Receipt of Exchequer Act 1696

XII. Money to be kept in Chests under Three Locks.

Keys by whom to be kept.; No Debentures to be paid the same Day they are sent up to the Clerk of the Pells, except Orders for the Navy, &c.; Tellers to have Money left with them every Morning for satisfying Debentures for that Day.; Money received to be weighed, and then secured in the said Chests.; Payments not to be deferred.; Clerk of the Pells, &c. not attending, eldest Clerk, &c. to keep the Keys.; No Money to be taken out but in Presence of the Teller, &c.

And be it further enacted and declared by the Authority aforesaid That all the Money in the said Receipt shall be kept in Chests under Three different Locks with Keys to each Chest and that the Tellers or their Clerks respectively shall keep but One of the said Keys to each of the said Chests and that another Key of each Chest shall be kept by the Clerk of the Pells for the time being and that the other Key of each Chest shall be kept by the eldest of the Two Deputy Chamberlains who are imployed in the striking of Talleys for the time being and that no Orders or Debentures shall be paid the same Day in which they are sent upp from the Auditors Office to the Clerk of the Pells (except Orders for the Navy Ordnance Forces or for Moneys registred upon some of the publick Registers) to the end the Clerk of the Pells or his senior Clerk in his absence the Tellers or their Clerks and the Deputy Chamberlains may know att the opening of the Chest or Chests in the Morning what Money to take out for the Service of that Day and that the said Clerk of the Pells and Deputy Chamberlains every Morning (Sundays and Holydays excepted) att their first coming to the Exchequer shall go upp to the Tellers or their Clerks & having first taken notice of what Debentures or Orders are directed for Payment and lye ready to be satisfied shall forthwith cause the respective Chest or Chests to be opened in their presence and so much Money to be taken out and left with the Tellers or their Clerks as will satisfie the said Debentures or Orders so directed and ready to be satisfied and the rest to be safe locked upp again and that every Day before their departure they shall returne to the same Offices and see all the Money which was received that Day (except what shall have been paid away by Debentures or Orders) recorded with the Clerk of the Pells to be first weighed in the Bags that so it may be seen or guessed very neare whether the Teller or his Clerk putts in and takes out his Money truely and a Tickett expressing the Content to be putt into each Bagg and so to be secured in the said Chests under the Three Locks aforesaid and in case Money lockt upp in the said Chests be directed to be issued for the Navy Ordnance Forces or upon any of the said Publick Registers so that the Payments must not be deferred till the Chests [X1 are] opened the next Morning then the said Clerk of the Pells and Deputy Chamberlains upon such Occasion shall go upp forthwith to the Tellers Offices and see the Chests opened for that Money and the publick Service dispatcht without delay and the Chests to be secured againe in manner as aforesaid and when the said Clerk of the Pells by reason of Sicknesse cannot attend or shall have leave of absence itt is hereby appointed that his eldest Clerk shall keep his Keys of the said Chests and when the said Deputy Chamberlaine shall happen to be sick or have any leave to be absent then his Keys of the said Chests shall be kept by his Fellow the other Deputy Chamberlaine and that no Money shall be taken out of the said Chests but in the presence and view of the said respective Teller (or his Clerk) and of the Clerk of the Pells or (in case of Sicknesse or absence with leave as aforesaid) of his Eldest Clerk & likewise of the Eldest Deputy Chamberlaine or (in case of his Sicknesse or absence with leave as aforesaid) of the other Deputy Chamberlaine in the manner and forme before mentioned.

Editorial Information

X1 Variant reading of the text noted in The Statutes of the Realm as follows: shall be O. [O. refers to a collection in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge]