Introduction
(The Introduction to The Chronological Table of Private and
Personal Acts 1539-1997 (The Stationery Office 1997 - ISBN 0 11
0430069) is reproduced with abridgement for this online version of
the Table)
1. Authority for Publication
The
Chronological Table of Private and Personal Acts
("
the Table
") was completed by the Law Commissions and
published in 1997 by The Stationery Office Ltd under the authority
of the Advisory Committee on Statute Law as the successor to the
Statute Law Committee
1
which originally authorised the project in
1974.
This online version of the Table has been edited and prepared
for publication by His Majesty’s Stationery Office,
Publishing Services Team, Admiralty Arch, Room 1.35, North
Entrance, The Mall, London SW1A 2WH. For availability of full texts
of the Acts in the Table see section 5 of this Introduction.
2. Background
In 1974 the Statute Law Committee authorised the Law Commission
and the Scottish Law Commission to prepare a chronological table
covering the 26,000 Local Acts passed between 1797
2
and the end of 1973 and the
11,000 Private Acts, (later described as Personal Acts), passed
between 1539
3
and the
end of 1973. The local Act part of the project was completed in
1996 -
The Chronological Table of Local Legislation
1797-1994
4
which
covered the 26,500 Local Acts passed up to the end of 1994
5
. The publication of the
present Table completed the entire project and made available for
the first time chronological tables for all Acts passed by the
Parliaments at Westminster (
The Chronological Table of the
Statutes
for Public Acts,
The Chronological Table of Local
Legislation
for Local Acts and
The Chronological Table of
Private and Personal Acts
for Private and Personal Acts).
This online version of the Private and Personal Act Table in 33
parts is updated to December 2008.
3. Contents
The Table lists in their chronological sequence the series of
Private and Personal Acts passed by the Parliaments at Westminster
between 1539 and the end of 2008 which comprise:
(i) Private Acts (1539-1802);
(ii) Local and Personal Acts, not printed (1802-1814);
(iii) Private Acts (1815-1947);
(iv) Personal Acts (1948 onwards).
The Table records the effects on the listed Acts of the
following categories of legislation enacted or made between 1539
and the end of 2008:
(i) Public General Acts of the Parliaments at Westminster;
(ii) Measures of the Church Assembly and the General Synod of
the Church of England;
(iii) Local, Personal and Private Acts of the Parliaments at
Westminster;
(iv) Statutory Rules and Orders (before 1948) and Statutory
Instruments (from 1948) which are classified as general and the
most readily available texts of those which are classified as local
6
;
(v) Public General Acts of the Northern Irish Parliament
1922-1972 so far as they affect pre-1922 United Kingdom private
Acts;
(vi) Local and Private Acts of the Northern Irish Parliament
1922-1972 so far as they affect pre-1922 United Kingdom private
Acts;
(vii) Northern Ireland Statutory Rules so far as they affect
pre-1922 United Kingdom private Acts.
A number of Private Acts passed before 1800 were also treated as
Public Acts. Such Acts are listed both in the
Chronological
Table of the Statutes
and the Table where their dual
classification is indicated in separate footnotes.
The Table does not show the effect of repeal or cesser
provisions in general terms on Private and Personal Acts except
where the repeal or cesser has been translated into, and contained
in, specific repeal schedules to Public General, Local, Private and
Personal Acts.
4. Source Used in Compiling the Table
The Private and Personal Acts have been listed and numbered in
accordance with information obtained from the following
sources:
1. The sources used to compile the
Chronological Table of the
Statutes
, namely:-
(a) S
tatutes of the Realm,
the edition of the Record
Commissioners (1810- 1828), so far as it extends (to the end of the
reign of Queen Anne (13 Anne) in 1714);
(b) Ruffhead’s edition of
Statutes at Large
(by
Serjeant Runnington, 1786) so far as it extends (to the end of the
session of the 25th year of the reign of King George the Third (25
Geo. 3) in 1785);
(c) the Sessional Volumes of Public (from 1797 Public General)
Acts after 1785.
2. The Sessional Volumes of Local and Personal Acts (1797-1869),
Local Acts (1870 onwards) and Private (later Personal) Acts (1815
onwards).
Lists of Acts in the House of Lords Record Office, including the
Long Calendar
7
, have
also been examined but no additional Acts have been identified.
A table of variances between
Statutes of the Realm
and
Ruffhead’s edition of
Statutes at Large
, on pages 1-8
of the Table, lists the differences between years and chapter
numbers of Private Acts as listed in those two editions.
5. Nature and Availability of the Texts of Private and Personal
Acts
The Private Acts listed in the Table were not officially printed
until 1815
8
, in
contrast to the texts of Public (from 1797 Public General) and
Local Acts which have all been authoritatively or officially
printed and whose effect is recorded in the
Chronological Table
of the Statutes
and the
Chronological Table of Local
Legislation
respectively. Until 1815 the most authoritative and
readily available texts of the Private Acts are the Original
(manuscript) Acts which are available in the House of Lords Record
Office
9
.
Some Private Bills, which are entitled "An Act "..," were
privately printed before 1815. These may only be accepted as the
text of Bills as passed, i.e. as Acts, if the date of Royal Assent
is printed at the beginning or end.
In respect of all Private Acts before 1815 and
unprinted
Private Acts (those marked with an asterisk in the Table) after
1815 inquiries for viewing and about copies should be made to the
House Lords Record Office and should be addressed to:
Parliamentary Archives
Houses of Parliament
London
SW1A 0PW
Tel: +44(0)20 7219 3074
Fax: +44(0)20 7219 2750
e-mail
archives@parliament.uk
The website address is: www.parliament.uk [select Further
information about parliamentary services; Parliamentary Archives;
General information]
In the printed edition of the Table (see the first paragraph of this Introduction) at pages 1-8, a table of variances between
Statutes of the Realm
and Ruffhead’s edition of
Statutes at Large
lists the differences between years and chapter numbers of Private Acts as listed in those two editions.
6. Listing, Numbering and Annotations of Acts
Generally the Table has the same layout and uses the same
conventions as the
Chronological Table of the Statutes
.
Chapter numbers
(1) The Table follows the modern practice of distinguishing Public
General Acts, Local Acts and Private/Personal Acts, namely:
- Arabic numerals (c.1) (c.20) for Public General Acts;
- small Roman numerals (c.i) (c.xx) for Local Acts; [Local Acts
were between 1797 and 1869 officially but confusingly styled "Local
and Personal Acts" and researchers are asked to bear this in mind
when making enquiries in Law libraries]. A common cause of
confusion in typescript is c.l (chapter fifty local) with c.1
(chapter one public general);
- italicised Arabic numerals (c.
1
) (c.
20
) for
Private / Personal Acts.
It should be borne in mind that this method of distinguishing
the different series of Acts is not necessarily reflected in the
texts of the Acts themselves. For instance, Private Acts were not
officially numbered in
italic
Arabic numerals until
1869.
(2) In contrast to Public General and Local Acts the chapter
numbers for most of the Acts listed in the Table do not relate to
printed, published, texts and their function is therefore confined
to providing an authoritative means of citation. Until 1902 all the
Original Acts in the Parliament Office - Public, Public General,
Local and Private - were numbered in one sequence for each
session,
10
and in
the House of Lords Record Office the sessional numbers are
cross-referenced to the chapter numbers as listed in Ruffhead to
enable the manuscript texts of the Acts to be identified for those
wishing to see them.
(3) Until 1713, and unless otherwise indicated
11
, the chapter numbers of
the Acts listed in the Table are either those given in the lists of
Private Acts in
Statutes of the Realm
12
or, where no such numbers are given,
they follow the order in which the Acts are listed in that
work.
(4) Between 1876 and 1922 the small numbers of Private Acts
which were not officially printed were not numbered by the
King’s Printer. To avoid uncertainty such Acts have been
given Arabic numbers in square brackets in the Table in a separate
sequence from the official chapter numbers for the printed Acts,
and in the order in which they are listed in the annual volumes of
Local and Private Acts concerned.
Titles of Acts
Where an Act has an official short title it is, so far as
practicable, referred to by that title
13
. In other cases, and for the majority of
the Acts listed in the Table, the titles are modernised or abridged
versions of the long titles of the Acts as they appear in the
relevant sources. It has not, in general, been possible to examine
the substance of the Acts themselves and as a result the Table does
not record subjects which are not mentioned in the long titles.
Also, it has not always been possible to provide meaningful entries
for every Act
14
.
In accordance with the convention used in the
Chronological
Table of the Statutes
, the title of an Act which has been
wholly repealed is shown in italic type. Where the title is shown
in bold type, it indicates that the Act is or may be in force.
Place names
The spelling of place names has, so far as possible, been
modernised and made consistent throughout the Table. As a result
the spelling of place names in the Table frequently differs from
that in the titles of the Acts themselves.
The counties of places mentioned in the titles of the Acts have
been included wherever possible. But in many instances it has not
been practicable to provide such information without examining the
substance of the Acts concerned. The county names are either those
which are given in the titles of the Acts themselves, or which are
considered likely to have been the county concerned at the time the
Act in question was passed
15
, and not those of counties as
reconstituted by later legislation
16
.
Personal names
Personal names have been modernised so far as possible, but not
on a systematic basis throughout the Table.
The annotation "
see
"
The annotation "
see
" is used to draw attention to a
number of different provisions which are difficult to record in any
other way. Examples are provisions which are relevant in
considering the legislation concerned but do not act directly upon
it and those whose effects on earlier legislation are not clear or
cannot be expressed succinctly.
7. Glossary
Long Calendar: |
An authoritative chronological list of long titles of Original
Acts (6 vols., 1497-1863) compiled contemporaneously from 1608
onwards. It is kept in the House of Lords Record Office with the
other lists, calendars and indexes of Original Acts made for the
use of the Parliament Office in the House of Lords (M F Bond,
Guide to the Records of Parliament
(1971, pp 3, 96-97,
181). |
Original Acts: |
From 1497 to 1849 the manuscript texts of engrossed Bills on
parchment rolls, as altered in the course of the Bills’
passage through Parliament, which became Original Acts after the
Bills received the Royal Assent. Amendments to the Bills were
entered on the engrossed rolls, but additional clauses were
engrossed on separate pieces of parchment which were stitched to
the roll concerned. From 1849 the authoritative text of each Public
General Act, and from 1850 that of each Local Act and of each
Private Act, has been printed separately on (generally) vellum
leaves bound at the margin by red silk tape (M F Bond, ’Acts
of Parliament’
Archives
iii (1958), pp 204-206;
Guide to the Records of Parliament
(1971) pp 65-66,
95-96). |
Parliament Roll: |
One of the Chancery series of Parliament Rolls which are
preserved in the Public Record Office. The information which they
contain includes the text of all Public Acts and of those Private
Acts enrolled for a fee (1535-1593); the text of all Public Acts
but the titles only of Private Acts (1593-1757); the text of all
Public Acts (1758-1849) and duplicate copies of Original Acts (1849
onwards) (M F Bond, ’Acts of Parliament’
Archives
iii (1958), p 218). |
8. Updating the Table
Details of repeals and amendments made to Private and Personal
Acts after 1997, of future Personal Acts and of any corrections to
the Table, will be given on this site which will be updated
annually.
9. Corrections and Correspondence
Details of any omissions or errors noted in the Table, or any other correspondence about it, may be addressed to His Majesty’s Stationery Office, Publishing Services Team, Admiralty Arch, Room 1.35, North Entrance, The Mall, London SW1A 2WH. For availability of full texts of the Acts in the Table see section 5 of this Introduction.
[1] The Statute Law Committee was
succeeded in 1991 by the Advisory Committee on Statute Law whose
members are listed in The Civil Service Year Book and
Whitaker’s Almanack.[
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[2] In 1797 the public Acts were
divided into a separate series of Public General Acts and Public
Local and Personal Acts. Public Acts passed before 1797 are listed
in the Chronological Table of the Statutes.[
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]
[3] In 1539 public and private Acts
were first distinguished on the official enrolments of Acts of
Parliament.[
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]
[4] HMSO 1996, ISBN 0 11 043002 6
(and see note 5 below)[
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]
[5] The on line text of the local legislation table is updated annually on this website [
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[6] It has not been possible to
record the effects of all local subordinate legislation since no
comprehensive collection of the texts of local Statutory Rules and
Orders for the period 1890-1921 has yet been found, and the most
readily accessible comprehensive collections for the period after
1922 - in the Statutory Publications Office, the Public Record
Office and the British Library - have gaps in them (Report on the
Chronological Table of Local Legislation (1996) Law Com No 241;
Scot Law Com No 155; Cm 3301, para 5.13).[
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]
[7] An authoritative chronological
list of long titles of Original Acts (6 vols., 1497-1863) compiled
contemporaneously from c. 1608 onwards (M F Bond, Guide to the
Records of Parliament (1971) pp 96-97).[
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]
[8] Thereafter only a residue of
Divorce, Name and Naturalization Acts, and some Inclosure Acts,
were not officially printed and their only authoritative texts are
the Original Acts in the House of Lords Record Office (Bond, op
cit, p 102). Since 1924 all Private Acts (styled Personal Acts
since 1948) have been officially printed.[
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]
[9] Bond, op cit, pp 3, 66,
94-97.[
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[11] Bond, op cit, p 98.[
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[12] See, e.g., nn 28, 47, 51 and
52 to the text of the Table.[
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[13] Table of Variances, n
2.[
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]
[14] The Act 4 & 5 Anne
(c.33) was given the short title ’The Lichfield Chapter Act
1706’ by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners Act 1873 (c.64),
s.6, sch. The first private Act to have its own short title
provision appears to have been the Nottingham Freeman’s
Allotments Act 1850 (c.1). Official short titles were increasingly
enacted in the 1850s and nearly all printed private Acts have them
after 1860. The last printed private Act which did not have an
official short title was Prince Henry of Battenberg’s
naturalization Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict.) (c.1).[
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[15] e.g. 1539 (c.27) - Chancery
Clerks’ House; 1548 (c.1) - Kent Gavelkind lands; 1605 (c.3)
- Corpus Christi College, Oxford.[
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]
[16] e.g. 1698 (11 Will.3)
(c.17): Llanriddian and Penrice [Glamorgan].[
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]