to defray charges of Thames Police, horse patrol, &c.

7. Constables may be sworn to act for the palaces.

8. Additional constables may be appointed at the cost of individuals.

9. A statement of the number of persons belonging to the Police Force to be annually laid before Parliament. 10. Exemption from turnpike tolls.

11. Police constables to attend the magistrates.

12. Summonses and warrants in criminal proceedings to be executed by them.

13. How warrants issued to police constables may be executed.

14. Penalty on constables for neglect of duty.

15. Constables not to resign without leave or notice.

16. Constables dismissed to deliver up accoutrements.

17. Penalty for unlawful possession of accoutrements, or for assuming the dress of constables.

18. Penalty for assaults on Metropolitan Police.

19. Employment in the police not to prevent receiving half-pay.

20. Increased salary to the Commissioners of Police.

21. Commissioners, surgeon, receiver, and clerks to be within 4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 24.

22. Superannuation fund to be provided for constables.

23. Rates of allowance from the said fund.

24. Repeal of 2 Geo. 3. c. 28.

25. Certain boats subject to provisions of 7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 75.

26. Persons receiving ship stores from seamen, &c.

27. Cutting ropes, cables, &c.

28. Wilfully letting fall articles into the Thames, or into a boat, &c. with fraudulent intention.

29. Framing a false bill of parcels to escape detection.

30. Possessing instruments for unlawfully procuring and carrying away wine, &c.

31. Piercing casks, opening packages, &c.

32. Breaking packages with intent to spill contents.

33. Superintendents and inspectors may board vessels.

34. Superintendent, &c. having just cause to suspect felony may enter on board vessels and take up suspected persons.

35. Unlawful quantities of gunpowder may be seized.

36. Penalty for having on board guns loaded with ball, or discharging guns in the night.

37. Penalty for heating combustible matters on board of vessels.

38. Penalty on keeping fairs open within forbidden hours.

39. Fairs within the Metropolitan Police district may be inquired into.-If declared unlawful, booths, &c. to be removed.

40. On entering into recognizance, question as to right of title to fair may be tried in the Queen's Bench.

41. Freemen of Vintners' Company subject to certain provisions.

42. Public houses to be shut on the mornings of Sundays, &c.

43. Publicans prohibited from supplying liquors to persons under sixteen years of age.

44. Regulations of 9 Geo. 4. c. 61. respecting public houses to extend to other houses of public resort.

45. Penalty on keepers of cook shops, &c., making internal communication with an adjoining public house.

46. Power to enter unlicensed theatres, and take away persons found there.

47. Places used for bear-baiting, cock-fighting, &c.

48. Commissioners empowered to authorize superintendents of police to enter gaming houses.

49. Proof of gaming for money, &c. not necessary in support of informations for gaming.

50. Penalty on pawnbrokers receiving pledges from persons under the age of sixteen.

51. Empowering the Commissioners of Police to regulate the route and conduct of persons driving stage carriages, cattle, &c. during the hours of divine service.

APPEND.-VOL. XVII.-STAT.

a

52. Regulations for preventing obstructions in the streets during public processions, &c.

53. Proprietors of stage carriages not liable to penalties for deviating from route.

54. Prohibition of nuisances by persons in the thoroughfares.

55. Cannon, &c. not to be fired near dwelling houses.

56. Dog-carts, &c. prohibited after 1st of January 1840.

57. Street musicians to depart when desired so to do.

58. Drunkards guilty of riotous or indecent behaviour may be imprisoned.

59. Persons using carriages without driver's consent liable to penalty.

60. Prohibition of other nuisances.

61. Mad dogs, &c.

62. Compensation for hurt or damage not exceeding 10l.

63. Constables may apprehend any offender whose name and residence is not known.

64. Constables may apprehend without warrant in certain cases.

65. Persons charged with recent assaults may be apprehended without warrant.

66. Power to police constables and persons aggrieved to apprehend certain offenders. 67. Removing furniture to evade rent.

68. Horses, carriages, &c. of offenders may be detained.

69. Persons apprehended without warrant to be taken to the station house.

70. Power to take recognizances at station houses on petty charges.

71. Power to bind over persons making charges.

72. Condition of recognizance.

73. Penalty for offences for which no penalty is appointed.

74. Not to repeal local Acts containing penalties.

75. Meaning of the word Magistrate.

76. Offences how to be tried.

77. If penalty is not paid the offender may be committed.

78. Interpretation clause.

79. This Act to be construed with 10 Geo. 4. c. 44.

80. Act may be altered this session.

By this ACT,

After reciting that an Act was passed, 10 Geo. 4. c. 44, intituled, An Act for improving the Police in and near the Metropolis,' for the purpose of establishing a new and more efficient system of police in the room of the inadequate local establishments of nightly watch and nightly police, within the limits in the said Act specified, therein called "The Metropolitan Police District:" And that the system of police established under the said Act hath been found very efficient, and may be yet further improved :—

It is Enacted,

I. That so much of an Act, 29 Geo. 2. c. 25, intituled, 'An Act for appointing a sufficient Number of Constables for the Service of the City and Liberty of Westminster, and to compel proper Persons to take upon them the Office of Jurymen, to prevent Nuisances and other Offences within the said City and Liberty,' or of any other Act, as requires or authorizes the appointment of any constables or high constable at any court leet, shall be repealed from the passing of this Act.

And after reciting that by the said Act, 10 Geo. 4. c. 44, Her Majesty is empowered, by the advice of her Privy Council, to order that any parishes, townships, precincts, and places, whether parochial or extra-parochial, in the counties of Middlesex, Surrey, Hertford, Essex, and Kent, of which any part shall be situated within twelve miles of Charing Cross in the city of Westminster, shall be added to and form part of the Metropolitan Police district: And that the boundary of the district so formed is very irregular :

It is Enacted,

II. That it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by the advice of her Privy Council, to order that any place which is part of the Central Criminal Court district, except the city of London and liberties thereof, and such places as are or may be included in any Act already passed or to be passed in this session of Parliament, intituled, An Act for regulating the Police in the City of London,' and also that any part of any parish, township, precinct, or place which is not more than fifteen miles distant from Charing Cross in a straight line may be added to and form part of the Metropolitan Police district, although the whole of such parish, township, place, or precinct may not be added thereunto; and all the provisions of this Act, and of the said Act as amended by this Act, shall extend and apply to the parishes, townships, precincts, or places, or the parts thereof, so respectively added; and in case no separate rate shall be levied for the relief of the poor in any place or part so added, the police rate shall be assessed and levied therein in like manner as in extra-parochial places within the Metropolitan Police district in which no rate is levied for the relief of the poor.

III. That in every case in which after the passing of this Act any parish, township, precinct, or place, or any part thereof, shall become part of the Metropolitan Police district, it shall be lawful for the Lord High Treasurer or three or more Commis sioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, by warrant under their hands and seals, to direct the issue, out of the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, of an additional yearly sum not greater in each case than the amount of 2d. in the pound upon the additional rental assessed to the Metropolitan Police by reason of such addition free of all rates, taxes, and impositions to be paid and applied in aid of the charge of maintaining the police of the metropolis upon the same conditions with respect to the district so added to the Metropolitan Police district, as the issue of a sum not exceeding 60,0001. out of the said Consolidated Fund is authorized, with respect to the parishes and places already within the Metropolitan Police

district, by an Act, 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 89, intituled, ‘An Act to authorize the Issue of a Sum of Money out of the Consolidated Fund towards the Support of the Metropolitan Police; and every parish, township, precinct, or place, or any part thereof, within the counties last aforesaid, which at any time shall be part of the Metropolitan Police district, shall be within all the provisions of the last-recited Act as amended by this Act.

IV. That an Act, 6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 50, intituled, An Act to authorize the placing of the Horse Patrol now acting under the Authority of the Chief Magistrate of the Public Office in Bow Street under the Authority of the Justices appointed for the Metropolitan Police District,' is hereby repealed; but notwithstanding the repeal of the said Act it shall be lawful for Her Majesty to appoint the Justices appointed and to be appointed under the said Act, 10 Geo. 4. c. 44. to be Justices of the Peace for the counties of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, although they may not be qualified by estate; and the said Justices shall be empowered to act as Justices in the last-mentioned counties as fully as in any other part of the Metropolitan Police district, and not further or otherwise, and shall be styled “The Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis."

v. That the constables belonging to the Metropolitan Police Force shall have all the powers and privileges of a constable in the counties of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, and upon the River Thames within or adjoining to the several counties of Middlesex, Surrey, Berkshire, Essex, and Kent, and within or adjoining to the city of London and the liberties thereof, and in and on the several creeks, inlets, and waters, docks, wharfs, quays, and landing places, thereto adjacent, and shall act therein and thereupon, as fully as in any part of the Metropolitan Police district.

VI. That it shall be lawful for the Lord High Treasurer or three or more Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, by warrant under their bands and seals, to direct the issue out of the Consolidated Fund of Great Britain and Ireland to the receiver of the Metropolitan Police district of a yearly sum, not greater than 20,000l., free of all rates, taxes, and impositions, for defraying the increased charge of the establishment of the Metropolitan Police Force by reason of that force being required to perform the duties heretofore performed by the horse patrol, and by the surveyors and constables of the Thames Police, and also the issue of such further sum as shall be needed for the payment of the superannuation allowances of such surveyors and constables as have been superannuated under the provisions of an Act, 3 Geo. 4, or any subsequent Act for the more effectual administration of the office of a Justice of the Peace in and near the metropolis, or who may hereafter become entitled to superannuation allowances under the provisions of any such Act.

VII. That it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners to administer to any constable bolonging to the Metropolitan Police force an oath to execute the office of constable within the royal palaces of Her Majesty and ten miles thereof; and every constable who shall be so sworn shall have the powers and privileges of a constable within the said royal palaces and ten miles thereof.

VIII. That it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners of Police, if they shall think fit, on the application of any person or persons shewing the necessity thereof to, appoint and swear any additional number of constables to keep the peace at any place within the Metropolitan Police district, at the charge of the person or persons by whom the application shall be made, but subject to the orders of the said Commissioners, and for such time as they shall think fit; and every such constable shall have all the powers, privileges, and duties of other constables belonging to the Metropolitan Police Force: Provided always, that it shall be lawful for the person or persons on whose application such appointment shall have been made, upon giving one calendar month's notice in writing to the Commissioners, to require that the constables so appointed shall be discontinued, and thereupon the Commissioners shall discontinue such additional constables; and all monies received on account of any such additional constables shall be paid to the receiver of the Metropolitan Police, and shall be accounted for by him in like manner as other monies receivable by him.

IX. That, in addition to the returns relating to the Metropolitan Police which by former Acts are required to be laid annually before Parliament, there shall also be laid annually before both Houses of Parliament, together with such returns, a statement of the total number of persons belonging to the Metropolitan Police Force on the 1st of January of the year in which each return is laid before Parliament, distinguishing the number of persons in each class or rank of such force, with the salaries and allowances enjoyed by each class.

x. That no toll shall be demanded or taken on any turnpike road or bridge for any horse or police van passing along such road or bridge in the service of the Metropolitan Police, provided that the rider of such borse or driver of such van sball have his dress and accoutrements according to the regulations of the Police Force at the time of claiming the exemption; and every person who shall fraudulently claim or take the benefit of the exemption from toll herein contained, not being lawfully entitled thereunto, shall for every such offence be liable to a penalty not more than 51.; and in all such cases the proof of exemption shall be upon the person claiming the same.

XI. That the said Commissioners of Police shall take care that a sufficient number of constables belonging to the Metropolitan Police Force shall be in attendance upon every magistrate sitting at any police court within the limits of the Metropolitan Police district, and at every other criminal court holden within the said district, for the purpose of executing such summonses and warrants as may be directed to them.

XII. That after the passing of this Act all summonses and warrants to be issued in any criminal proceeding within the Metropolitan Police district, or by any magistrate within the said district, shall be served and executed by a constable of the Metropolitan Police Force, and by none other.

XIII. That when any warrant shall be directed or delivered to any of the said constables, unless it be necessary for the due execution thereof that such warrant be executed without delay, the constable shall deliver the same to the superintendent or other bis superior officer belonging to the Metropolitan Police Force, who shall appoint, by indorsement thereon, one or more constables to execute the same; and every constable whose name shall be so indorsed shall have the same powers, privileges, and protections for and in the execution of such warrant as if the same had been originally directed to him or them by name. XIV. That every constable who shall be guilty of any neglect or violation of duty in his office of constable shall be liable

to a penalty not more than 107., the amount of which penalty may be deducted from any salary then due to such offender, or, in the discretion of the magistrate, may be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, for any time not more than one calendar month.

xv. That no constable belonging to the Metropolitan Police Force shall be at liberty to resign his office, or to withdraw himself from the duties thereof, unless expressly allowed so to do, in writing, by the superintendent under whom he may be placed, or unless he shall give to such superintendent one calendar month's notice of his intention; and every constable who shall so resign or withdraw himself without such leave or notice shall be liable to forfeit all arrears of pay then due to him or to a penalty not more than 51.

XVI. That every constable belonging to the Metropolitan Police Force who shall be dismissed from or shall cease to hold and exercise his office, and who shall not forthwith deliver over all the clothing, accoutrements, appointments, and other necessaries which may have been supplied to him for the execution of his duty, to the superintendent, or to such person and at such time and place as shall be directed by the said superintendent, shall be liable to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for any time not exceeding one calendar month; and it shall be lawful for any Justice of the Peace to issue his warrant to search for and seize to the use of Her Majesty all the clothing, accoutrements, appointments, and other necessaries which shall not be so delivered over, wherever the same may be found.

XVII. That every person, not being a constable of the Metropolitan Police Force who shall have in his possession any article being part of the clothing, accoutrements, or appointments supplied to any such constable, and who shall not be able satisfactorily to account for his possession thereof, or who shall put on the dress or take the name, designation, or character of any person appointed as such constable, for the purpose of thereby obtaining admission into any house or other place, or of doing or procuring to be done any act which such person would not be entitled to do or procure to be done of his own authority, or for any other unlawful purpose, shall, in addition to any other punishment to which he may be liable for such offence, be liable to a penalty not more than 10l.

XVIII. That every person who shall assault or resist any person belonging to the Metropolitan Police Force in the execution of his duty, or who shall aid or incite any person so to assault or resist, shall for every such offence be liable to a penalty not more than 51., or, in the discretion of the magistrate before whom he shall be convicted, may be imprisoned for any time not more than one calendar month.

XIX. That no office or employment in the Metropolitan Police Force shall prevent the bolder thereof from receiving any half pay to which, if he did not hold such office or employment, he might be or become entitled.

xx. That, instead of the salary heretofore payable to the said Commissioners of Police, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty to direct that a salary not exceeding the rate of 1,2001. by the year shall be paid quarterly to each of the said Commissioners out of the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

XXI. That the said Commissioners of Police, and also the surgeon, receiver, and clerks employed in the Metropolitan Police Office, are within the provisions of an Act, 4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 24, intituled An Act to alter, amend, and consolidate the Laws for regulating the Pensions, Compensations, and Allowances to be made to persons in respect of their having held Civil Offices in His Majesty's Service;' and that the clerks and officers who were appointed to the said office in the year 1829 shall be deemed to have been employed therein before the 4th of August in that year.

XXII. That there shall be deducted from the pay of every constable belonging to the Metropolitan Police Force a sum after such yearly rate as the Secretary of State shall direct, not being a greater rate than 27. 10s. in 100l., which sum so deducted, and also the monies accruing from stoppages from any of the said constables during sickness, and fines imposed on any of the said constables for misconduct, and from any portion of the fines imposed by any magistrate upon drunken persons, or for assaults upon police constables, as shall be directed to be paid to the receiver for the benefit of this fund, and all monies arising from the sale of worn or cast clothing supplied for the use of the police, shall from time to time be invested in government stock by and in the name of the receiver, and the interest and dividends thereof, or so much of the same as shall not be required for the purposes hereinafter mentioned, shall be likewise invested in such stock, and accumulate so as to form a fund to be called "The Police Superannuation Fund," and shall be applied from time to time for payment of such superannuation or retiring allowances or gratuities as may be ordered by the Secretary of State at any time to any of the said constables as hereinafter provided.

XXIII. That it shall be lawful for the Secretary of State to order that any of the said constables may be superannuated, and receive thereupon out of the Police Superannuation Fund a yearly allowance, subject to the following conditions, and not exceeding the following proportions; that is to say, if he shall have served with diligence and fidelity for fifteen years, and less than twenty years, an annual sum not more than half his pay; if for twenty years or upwards an annual sum not more than two-thirds of his pay: Provided, that if he shall be under sixty years of age it shall not be lawful to grant any such allowance, unless upon the certificate of the said Commissioners of Police that he is incapable, from infirmity of mind or body, to discharge the duties of his office; provided also, that if any constable shall be disabled by any wound or injury received in the actual execution of the duty of his office, it shall be lawful to grant to him any allowance not more than the whole of his pay; but nothing herein contained shall be construed to entitle any constable absolutely to any superannuation allowance, or to prevent him from being dismissed without superannuation allowance.

And after reciting that it is expedient to amend and simplify the laws now in force relating to depredations committed on the River Thames, and in the docks and creeks adjacent thereto;

It is Enacted,

XXIV. That from the passing of this Act, an Act, 2 Geo. 3. c. 28, intituled An Act to prevent the committing of Thefts and Frauds by Persons navigating Bum-boats and other Boats upon the River Thames,' shall be repealed.