Destruction of Stocking Frames, etc. Act 1812
Act of Parliament | |
Dates | |
---|---|
Royal assent | 20 March 1812 |
Repealed | 1814 |
Other legislation | |
Repealed by | Destruction of Stocking Frames, etc. Act 1813 |
Status: Repealed |
Destruction of Stocking Frames, etc. Act 1813 | |
---|---|
Act of Parliament | |
Other legislation | |
Repeals/revokes | Destruction of Stocking Frames, etc. Act 1812 |
Repealed by | Destroying Stocking Frames, etc. Act 1817 |
Status: Repealed |
Destroying Stocking Frames, etc. Act 1817 | |
---|---|
Act of Parliament | |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 11 July 1817 |
Other legislation | |
Repeals/revokes | Destruction of Stocking Frames, etc. Act 1813 |
The Destruction of Stocking Frames, etc. Act 1812 (
Passage and content
The Frame Work Bill was introduced to Parliament on 14 February 1812 by the Home Secretary
The Act, as passed, made the destruction of mechanised looms – stocking frames – a capital felony (and hence a crime punishable by death).[3][1] Similarly raised to the level of capital felony were the associated crimes of damaging frames and entering a property with intent to damage a frame.[1] In these respects the act was a stronger version of the Protection of Stocking Frames, etc. Act 1788, which had made similar acts punishable by 7–14 years in a penal colony.[1] All measures included in the Act were only to be applied temporarily, and were duly set to expire on 1 March 1814.[1]
Significance
Although approximately 60 to 70 Luddites were hanged in the period that the statute was in force,[3] no death sentences seem to have been justified on its grounds, with judges preferring to use existing legislation.[1] Due to come to an end on 1 March, the Act was officially repealed in 1814 with the passage of the Destruction of Stocking Frames, etc. Act 1813, which instituted a new maximum penalty for the destruction of stocking frames of life transportation; in 1817, that Act would itself be repealed and the death penalty once again reinstated in the Destroying Stocking Frames, etc. Act 1817.[1][4] By that time, however, Luddism had largely subsided as a movement.[5]
See also
- UK labour law
References
- ^ CiteSeerX 10.1.1.127.1833.
- ^ Baron George Gordon Byron Byron (1837). The works of Lord Byron complete in one volume. H.L. Broenner. p. 690. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-55553-496-7. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ Vol. L: Tables and Indexes. Sessional papers, printed by order of the House of Lords. 1854. p. 271. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-7637-5094-7. Retrieved 20 February 2012.