THE STATUTES-REVISED EDITION. 11 GEORGE III. A.D. 1770-1. STATUTES MADE AT THE PARLIAMENT BEGUN AND HOLDEN AT WESTMINSTER, THE TENTH DAY OF MAY, A.D. 1768, IN THE EIGHTH YEAR OF THE REIGN OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD, BEING THE FOURTH SESSION OF THE THIRTEENTH PARLIAMENT OF CHAPTER XXXI. AN ACT for the Encouragement of the White Herring Fishery. HEREAS the carrying on and improvement of the British White Preamble. Herring Fisheries are of great importance to these kingdoms, by increasing the trade and navigation thereof, and being a nursery for seamen, and otherwise a means of employing and providing for great numbers of industrious poor, provided that reasonable encouragement be given to such persons as are willing to carry on the said fisheries: Persons employed in the to have the said fisheries free use of all ports, harbours, &c. in Great Britain and the islands thereto be longing. [XI.] AND be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all and every person or persons employed in the said fisheries may fish in any part of the British Seas, and shall have and exercise the free use of all ports, harbours, shores, and forelands in Great Britain, or the islands belonging to the crown of Great Britain, below the highest high-water mark, and for the space of one hundred yards on any waste or uncultivated land beyond such mark, within the land, for landing their nets, casks, and other materials, utensils, and stores, and for erecting tents, huts, and stages, and for the landing, pickling, curing, and reloading their fish, and in drying their nets, without paying any foreland or other dues, or any other sum or sums of money, or other consideration whatsoever, for such liberty (except as hereinafter is excepted), any law, statute, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding And if any person or persons shall presume to demand or receive any dues, sums of money, or other consideration whatsoever, for the use of any such ports, harbours, shores, or forelands, within the limits aforesaid, or shall obstruct the fishermen, or other persons employed in the taking or curing of fish, or drying their nets, in the use of the same, every person so offending shall, for every such offence, forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds, to be Offenders to recovered and levied in manner herein-after directed. VOL. III. A forfeit 1007. [XII.] PROVIDED always, that nothing in this Act contained shall extend dues for artifi- to exempt the vessels or boats employed in the said fisheries from the pay Saving as to cial harbours or piers. Penalty to be determined by bill or information. ment of such harbour or pier duties as are, and by the law ought to be, demanded for ships, vessels, or boats, in piers or harbours which are built or artificially made, but that such harbour or pier dues shall be paid in like manner as the same were liable to be paid before the passing of this Act. [XIII.] AND be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the penalty herein-before mentioned shall and may be prosecuted and determined by bill, plaint, or information, in any of his Majesty's courts of record at Westminster, or in the Court of Exchequer in Scotland respectively; wherein no essoin, protection, privilege, wager of law, or more than one imparlance, shall be allowed; and one moiety of such penalty shall be to the use of his Majesty, and the other moiety to such person or persons as will sue for and prosecute the same. Preamble. Bounties CHAPTER LII. AN ACT for repairing, amending, and supporting the several Harbours and Sea Most Gracious Sovereign, WE HEREAS the Isle of Man, from its situation in the middle of Saint George's Channel, affords a convenient refuge for ships, in case of sudden and cross gales of wind, which frequently happen in those narrow seas, and therefore the preservation of your Majesty's ships, and the interest of trade and navigation in general, require that the several sea ports and harbours thereof, now vested in your Majesty, should be maintained and supported in proper condition and repair: ** [IV.] AND whereas by the said last-recited Act, made in the seventh year of the reign of his present Majesty, [a] the several and respective bounties or sums of money therein mentioned were directed to be paid for the boats employed in the herring fishery upon the coasts of the said island, and to the manufacturers of linen cloth there, by his Majesty's receiver-general in the said Isle of Man, or his deputy, out of the duties of ten shillings payable to his Majesty in the said isle for and upon every boat or other vessel employed in the said herring fishery, and out of the money arising to his Majesty from the several bay fisheries of the said island: And whereas scarcely more than onetenth part of the fishermen of the said island have complied with the terms under which the said bounties were granted, nor have they produced any advantage to the manufactures of the said island, so that the same have proved of no effect: Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the passing of this present Act all the said several and respective admiral, &c. of bounties shall wholly cease, determine, and be no longer paid to any of the the herring persons in the said last-recited Act mentioned, (save and except the several to determine, except those allowed to the fishery and water bailiff, &c. [a i.e., 7 Geo. 3. c. 45., which is rep., 6 Geo. 4. c. 105.] and respective bounties or sums of money thereby directed to be allowed and paid to the admiral and to the vice-admiral of the said herring fishery, for each season, and to the water bailiff of the said island, or his deputy, for their superintendance and inspection thereof); and that the said duties of ten shillings payable to his Majesty in the said isle for and upon every boat or other vessel employed in the said herring fishery, and also all the money arising to his Majesty from the several bay fisheries of the said island, after allowance made of the said last-mentioned bounties, and of the usual and necessary charges attending the levying and collecting the said monies, shall be applied by his Majesty's receiver-general in the Isle of Man, or his deputy, to the repair and support of the said harbours, according to the true intent and meaning of this Act, and to no other use or purpose; any thing in the said last-recited Act to the contrary notwithstanding. How the monies arising from the bay fisheries, &c. are to be applied. how to be elected. [V.] AND for the better collecting and disposing the several sums of Commissioners money and duties hereby made payable, and regulating the repairs and support of the said harbours, be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the persons herein-after named for that purpose shall be, and are hereby nominated and appointed commissioners, and authorised, from time to time, to put this Act in execution; that is to say, his Majesty's receiver-general in the Isle of Man, his deputy, the collector, comptroller, and searcher of the port of Douglas, the deputy, water bailiffs, of each of the other ports of Derby, Haven, Peel, and Ramsay respectively, for the time being, together with four creditable and substantial merchants; that is to say, one for and belonging to each of the four principal ports of the said isle before mentioned, to be elected by the officers aforesaid, or the major part of them, which said merchants, so elected, shall also be commissioners for the purposes aforesaid, for and during the term of three years, to be computed from the respective times of their election; and on the expiration of the said term, or on the death or resignation of any of them, the rest of the said commissioners, or the major part of them, shall, from time to time, upon the first Monday in the month of October in each year, elect another fit merchant or merchants, of or belonging to the said ports respectively, in his or their stead, to continue in like manner in such office or trust, and to have like power and authority as the person in whose stead he was so elected, for and during the term of three years respectively from such election: Which said commissioners, or the major part of them, (of whom his Commissioners Majesty's receiver-general in the Isle of Man, or his deputy for the time being, laws and to make byeshall always be one,) shall have full power and authority, and are hereby em- regulations. powered and authorised to make such bye-laws, orders, and regulations, from time to time, to bind all ships and vessels arriving at or coming into any of the harbours in the said isle, and all masters or other persons having the rule, management, or command of such ships or vessels, and to annex such reasonable penalties as the said commissioners, in their discretion, shall think fit, so as such bye-laws, orders, and regulations be made agreeable to the true intent and meaning of this Act, and be for the better putting in execution and effecting the purposes thereof; and also for the better regulating ships or vessels, with respect to their lying, mooring, or ballasting, in the said harbours, and for preventing the throwing any sorts of rubbish therein, or doing any annoyance to the same, and so as they do not contain any thing repugnant to to contract for repairing the harbours. Commissioners the laws of this realm: And it shall and may be lawful for the said comwith workmen missioners, or the major part of them, (of whom his Majesty's receiver-general in the Isle of Man, or his deputy for the time being, shall always be one,) from time to time, to contract and agree with any workmen, artificers, masons, or other persons, bona fide, for the making and doing all or any part of the works necessary for the maintaining, repairing, cleansing, enlarging, or improving all or any of the said harbours, or for timber, stones, and other materials necessary for the purposes of this Act, or for making any additional works, or any landmarks, sea marks, or other directions they shall judge to be requisite for the greater safety of ships coming into any of the said harbours. All sums to be applied towards repairing the harbours. On Oct. 10, annually, receiver-general to present to the commissioners a full account of all receipts and disbursements. Receiver- All officers, [VIII.] AND be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all and every sum and sums of money which shall be raised, levied, collected, and received by the duties aforesaid, and for any the forfeitures or penalties to be recovered by virtue of this Act, other than so much thereof as shall be laid out and allowed to the collector or other necessary officer for the collecting and managing the said duty, and for the necessary charges of recovering the same, shall be, by the said commissioners, or the major part of them, of whom his Majesty's receiver-general in the Isle of Man, or his deputy for the time being, shall always be one, applied and disposed of to and for the repairing, securing, preserving, and maintaining the said harbours, according to the true intent and meaning of this Act, and to no other use, intent, or purpose whatsoever, save and except as herein-after is excepted; * [XI.] AND be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that on the tenth day of October in every year the said receiver-general shall draw up, or cause to be drawn up, and shall present to the said commissioners, a full account of all the receipts and disbursements of and for each particular port and harbour in the said island, and also a particular account of the true state and condition of the same respectively, and of the several piers and works thereto belonging; which said account the said commissioners, or three of them at the least, shall sign and transmit, with such observations thereon as they shall judge to be necessary, to the commissioners of the Treasury, or the high treasurer for the time being; and it shall and may be lawful for such receiver-general, for his trouble and expence in the execution of this Act, and for providing a person to inspect and superintend the said ports and harbours, to charge in his accounts, and the said receiver-general shall be allowed thereupon, any sum not exceeding the sum of thirty pounds in any one year, out of the several sums so levied and collected as aforesaid. [XII.] AND be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the aforesaid commissioners, the said receiver-general, and all other officers whatsoever, employed by virtue of this Act in collecting, receiving, or disbursing any sum or sums of money for the repairing or maintaining the said harbours, or in superintending or surveying the same, shall respectively take an oath previous to their intermeddling with any such office or employment, for the due and faithful execution and discharge thereof, according to the powers vested in them by virtue of this Act, before any one or more of the deemsters, or civil magistrates of the said island, who is and are hereby authorised and required to administer the same without fee or reward. for recovery of penalties to be tried by the water bailiff. [XIV.] AND be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all All actions actions, suits, or informations which shall or may be brought or commenced commenced for the recovery of any forfeitures and penalties incurred by virtue of this present Act, or for any other matter or thing relating to the execution thereof, shall be brought, prosecuted, tried, heard, and determined in the court of his Majesty's water bailiff of the said island, according to the accustomed course of that court; and in case either of the parties conceive themselves to be aggrieved, it shall and may be lawful for such person to appeal in the usual manner to the Court of Chancery of the said island. AN ACT for widening the Highways in that part of Great Britain called Scotland. [a] HEREAS by an Act of the Parliament of Scotland, passed in the year Preamble. one thousand six hundred and sixty-nine, and intituled "Act for repairing highways and bridges," it is enacted, that the said highways shall be twenty feet of measure broad at least, or broader, if the same have been so before: And whereas by the law of Scotland, the making, repairing, and keeping in repair, the highways, roads, and bridges within that part of the United Kingdom are put under the direction and management of the justices of peace, and commissioners of supply, within the several shires and stewartries respectively, (except in such cases where turnpike roads have, under the authority of special Acts of Parliament, been made, and tolls granted therefore, and the same by such Acts put under the management and direction of certain justices or commissioners by these Acts named and appointed And whereas many inconveniencies and frequent obstructions to the free passage of the publick and most frequented highways and roads have been occasioned by the narrowness of these highways and roads: And whereas it would be of great publick benefit to that part of the United Kingdom that the justices of peace, and commissioners of supply, in each shire and stewartry respectively, and the trustees and commissioners of turnpike roads. established by special Acts of Parliament, were impowered to widen and extend the highways and roads under their respective managements, whereever they saw necessary occasion for so doing: May it therefore please your Majesty that it may be enacted, and be it enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that the justices of peace, and commissioners of supply, commissioners for the respective shires and stewartries, and the commissioners and trustees of supply, for of turnpike roads established by special Acts of Parliament, within that the shires and part of Great Britain called Scotland, shall have power, and they are hereby stewartries, [a Rep., so far as relates to turnpike roads, 1 & 2 Will. 4. c. 43. s. 1.] Justices, and to make, |