Police (Scotland) Act 1850

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Anno Regni VICTORI, Britanniarum Regin, Decimo Tertio & Decimo Quarto. An Act to make more effectual Provision for regulating the Police of Towns and populous Places inScotland , and for paving, draining, cleansing, lighting, and improving the same.

(13 & 14 Vict.) C A P. XXXIII.

[15th July 1850]

'WHEREAS an Act was passed in the Session of Parliament holden in the Third and Fourth Years of the Reign of His late Majesty KingWilliam the Fourth, intituled An Act to enable Burghsin Scotland to establish a general System of Police : And whereas an Act was passed in the same Session of Parliament, intituled An Act to provide for the Appointment and Election of Magistratesand Councillors for the several Burghs and Towns of Scotland which now return or contribute to return Members to Parliament, and are not Royal Burghs : And whereas an Act was passed in the Session of Parliament holden in the Tenth and Eleventh Years of the Reign of Her present Majesty, intituled An Act to amend an Act to enable Burghs in Scotland to establish a general System of Police, and another Act for providing for the Appointment and Election of Magistrates and Councillors in certain Burghs and Towns of Scotland: And whereas it is expedient to make more effectual Provisions for regulating the Police of Towns and populous Places in Scotland , and also for paving, draining, cleansing, lighting, supplying Water to, and otherwise improving the same:' 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assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That the said first and last recited Acts be and the same are hereby repealed, except only as regards such Burghs as have already adopted, in whole or in part, the Powers and Provisions of the said first-recited Act.

S-II Interpretation of Terms.

II Interpretation of Terms.

II. And be it enacted, That the following Words and Expressions in this Act shall have the Meanings hereby assigned to them, unless there be something in the Subject or Context repugnant to such Construction; (that is to say,) the Word ‘Burgh’ shall include not only Royal Burgh, Parliamentary Burgh, and Burgh of Regality and Barony, but also any populous Place the Boundaries whereof have been fixed and ascertained in Terms of this Act; the Expression ‘Parliamentary Burgh’ shall mean a Burgh or Town to which Magistrates and Councils were provided by the said second-recited Act; the Expression ‘populous Place’ shall mean any Town, Village, Place, or Locality, not being a Royal Burgh, or Burgh of Regality or Barony, or Burgh or Town to which Magistrates and Councillors were by the said second-recited Act provided, containing a Population of Twelve hundred Inhabitants or upwards; the Word ‘Person,’ and Words applying to any Person or Individual, shall apply to and include Corporations; the Word ‘Householder’ shall mean a Male Occupier of a Dwelling House or other Heritable Subjects of the yearly Value of Ten Pounds or upwards; the Word ‘Occupier’ shall not include a Lodger or a Party in the Occupation as Tenant of a furnished House let for a less Period than One Year, but shall include the Party by whom such furnished House is so let; the Expression ‘Lodging House’ shall mean a House in which Lodgers are housed at an Amount not exceeding Sixpenceper Head per Night; the Word ‘County’ shall include Stewartry; the Word ‘Sheriff’ shall mean the Sheriff of and acting in the County of which he is Sheriff, and shall include Sheriff Substitute, and also Steward and Steward Substitute; the Expression ‘the Commissioners’ shall mean the Commissioners for the Purposes of this Act acting in and for a Burgh by which this Act has been in whole or in part adopted; the Words ‘Magistrates,’ or ‘Magistrates and Council,’ when applied to Royal Burghs, shall include the Provost; the Word ‘Magistrate’ (except where used in reference to Proceedings with respect to the Adoption of this Act) shall mean a Magistrate of Police appointed and acting under this Act; the Words ‘Clerk,’‘Treasurer,’ and ‘Collector’ shall mean the Clerk, Treasurer, and Collector respectively appointed by the Commissioners under the Provisions of this Act; the Word ‘Lands’ and the Word ‘Premises’ shall include all Lands, Springs, Rights of Servitude, Dwelling Houses, Shops, Warehouses, Vaults, Cellars, Stables, Breweries, Manufactories, Mills, and other Houses and Buildings, and Yards and Places; the Word ‘Street’ shall extend to and include any Road, Bridge, Lane, Square, Court, Alley, Close, Wynd, Vennel, and Thoroughfare or public Passage; the Word ‘Month’ shall mean Calendar Month; the Word ‘Oath’ shall include Affirmation in the Case of Quakers, and Declaration in the Case of Persons allowed by Law to make a Declaration in lieu of an Oath; the Word ‘Owner,’ used with reference to any Lands or Premises in respect of which any Work is required to be done or any Assessment paid under this Act, shall mean the Person for the Time entitled to receive, or who, if such Lands or Premises were let to a Tenant at a Rack-rent, would be entitled to receive the Rack-rent from the Occupier thereof; the Expression ‘Rack-rent’ shall mean Rent which is not less than Two Thirds of the full net annual Value of the Property out of which the Rent arises, and the full net annual Value shall be taken to be the Rent at which the Property ought reasonably to be expected to let from Year to Year, free from all Feu Duty, Ground Rent, and usual Tenants' Rates and Taxes, and deducting therefrom the probable annual Cost of the Repairs, Insurance, and other Expenses (if any) necessary to maintain the same in a State to command such Rent; the Expression ‘private Assessment’ shall mean any Assessment or Charge on Individuals for private Improvement Expenses, or for House Drainage, or otherwise, under this Act; the Expression ‘District Assessment’ shall mean any Assessment other than a ‘private Assessment’ which is confined only to a Portion or District of any Burgh; the Word ‘Cattle’ shall include any Horse, Mare, Gelding, Foal, Colt, Filly, Bull, Cow, Heifer, Ox, Calf, Ass, Mule, Ram, Ewe, Wether, Lamb, Goat, Kid, or Swine; Words importing the Singular Number shall include the Plural Number, and Words importing the Plural Number shall include the Singular Number; and Words importing the Masculine Gender (except only the Word ‘Male’) shall include Females.

S-III Boundaries of Parliamentary Burghs fixed by 2 & 3 W. 4. c. 65.

III Boundaries of Parliamentary Burghs fixed by 2 & 3 W. 4. c. 65.

III. And be it enacted, That the Boundaries of such Burghs and Towns as send or contribute to send a Member or Members to Parliament shall for the Purposes of this Act be the same as the Boundaries which are fixed by an Act passed in the Second and Third Year of the Reign of His Majesty KingWilliam the Fourth, intituled An Act to amend the Representation of the People in Scotland.

S-IV Boundaries of all other Royal Burghs, and Burghs of Regality and Barony, how to be fixed.

IV Boundaries of all other Royal Burghs, and Burghs of Regality and Barony, how to be fixed.

IV. And be it enacted, That the Boundaries of all other Royal Burghs, Burghs of Regality and of Barony, shall for the Purposes of this Act be fixed by the Sheriff as after mentioned, but so as not at any Point to extend more than One thousand Yards beyond the Bounds of such Burghs as established by Charter, Grant, Prescription, or Act of Parliament; and on the Application of any Twenty-one or more Householders in any such Burgh, or of the Magistrates and Council of any such Burgh, and after such Publication by Advertisement and otherwise as the Sheriff may direct, and after such Investigation (if any) as the Sheriff may deem necessary or proper, the Sheriff shall and lie is hereby required to mark out, define, and specify, in a written Deliverance, on such Application, the Boundaries of such Burgh, for the Purposes of this Act, being always within the Limits of such One thousand Yards aforesaid; and such Deliverance shall be final, and when recorded, along with the Application on which it proceeds, in the Sheriff Court Books of such County, shall fix and determine the Boundaries of such Burgh for the Purposes of this Act; and whenever the Boundaries of such Burgh as so ascertained for the Purposes of this Act shall include a Portion of a different County than that in which the original Bounds of such Burgh are situated, such Portion shall for the Purposes of this Act be held to be within and to form Part of the County in which such original Bounds are situated as aforesaid.

S-V Boundaries of populous Places how to be fixed.

V Boundaries of populous Places how to be fixed.

V. And be it enacted, That on the Application of any Seven or more Householders in any populous Place of which the Population shall not exceed Three thousand Inhabitants, and on the Application of any Twenty-one or more Householders in any populous Place of which the Population shall exceed Three thousand Inhabitants, and after such Publication by Advertisement and otherwise as the Sheriff may direct, the Sheriff shall appoint and direct a proper Person to make out and furnish, within Fourteen Days thereafter, a Return showing to the best of his Knowledge and Belief the Amount of the Population within such populous Place, and thereafter, and after such further Investigation (if any) as the Sheriff may deem necessary or proper, it shall be lawful for the Sheriff and he is hereby required to mark out, define, and specify in a written Deliverance on such Application the Boundaries of such populous Place, and to declare that such Place is a populous Place in Terms of this Act; and such Deliverance shall be final, and when recorded, along with the Application on which it proceeds, in the Sheriff Court Books of the County, shall fix and determine the Boundaries of such populous Place for the...

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