London Hackney Carriage Act 1831

XLIX Property left in Hackney Carriages to be deposited at the Stamp Office. Penalty 20l. Property not claimed within a Year to be delivered up to the Driver, if applied for ; if not, to be sold.

And be it enacted, That the Driver of every Hackney Carriage wherein any Property whatever shall be left by any Person hiring the same shall, within Four Days next after the same shall have been so left, carry such Property, in the State in which he shall find the same, to the Head Office for Stamps in the City of Westminster, and shall there deposit and leave the same with the proper Officer to be appointed by the Commissioners of Stamps for that Purpose, upon pain that every such Driver making any Default herein shall forfeit Twenty Pounds; and the said Officer with whom any such Property shall be deposited shall forthwith enter in a Book to be kept at the said Office 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 if shall be brought; and the Property so entered shall be returned to the Person who shall prove, to the Satisfaction of the said Commissioners, that the same belonged to him, such Person previously paying all Expences incurred, together with such reasonable Sum to the Driver who brought the same as with Preference to the Value of the Property in question the said Commissioners shall award: Provided always, that if such Property shall not be claimed by and proved to belong to some Person within One Year after the same shall have been deposited, (the same having been advertized in such Manner as the said Commissioners may direct,) such Property shall be delivered up to the Driver who brought and deposited the same, provided he shall apply for the same within One Calendar Month next after the Expiration of the said One Year ; and in default of such Application by the said Driver within the Time limited as aforesaid, the said Commissioners shall cause such Property to be sold or otherwise disposed of, and the Proceeds thereof to be paid over to the Receiver General of Stamp Duties, to be carried to the Public Account.