Chimney Sweepers Act 1834
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1834 c. 35 |
(4 & 5 Will. 4) C A P. XXXV.
[25th July 1834]
'WHEREAS an Act was passed in the Twenty-eighth Year of the Reign of His late Majesty KingGeorge the Third, intituled , the Provisions whereof have been found insufficient to guard and protect Children of tender Years apprenticed to Chimney Sweepers against various Casualties incident to the Practice of cleansing Flues by climbing:' Be it therefore enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authorityof the same, That from and after the passing of this Act the said Act of the Twenty-eighth Year of the Reign of His said late Majesty shall be and the same is hereby repealed.
II No Child under 10 Years to be apprenticed to a Chimney Sweeper.
II. And be it further enacted, That from and after the passing of this Act no Child who shall not have attained the Age of Ten Years shall be bound or put Apprentice to any Person using the Trade or Business of a Chimney Sweeper.
III Chimney Sweepers taking Apprentices to be Householders.
III. And be it further enacted, That from and after the passing of this Act no Chimney Sweeper or other Person who shall not be a Housekeeper in the Parish or other Place in which such Chimney Sweeper or other Person shall reside, and be rated to the Relief of the Poor of such Parish, or assessed for Payment of Taxes in such other Place, shall take or be deemed capable of taking an Apprentice to learn or to practise the Business of a Chimney Sweeper, or of employing in such Trade any Child under the Age of Fourteen Years.
IV Indentures of Boys under 10 Years of Age to be void.
IV. And be it further enacted, That all Indentures, Covenants, Promises, and Bargains hereafter to be made or taken of or for the hiring, taking, employing, retaining, or keeping of any Child who shall be under the Age of Ten Years, as or in the Nature of an Apprentice or Servant in the Capacity of a Chimney Sweeper, shall be absolutely void in Law to all Intents and Purposes.
V Indentures executed previous to the passing of this Act to remain in force.
V. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That nothing in this Act contained shall extend, or be deemed, taken, or construed to extend, to vacate or cancel any Indenture of Apprenticeship that shall have been actually in conformity with the said recited Act made and executed previous to the passing of this Act for binding any Boy as an Apprentice to any Person using the Trade of a Chimney Sweeper, but that such Indenture of Apprenticeship shall in all respects continue and be in as full Force and Effect as if this Act had not been passed.
VI Apprentices under 14 Years of Age to be so designated by a Brass Plate on a Leathern Cap.
VI. Provided always, and be it enacted, That every Person using the Trade of a Chimney Sweeper having or retaining or employing in his Service any Apprentice or Apprentices who shall be under Fourteen Years of Age, shall provide for each such Apprentice, so long as he shall remain under the Age of Fourteen, a Leathern Cap, to be worn by such Apprentice when out upon his Duty, having a Brass Plate set or affixed on the Front thereof, with the Name or Names of the Master or Mistress engraved thereon, and also the Name of the Apprentice and the Date of his Indenture of Apprenticeship; and every Master or Mistress neglecting to provide each such Apprentice in his or her Service, being under the Age of Fourteen, with such Leathern Cap and Brass Plate so affixed and engraved as aforesaid, shall for every such Offence forfeit any Sum not exceeding Five Pounds nor less than Forty Shillings.
VII Penalty on Chimney Sweeper for employing Children under 14 Years of Age, not Apprentices.
VII. And be it further enacted, That from and after the passing of this Act no Person in the Trade of a Chimney Sweeper shall hire, use, retain, or employ any Child under the Age of Fourteen Years, other than an Apprentice bound according to the Provisions of or previous to the passing of this Act, and also other than such Boy or Boys as shall be upon Trial with any Master or Mistress Chimney Sweeper as herein-after provided; and that every such Person or Persons so hiring, using, retaining, or employing any such Child, other than an Apprentice as aforesaid, or Boy on Trial as aforesaid, shall for every such Offence forfeit any Sum not exceeding Ten Pounds nor less than Forty Shillings.
VIII Requiring any Person to ascend a Flue to extinguish Fire, a Misdemeanor.
VIII. And be it further enacted, That any Person or Persons requiring or compelling any Apprentice or Person of any Description to ascend a Chimney Flue for the Purpose of extinguishing Fire therein shall be held and adjudged to be guilty of a Misdemeanor, and be liable to be proceeded against accordingly.
IX Binding or Assignment of Apprentices to Chimney Sweepers shall take place by Consent of Two Justices, and be indorsed on the Indenture.
IX. And to the end that the Age and Time of the Continuance of Service of every Apprentice bound pursuant to the Provisions of this Act may certainly appear, be it further enacted, That every Binding of a Child as an Apprentice to any Person using or carrying on the Trade of a Chimney Sweeper, and whether such Binding shall be by a Parish Officer or by the Parent or next Friend of the Child, and also every Assignment of such Apprentice, shall take place by and with the Consent of Two of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace acting in and for any County, Stewartry, Riding, City, Town Corporate, Borough, Division, or Place within the United Kingdom ofGreat Britain and Ireland , such Consent and Approbation to be signified by such Justices in Writing under their Hands, indorsed on the Indenture of Apprenticeship or any Assignment thereof, such Indenture and Consent respectively to be according to the Forms prescribed in the Schedule hereunto annexed; and every Indenture or Assignment which shall not be in the Form so prescribed, or shall not have such Consent so indorsed thereon and signed as aforesaid, shall be absolutely null and void.
X Age of the Apprentice to be inserted in the Indenture.
X. And be it further enacted, That the Age of every such Child so to be bound Apprentice shall be mentioned and inserted in such Indenture, being taken truly from the Copy of the Entry in the Register Book wherein the Time of his being baptized is or shall be entered (where the same can or may be had), which Copy shall be given and attested by the Minister, Vicar, or Curate of the Parish or Place wherein such Child's Baptism shall be registered, without Fee or Reward, and may be written upon Paper or Parchment; and where no such Copy of any Entry of such Child being baptized can be had, such Justices of the Peace shall as fully as they can inform themselves of his Age, and from such Information shall insert the same in the said Indenture, and the Age of such Child so inserted and mentioned in the said Indenture (in relation to the Continuance of his Service) shall be taken to be his true Age without any further Proof thereof.
XI Boys not to be let out to Hire.
XI. And be it further enacted, That no Person exercising the Trade or Business of a Chimney Sweeper shall let out to Hire by the Day or otherwise, to any other Person, for the Purpose of Chimney sweeping, any Child already an Apprentice or that shall hereafter be bound Apprentice under the Directions of this Act.
XII Boys to have a Trial...
To continue reading
Request your trial