Freemen (Admission) Act 1763
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2022) |
Other legislation | |
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Repealed by | Representation of the People Act 1918 |
Status: Repealed | |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
The Freemen (Admission) Act 1763
The Act was passed in response to a number of instances of large numbers of non-resident honorary freemen being created to sway the results of elections, often after the writ for an election had been issued. At an election for Durham City in 1761, 215 new freemen, mostly non-resident, had been created after the issue of the writ and had proved decisive in a total poll of around 1,500. After the result was overturned on petition a bill was introduced to check this abuse, and the Act was consequently known colloquially as the Durham Act.
References
- Lewis Namier & John Brooke, The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754-1790 (London: HMSO, 1964)
- Edward Porritt and Annie G Porritt, The Unreformed House of Commons (Cambridge University Press, 1903)
- ^ short title was authorised by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
- ^ This expression appears in the revised text of the Fourth Schedule to the Ballot Act 1872 included in the third edition of The Statutes Revised (1950, vol 9, p 45), where it is described as "title or abbreviated title". The expression "Freeman (Admission) Act 1763" does not appear in the original text of that Schedule. Section 3 of the Statute Law Revision Act 1893 authorises the substitution of short titles for titles in such revised editions.
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