Mercantile Marine Act 1850
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1850 c. 93 |
| Year | 1850 |
(13 & 14 Vict.) C A P. XCIII.
[14th August 1850]
WHEREAS it is expedient to make Provision for improving the Condition of Masters, Mates, and Seamen, and for maintaining Discipline, in theBritish Merchant Service:' Be it enacted by the Queen'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 Authority of the same,
1 I. Short Title.
1. That this Act may be cited as ‘TheMercantile Marine Act, 1850.’
2 II. Interpretation.
2. And be it enacted, That in the Construction of this Act the following Words and Expressions shall have the Meanings hereby assigned to them, if not inconsistent with the Context or Subject Matter; (that is to say,)
Words of One Number or Gender shall import all Numbers and Genders:
The Expression ‘Her Majesty’ shall include Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors:
The Expression ‘Her Majesty's Dominions’ shall include Her Majesty's Dominionsstrictly so called, and all Territories under the Government of theEast India Company, and all other Territories (if any) governed by virtue of any Charter or Licence from the Crown or Parliament of Great Britain:
The Expression ‘United Kingdom’shall includeGreat Britain and Ireland:
The Expression ‘Board of Trade’shall mean the Committee of Her Majesty's Privy Council appointed for the Consideration of Matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations:
The Word ‘Consular Officer’shall include Consul-General, Consul, and Vice-Consul:
The Word ‘Ship’shall include every Description of Sea-going Vessel:
The Expression ‘Home Trade Ship’shall include every ‘Ship’ to which this Act applies employed in trading or going within the following Limits; (that is to say,) the Coasts of the United Kingdom, the Islands ofGuernsey, Jersey, Sark, Alderney, and Man, and the Continent of Europe between the River Elbe and Brest inclusive:
The Expression ‘Foreign-going Ship’shall include every ‘Ship’ to which this Act applies employed in trading or going beyond the Limits aforesaid:
The Word ‘Seaman’shall include every Person (except Masters and Apprentices duly indentured and registered) employed or engaged to serve in any Capacity on board any ‘Ship:’
The Expression ‘General Merchant Seamen's Act’shall mean an Act passed in the Session holden in the Seventh and Eighth Years of the Reign of Her Majesty QueenVictoria, intituled
The Expression ‘Seamen's Protection Act’shall mean an Act passed in the Session holden in the Eighth and Ninth Years of the Reign of Her Majesty QueenVictoria, intituled
3 Explanation and Alteration of Terms in 8 & 9 Vict. c. 116.
3. And be it declared and enacted, That the Words ‘Seaman’ and ‘Seamen’ in the said ‘Seamen's Protection Act’ are meant to include any Person or Persons about to serve as Seamen, notwithstanding that they have not previously been at Sea, and are also meant to include Apprentices in the Sea Service and Persons about to become such Apprentices; and that the said ‘Seamen's Protection Act’ shall, after the Thirty-first Day ofDecember One thousand eight hundred and fifty, be read and construed as if the Expression ‘the Ship's Husband’ were replaced by the Expression ‘a Mate of the Ship,’ and the Expression ‘Ship's Husband’ were replaced by the Expression ‘Mate of the Ship.’
4 III. Extent of Operation.
4. And be it enacted, That the several Parts of this Act which relate to any ‘Ships,’ or to the Owners, Masters, Mates, ‘Seamen,’ or Apprentices of any ‘Ships,’ shall, so far as the Context and Subject Matter admit, have the following Applications; (that is to say,)
So much of this Act as repeals, alters, or explains any existing Enactment shall apply to the same ‘Ships’ and to the same Matters and Persons to which such Enactment applies:
The Remainder of this Act shall, so far as the Context and Subject admit, apply to all ‘Ships’ registered or licensed in the ‘United Kingdom,’ (except such as are exclusively employed in fishing on the Coasts of the ‘United Kingdom,’ and such as belong to the Corporation of theTrinity House of Deptford Strond, the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses, or the Corporation for preserving and improving the Harbour of Dublin, and also except Pleasure Yachts,) and also to all ‘Ships’ registered or licensed in any other Part of ‘Her Majesty's Dominions,’ and employed in trading or going between any Place in the ‘United Kingdom’ and any Place or Places not situate in the Territory or Colony in which such ‘Ship’ is registered, and to the Owners, Masters, Mates, and Crews of such ‘Ships’ respectively.
5 IV. Time of Operation.
5. And be it enacted, That the several Parts of this Act shall come into operation at the several Times following; (that is to say,)
So much of this Act as relates to the Appointment of new Officers of the ‘Board of Trade,’ and to the Powers hereby given to that Board, and to the Constitution and Powers of Local Marine Boards, and to the Register Office for ‘Seamen,’ and to the Establishment of Shipping Offices, and of Examinations for Masters and Mates, shall come into operation immediately on the passing hereof:
So much of this Act as relates to the compulsory Production of Certificates of Masters and Mates, Agreements with ‘Seamen,’ Advances and Allotments of Wages, Health on board Ship, Desertion, Discipline, Log Books, Payment of Wages, and Discharge of ‘Seamen,’ shall, with respect to such ‘Ships’ as are in the ‘United Kingdom’ on the First Day ofJanuary One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, and to the Owners, Masters, Mates, and Crews thereof, come into operation on that Day; and with respect to such ‘Ships’ as are not within the ‘United Kingdom’ on that Day, and to the Owners, Masters, Mates, and Crews thereof, as soon after the first subsequent Arrival of such ‘Ship’ in the ‘United Kingdom’ as Preparations are commenced for a further Voyage or Departure from any Place therein:
And the Remainder of this Act shall come into operation on the First Day ofJanuary One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
6 V. Board of Trade and Local Boards. New Duties and Powers generally.
6. And be it enacted, That the ‘Board of Trade’ shall undertake the general Superintendence of Matters relating to theBritish Mercantile Marine, and shall be authorized to carry this Act into execution, and to enforce by legal Proceedings or by such other lawful Means as may seem to it expedient the Provisions of this Act and of all other Acts and Laws relating to the British Merchant Service, and may also open an Account or Accounts with the Bank of England in the Manner and for the Purposes herein-after mentioned.
7 Constitution and Functions of Local Marine Boards.
7. And be it enacted, That at such of the Seaports of the ‘United Kingdom’ as have in ‘Ships’ ordinarily employed as ‘Foreign-going Ships’ a Registered Tonnage of Thirty thousand Tons or upwards, and at such other Places as the ‘Board of Trade’ may appoint for this Purpose, Local Marine Boards shall be established for carrying into effect the Provisions of this Act, under the Superintendence of the ‘Board of Trade;’ and each of such Local Marine Boards shall be constituted as follows; that is to say, the Mayor or Provost and the Stipendiary Magistrate, or such of the Mayors or Provosts and Stipendiary Magistrates of the Place (if more than One) as the ‘Board of Trade’ may appoint, shall be a Member or Membersex officio, the ‘Board of Trade’ shall appoint Four Members from Residents in the Place or within Seven Miles thereof, and the Owners of such Foreign-going Shipping as aforesaid registered at the Port shall elect Six Members, to be qualified as herein-after mentioned; and such Appointments and Elections shall, in the first instance, take place on the Twenty-fifth Day of October One thousand eight hundred and fifty, and shall afterwards take place on the Twenty-fifth Day of October in every Third succeeding Year, except in the Case of occasional Vacancies by Death, Resignation, Disqualification, or otherwise, which shall be filled up within One Calendar Month after they occur; and every Person elected on an occasional Vacancy shall continue a Member until the next ordinary triennial Election; and the Mayor or Provost shall fix the Place and Mode of conducting such Elections, and also on occasional Vacancies the Day of Election, and shall give at least Ten Days Notice thereof; and the Board of Trade shall have Power to decide any Questions which may be raised concerning the Conduct of such Elections: Provided, that no Act of any Local Board shall be vitiated or prejudiced by reason of any Irregularity in the Election of any of its Members, or of any Error in the List of Voters herein-after mentioned, or of any Irregularity in the making or revising such List, or by reason of any Person who is not duly qualified as herein-after provided acting upon such Board: Provided also, that if in any Place, by reason of any Election not taking place, or of the constant Non-attendance of all or the greater Part of the elective Members, or from any other Cause, any Local Marine Board fails to meet or to discharge its Duties, the ‘Board of Trade’ may, if such Failure occurs within Three Months before the next triennial Election of such Local Marine Board, undertake such Dutiesprovisionally until such Election, or, if such Failure occurs more than Three Months before such Election, may direct a new Election of the Elective Members of such Local Marine Board to be had...
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