METROPOLITAN CARRIAGES ACT, 1850. (13 & 14 VICT. c. 7.) An Act for consolidating the Office of the Registrar of Metropolitan Public Carriages with the Office of Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis, and making other Provisions in regard to the Consolidated Offices. [25th March, 1850.] 2. And be it enacted, That all the jurisdiction, powers, autho- Duties of rities, privileges, interests, and duties now vested in or exercised abolished by the office of registrar of metropolitan public carriages hereby office transabolished shall be transferred to and vested in and shall hereafter ferred to Combe exercised by the Commissioners of Police of the metropolis, in missioners of as full and ample a manner to all intents and purposes as they were vested in and might have been exercised by the said registrar of metropolitan public carriages. Police. 3. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Commis- Retiring sioners of her Majesty's Treasury, and they are hereby empowered, allowances to grant such retiring allowances and compensation as under the may be circumstances of the case they may deem reasonable and proper to granted to any officer or person who may be deprived of his office or employment, or be suspended under the provisions of this Act; and all such retiring allowances and compensations shall be paid by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue out of any moneys to arise from any of the duties under their care and management. officers whose office abolished. 4. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Com- Standings for missioners of Police from time to time to appoint standings for hackney hackney carriages at such places as they shall think convenient in carriages to any street, thoroughfare, or place of public resort within the be appointed. Metropolitan Police District, any law, statute, or custom to the contrary thereof notwithstanding, and at their discretion to alter the same, and from time to time to make regulations concerning the boundaries of the same, and the number of carriages to be allowed at any such standing, and the times at and during which they may stand and ply for hire at any such standing, and also from time to time to make such regulations as the said Commissioners shall deem proper for enforcing order at every such standing, and for removing any person who shall unnecessarily loiter or remain at or about any such standing; and the said Commissioners shall cause all the orders and regulations to be made by them as aforesaid to be advertised in the London Gazette, and a copy thereof, signed by one of the said Commissioners, to be hung up for public inspection in the office of the Commissioners of Police in the City of Westminster and at each of the police courts, and such copy shall be received in evidence in the said courts as if it were the original of which it purports to be a copy, and shall be taken to be a true copy of such original order or regulation, without further proof than the signature of the said Commissioner. 7. And be it enacted, That all things herein authorized to be done One Police by the Commissioners of Police of the metropolis shall be done by Commissioner such one of the said Commissioners as one of her Majesty's prin- may act. This Act to be construed with 6 & 7 Vict. c. 86. cipal secretaries of state shall from time to time be pleased to appoint. 8. And be it enacted, That this Act shall be construed as one Act with the said Act passed in the seventh year of the reign of her Majesty Queen Victoria, intituled An Act for regulating Hackney and Stage Carriages in and near London, and that all the provisions of the said Act, except so far as is herein otherwise provided, shall extend to this Act, and to all things done in execution of this Act. Persons desirous of obtaining a licence to keep a hackney carriage, &c. to make application to Commissioners of Police, who, if carriage is found fit, shall grant a certificate. HACKNEY AND STAGE CARRIAGES (LONDON) ACT, 1853. (16 & 17 VICT. c. 33.) An Act for the better Regulation of Metropolitan Stage and 1. From and after the first day of October next every person desirous of obtaining a licence to keep, use, and let to hire any metropolitan stage or hackney carriage within the limits of this Act must apply in writing to the Commissioners of Police of the metropolis, in order that they may cause an inspection to be made of every carriage to be kept, used, or let to hire by virtue of such licence, and upon such application the said Commissioners shall cause an inspection to be made of every such carriage, and if such carriage or carriages shall be found by the said Commissioners to be in a fit and proper condition for public use they shall grant a certificate to that effect, and shall specify in such certificate the number of persons to be carried in and by such carriage, in the form given in Schedule (B.) to this Act annexed, and upon production of such certificate at the office of the Board of Inland Revenue, a licence No licence to shall be granted; but it shall not be lawful for the said Board of be granted by Inland Revenue to grant or issue any licence for any metropolitan Board of In- stage or hackney carriage, within the limits of this Act, unless the person applying for the same shall produce such certificate as aforesaid. land Revenue without such certificate. Commissioners of Police may cause carriages, &c. to be in 2. It shall be lawful for the said Commissioners of Police to cause an inspection to be made, as often as they deem it necessary, of all metropolitan stage and hackney carriages, and of the horse or horses used in drawing the same, within the limits of this Act; and if any such carriage, or the horse or horses used in drawing the same, shall at any time be in a condition unfit for public use, spected, and the said Commissioners shall give notice in writing accordingly to if not in fit the proprietor thereof, which notice shall be personally served on condition may such proprietor, or delivered at his usual place of residence; and suspend if, after notice as aforesaid, any proprietor shall use or let to hire licences, and recall Stamp such carriage as a metropolitan stage or hackney carriage, or use or Office plate. let to hire such horse or horses whilst in a condition unfit for public use, the said Commissioners shall have power to suspend, for such time as they may deem proper, the licence of the proprietor of such carriage, and to recall and take away the Stamp Office plate belonging to the same, and to retain the same during the suspension of such licence; and a notice shall be given to the Board of Notice to be Inland Revenue, according to the form in the Schedule (C.) to this given to InAct annexed, in every case by the said Commissioners of the sus- land Revenue. pension of any such licence, and of the time for which it is suspended. 3. Every proprietor or driver of a metropolitan stage or hackney Penalty for carriage who shall use or let to hire within the limits of this Act using carriage any carriage as a metropolitan stage or hackney carriage which not in fit has not been certified by the said Commissioners of Police to be in condition. a fit and proper condition for public use, or who shall use or let to hire within the limits of this Act any carriage as a metropolitan stage or hackney carriage for which such a certificate had been granted, after notice given to him as hereinbefore required by the said Commissioners that such carriage was no longer in a fit and proper condition for public use, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding three pounds for each day that he shall so use or let to hire such carriage. 4. The proprietor or driver of any hackney carriage within the As to rates limits of this Act shall be entitled to demand and take for the hire and fares to of such carriage the fares set forth in the Schedule (A.) to this Act be taken for annexed: Provided always, that when the proprietor or driver of hackney any hackney carriage to be paid a fare calculated according to the carriages. distance shall be required by the hirer thereof to stop such carriage for fifteen minutes, or for any longer time, it shall be lawful for the proprietor or driver to demand and receive from the hirer so requiring him to stop a further sum (above the fare to which he shall be entitled, calculated according to the distance) of sixpence for every fifteen minutes completed that he shall have been so stopped; and no proprietor or driver shall demand or receive over No back fare and above the said fare any sum, for or by way of back fare, for to be taken or the return of such carriage from the place at which such carriage demanded. shall be discharged. 5. The proprietor of every hackney carriage within the limits of this Act shall put up, and at all times keep, distinctly painted or marked, in such a manner and in such a position as shall be directed by the said Commissioners of Police, both on the inside and outside of such hackney carriage, the amount of fare according to distance and time which may legally be demanded and taken from the hirer of such carriage; and the driver of every hackney carriage within the limits of this Act shall have with him at all times when plying for hire a book or table in such form as shall be directed by the said Commissioners of Police of the fares for the hire of such carriage, which book or table the driver shall produce when required for the information of any person hiring or intending to hire such carriage. Table of fares to be put up distinctly inside and outside of hackney carriages. Driver to of fares when produce book required. As to settlement of disputes as to distances. As to distance Driver to deliver a ticket to hirer of carriage. Number of persons to be carried to be painted or marked on hackney carriage. As to quantity of luggage to be carried without extra charge. Property left in hackney carriages to be deposited at the police office. Penalty on driver for default. 6. In case of disputes as to the fare to be calculated according to the distance, any table or book signed by the said Commissioners of Police shall, on proof of such signature, be deemed and taken to be conclusive evidence of all the distances therein stated to have been measured by the authority of the said Commissioners of Police; and it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners to cause to be placed or erected at the several standings for hackney carriages or elsewhere within the Metropolitan District, as they may deem convenient, tables of distances and fares, and such other information as may be useful to persons hiring such carriage. 7. The driver of every hackney carriage which shall ply for hire at any place within the limits of this Act shall (unless such driver have a reasonable excuse, to be allowed by the justice before whom the matter shall be brought in question,) drive such hackney carriage to any place to which he shall be required by the hirer thereof to drive the same, not exceeding six miles from the place where the same shall have been hired, or for any time not exceeding one hour from the time when hired: Provided always, that when any hackney carriage shall have been hired by time, the driver thereof may be required to drive at any rate not exceeding four miles within one hour, and if the driver of such carriage shall be required to drive more than four miles within one hour, then in every such case the driver thereof shall be entitled to demand, in addition to the fare regulated by time in Schedule (A.) to this Act annexed, for every mile or any part thereof exceeding four miles, the fare regulated by distance as set forth in the same schedule. 8. Every driver of a hackney carriage within the limits of this Act shall, on each occasion when such carriage shall be hired, deliver to the hirer thereof a card, on which shall be printed, in legible letters and figures, the words "hackney carriage," and the number of the Stamp Office plate fixed on such hackney carriage, or such other words or figures as the said Commissioners of Police may direct. 9. The proprietor of every hackney carriage within the limits of this Act shall put up and at all times keep distinctly painted or marked on such carriage, in such a manner and in such a position as shall be directed by the said Commissioners of Police, the number of persons to be carried thereby as specified in the certificate granted by the said Commissioners for such hackney carriage, and the driver of any such hackney carriage shall, if required by the hirer thereof, carry in and by such carriage the number of persons painted or marked thereon, or any less number of persons. 10. The driver of every hackney carriage within the limits of this Act shall carry in or upon such carriage a reasonable quantity of luggage for every person hiring such carriage without any additional charge, except as provided in Schedule (A.) to this Act annexed. 11. The driver of every hackney carriage within the limits of this Act wherein any property shall be left by any person shall within twenty-four hours carry such property, if not sooner claimed by the owner thereof, in the state in which he shall find the same, to the nearest police station, and shall there deposit and leave the same with the inspector or other officer on duty, upon pain that every such driver making any default herein shall be liable to a penalty not more than ten pounds, or at the discretion of the magistrate may be imprisoned for any time not exceeding one month; and the said officer with whom any such property shall be deposited shall forthwith enter in a book to be kept for that purpose the description of such property, and the name and address of the driver who shall bring the same, and the day on which it shall be brought; and the property so entered shall be returned to the person who shall prove, to the satisfaction of the Commissioners of Police, that the same belonged to him, such person previously paying all expenses incurred, together with such reasonable sum to the driver who brought the same as the said Commissioners shall award: Provided always, that if such property shall not be claimed Property not by and proved to belong to some person within one year after the claimed to be same shall have been deposited, the said Commissioners shall cause disposed of. such property to be sold or otherwise disposed of, and the proceeds thereof to be paid over to the Receiver-General of Inland Revenue, to be carried to the public account, all expenses incurred about such property, together with such reasonable sum to the driver who brought the same as the said Commissioners shall award, being first paid thereout; and all property left by any passenger in any metro- Penalty on politan stage carriage shall be given up to the conductor of such refusing or carriage, or, if there be no conductor, to the driver, upon pain of a neglecting to penalty of ten pounds, to be paid by any person refusing or neglect- give up proing to give up any such property belonging to another person; and perty left the conductor or driver of every such carriage to whom any such property shall be given up, or who shall himself find it in the carriage, shall within twenty-four hours carry the property, if not sooner claimed by the owner thereof, in the state in which he shall find the same to the nearest police station, and shall there deposit and leave the same with the inspector or other officer on duty, upon pain that every such driver or conductor making default herein shall be liable to a penalty not more than ten pounds, or at the discretion of the magistrate may be imprisoned for any time not exceeding one month; and the property so deposited by any conductor or driver shall be dealt with in the same manner as property left in hackney carriages and deposited by the drivers of such carriages. necessary; in stage carriages. 12. It shall be lawful for the said Commissioners of Police from Commistime to time to appoint a sufficient number of fit men to enforce sioners of good order at the standings for hackney carriages, and at the Police to places at which metropolitan stage carriages or hackney carriages appoint pershall call or ply for passengers, and at such places of public resort sons to enforce within the metropolitan police district as they may deem good order and the said Commissioners may from time to time make such at hackney carriage orders and regulations as they shall deem expedient, subject to the approval of one of her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State given in writing relative to the duties to be performed by such persons and the places at which each shall act; provided that the said Commissioners shall not have authority to appoint any such person to act within or upon the premises belonging to any railway company unless with the consent of the directors of the company. wages stands, &c. Commis 13. The said Commissioners of Police, subject to the approbation Power to of the Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury, shall appoint to be paid to the said persons appointed by them to keep good order sioners, with at the standings for hackney carriages and at the places at which metropolitan stage carriages or hackney carriages shall call or ply consent of Treasury, to pay wages to |