Municipal Corporations (England) Act 1835
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
(5 & 6 Will. 4) C A P. LXXVI.
[9th September 1835]
'WHEREAS divers Bodies Corporate at sundry Times have been constituted within the Cities, Towns, and Boroughs ofEngland and Wales , to the Intent that the same might for ever be and remain well and quietly governed; and it is expedient that the Charters by which the said Bodies Corporate are constituted should be altered in the Manner herein-after mentioned;' 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 so much of all Laws, Statutes, and Usages, and so much of all Royal and other Charters, Grants, and Letters Patent now in force relating to the several Boroughs named in the Schedules (A.) and (B.) to this Act annexed, or to the Inhabitants thereof, or to the several Bodies or reputed Bodies Corporate named in the said Schedules, or any of them, as are inconsistent with or contrary to the Provisions of this Act, shall be and the same are hereby repealed and annulled.
II Reservation of all Rights of Property and beneficial Exemptions to Freemen, their Wives and Children.
II. 'And whereas in divers Cities, Towns, and Boroughs the Common Lands and Public Stock of such Cities, Towns, and Boroughs, and the Rents and Profits thereof, have been held and applied for the particular Benefit of the Citizens, Freemen, and Burgesses of the said Cities, Towns, and Boroughs respectively, or of certain of them, or of the Widows or Kindred of them, or certain of them, and have not been applied to public Purposes;' be it therefore enacted, That every Person who now is or hereafter may be an Inhabitant of any Borough, and also every Person who has been admitted or who might hereafter have been admitted a Freeman or Burgess of any Borough if this Act had not been passed, or who now is or hereafter may be the Wife or Widow or Son or Daughter of any Freeman or Burgess, or who may have espoused or may hereafter espouse the Daughter or Widow of any Freeman or Burgess, or who has been or may hereafter be bound an Apprentice, shall have and enjoy and be entitled to acquire and enjoy the same Share and Benefit of the Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments, and of the Rents and Profits thereof, and of the Common Lands and Public Stock of any Borough or Body Corporate, and of any Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments, and any Sum or Sums of Money, Chattels, Securities for Money, or other Personal Estate, of which any Person or any Body Corporate may be seised or possessed in whole or in part for any charitable Uses or Trusts, as fully and effectually, and for such Time and in such Manner, as he or she by any Statute, Charter, Bye Law, or Custom in force at the Time of passing this Act might or could have had, acquired, or enjoyed in case this Act had not been passed: Provided always, that the total Amount to be divided amongst the Persons whose Rights are herein reserved herein reserved in this Behalf shall not exceed the Surplus which shall remain after Payment of the Interest of all lawful Debts chargeable upon the Real or Personal Estate out of which the Sums so to be divided have arisen, together with the Salaries of Municipal Officers, and all other lawful Expences which, on the Fifth Day ofJune , were defrayed out of or chargeable upon the same: Provided also, that nothing herein-before contained shall be construed to apply to any Claim, Right, or Title of any Burgesses or Freemen, or of any Person, to any Discharge or Exemption from any Tolls or Dues levied wholly or in part by or to the Use or Benefit of any Borough or Body Corporate; and that after the passing of this Act no Person shall have or be entitled to claim thenceforward any Discharge or Exemption from any Tolls or Dues lawfully levied in whole or in part by or to the Use of any Body Corporate, except as herein-after is excepted: Provided nevertheless, that every Person who, on the Fifth Day of June in this present Year, was an Inhabitant, or was or was entitled to be admitted a Freeman or Burgess of any Borough, or who on the said Fifth Day of June was the Wife or Widow, Son or Daughter of any Freeman or Burgess of any Borough, or who on the said Fifth Day of June was bound an Apprentice, shall be entitled to have or acquire and enjoy the same Discharge or Exemption from any Tolls or Dues lawfully levied in whole or in part by or to the Use of any Borough or Body Corporate as fully and for such Time and in such Sort as he or she, by any Statute, Charter, Bye Law, or Custom in force on the said Fifth Day of June , might or would have had, acquired, and enjoyed the same if this Act hid not been passed, and no further or otherwise: Provided also, that where, by any Statute, Charter, Bye Lam, or Custom in force within any Borough at the Time of passing this Act, any Person whose Rights in this Behalf are herein reserved would have been liable in case this Act had not been passed to pay any Fine, Fee, or Sum of Money to any Body Corporate, or to any Member, Officer, or Servant of any Body Corporate, in consideration of his Freedom, or of his or her Title to such Rights as are herein reserved, no such Person shall be entitled to have or claim any Share or Benefit in respect of the Rights herein reserved as aforesaid until he or she shall have paid the full Amount of such Fine, Fee, or Sum of Money to the Treasurer of such Borough, appointed under the Provisions of this Act, on account of the Borough Fund herein-after mentioned: Provided also, that nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to entitle any Person to any Share or Benefit of the Rights herein reserved who shall not have first fulfilled every Condition which, if this Act had not passed, would have been a Condition precedent to his or her being entitled to the Benefit of such Rights, so far as the same is capable of being fulfilled according to the Provisions of this Act, or to strengthen, confirm, or affect any Claim, Right, or Title of any Burgesses or Freemen of any Borough or Body Corporate, or of any Person, to the Benefit of any such Rights as are herein-before reserved, but the same in every Case may be brought in question, impeached, and set aside in like Manner as if this Act had not been passed.
III No Freedom by Gift, &c.
III. Provided always, and be it enacted, That from and after the passing of this Act no Person shall be elected, made, or admitted a Burgess or Freeman of any Borough by Gift or Purchase.
IV. 'And whereas the Right of voting in the Election of Members to serve in Parliament was by an Act passed in the Second Year of the Reign of His present Majesty, intituled Englandand Wales, preserved to all Persons who then were or thereafter might become Freemen or Burgesses of any City or Borough, subject to the Conditions and Provisionsin that Act contained;' be it therefore enacted, That every Person who if this Act had not been passed would have enjoyed, as a Burgess or Freeman, or might hereafter have acquired, in respect of Birth or Servitude, as a Burgess or Freeman, the Right of voting in the Election of a Member or Members to serve in Parliament for any City or Borough, shall be entitled to enjoy or acquire such Right of voting as fully as if this Act had not been passed; and the Town Clerk of every City or Borough returning a Member or Members to Parliament shall at all Times hereafter do and perform all Things appertaining to the due Registration of the Freemen or Burgesses of such City or Borough according to the Provisions of the said Act.
V Freemen's Roll to be made out and kept by the Town Clerk.
V. And be it enacted, That the Town Clerk of every Borough shall on or before the First Day ofDecember next make out a List, to be called ‘The Freemen's Roll,’ of all Persons who at the Time of the passing of this Act shall have been admitted as Burgesses or Freemen of such Borough; and that whenever any Person shall hereafter become entitled to be admitted a Burgess or Freeman for the Purposes aforesaid of such Borough in respect of Birth, Servitude, or Marriage, and shall claim to be admitted accordingly, the Mayor of such Borough shall examine into such Claim, and upon such Claim being established every such Person shall thereupon be admitted and enrolled by the Town Clerk of such Borough upon the Freemen's Roll; and the Town Clerk shall keep a true Copy of such Roll, to be perused by any Person without Payment of any Fee at all reasonable Times, and shall deliver a Copy thereof to any Person requiring the same, on Payment of a reasonable Price for such Copy.
VI Corporations to be styled Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses.
VI. And be it enacted, That after the First Election of Councillors under this Act in any Borough the Body or reputed Body Corporate named in the said Schedules in connexion with such Borough shall take and bear the Name of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of such Borough, and by that Name shall have perpetual Succession, and shall be capable in Law, by the Council herein-after mentioned of such Borough to do and suffer all Acts which now lawfully they and their Successors respectively may do and suffer by any Name or Title of Incorporation; and the Mayor of each of the said Boroughs shall be capable in Law to do and suffer all Acts which the Chief Officer of such Borough may now lawfully do and suffer, so far as the same respectively are not altered or annulled by the Provisions of this Act.
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