Stamps Act 1785

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citation1785 c. 80
Year1785
Anno Regni GEORGII III. vicesimo quinto. An Act for granting to his Majesty certain Duties on Certificates to be taken out by Solicitors, Attornies, and others, practising in certain Courts of Justice inGreat Britain ; and certain other Duties with respect to Warrants, Mandates, and Authorities, to be entered or filed of Record, as therein mentioned.

(25 Geo. 3) C A P. LXXX.

'Most Gracious Sovereign,

WE, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal Subjects, the Commons ofGreat Britain , in Parliament assembled, towards raising the necessary Supplies to defray your Majesty's Publick Expences, have resolved to give and grant unto your Majesty the Duties herein after mentioned;' and do most humbly beseech your Majesty that it may be enacted; and be it 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 Authority of the same, That, from and after the first DayofNovember one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five, there shall be raised, levied, collected, and paid, throughout the Kingdom of Great Britain , unto and for the Use of his Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, the Rates and Duties following; (that is to say,)

That for and in respect of every Warrant, Mandate, or Authority given to any Solicitor, Attorney, Notary, Proctor, Agent, or Procurator inGreat Britain , to commence, carry on, or defend, any Suit or Prosecution in any of his Majesty's Courts at Westminster , or in any Ecclesiastical Court, or in any of the Courts of Admiralty or Cinque Ports, or in any of his Majesty's Courts in Scotland , the Great Sessions in Wales , or in any Courts in the Counties Palatine, or in any other Court holding Pleas, where the Debt or Damage shall amount to forty Shillings, or more, there shall be charged a Stamp-duty of two Shillings and six Pence:

That every Solicitor, Attorney, Notary, Proctor, Agent, or Procurator, admitted, enrolled, or registered in any of his Majesty's Courts atWestminster , or in any Ecclesiastical Court, or in any of the Courts of Admiralty, or Cinque Ports, or in any of his Majesty's Courts in Scotland , the Great Sessions in Wales , or in any Courts in the Counties Palatine, or in any other Court in Great Britain holding Pleas, where the Debt or Damage shall amount to forty Shillings, or more, shall, previous to his commencing or defending any Suit or Prosecution, take out annually a Certificate of such his Admission, Enrolment, or Register:

That for and upon every such Certificate so taken out by any Solicitor, Attorney, Notary, Proctor, Agent, or Procurator, who shall reside in any of the Inns of Court, or in the Cities ofLondon or , the Borough ofSouthwark , the Parish of Saint Pancrass , and Saint Mary le Bone , or within the Bills of Mortality, or within the City of Edinburgh , there shall be charged a Stamp-duty of five Pounds:

That for and upon every such Certificate so taken out by any Solicitor, Attorney, Notary, Proctor, Agent, or Procurator, who shall reside in any other Part ofGreat Britain , there shall be charged a Stamp-duty of three Pounds.

S-II Duties to be under the Management of the Commissioners for Stamps.

II Duties to be under the Management of the Commissioners for Stamps.

II. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That, for the better and more effectual levying and collecting the said Duties herein before granted, the same shall be under the Government, Care, and Management of the Commissioners for the Time being appointed to manage the Duties charged on stamped Vellum, Parchment, and Paper; who, or the major Part of them, are hereby required and empowered to employ such Officers under them for that Purpose, and to allow such Salaries and incidental Charges as may be necessary, and to provide and use such Stamps, to denote the said Duties, as shall be requisite in that Behalf, and to do all other Things necessary to be done for putting this Act into Execution, with relation to the said Rates and Duties herein before granted, in the like, and in as full and ample Manner as they, or the major Part of them, are or is authorised to put in Execution any former Law concerning stamped Vellum, Parchment, and Paper.

S-III Every acting Solicitor, &c. shall annually deliver in a Note of his Name and Residence, &c. in order to obtain a Certificate.

III Every acting Solicitor, &c. shall annually deliver in a Note of his Name and Residence, &c. in order to obtain a Certificate.

III. And, for the easier obtaining such Certificate, be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That, from and after the first Day ofNovember one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five, every Person admitted, sworn, enrolled, or registered a Solicitor, Attorney, Notary, Proctor, Agent, or Procurator, in any one or more of the Courts aforesaid, who shall commence, carry on, or defend, any Action, Suit, or Prosecution therein, shall annually, during such Time as he shall continue so to practise therein, deliver into some one of the Courts in which he shall have been admitted, sworn, enrolled, or registered, in such Manner as herein after is directed, a Paper or Note, in the proper Hand-writing of every such Solicitor, Attorney, Notary, Proctor, Agent, or Procurator, containing his Name and usual Place of Residence, and marked and stamped with the proper Mark or Stamp denoting the Duty herein before imposed upon Certificates, according to the Place of such his Residence as aforesaid, and thereupon every such Solicitor, Attorney, Notary, Proctor, Agent, or Procurator, shall be intitled to have a Certificate (if the same shall be required) in the Manner herein after directed.

S-IV Officers for entering Applications for Certificates in England.

IV Officers for entering Applications for Certificates in England.

IV. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That, from and after the first Day ofNovember one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five, the Chief Clerk of the Court of King's Bench, or his Deputy, the Clerk of the Warrants in the Court of Common Pleas, or his Deputy, the Clerk of the Pleas in the Exchequer Office of Pleas, or his Deputy, the Prothonotaries of the respective Counties Palatine of Lancaster, Chester , and Durham , and of the Great Sessions in Wales , or their respective Deputies, and such Officers of the inferior Courts of Law as the Judge or Judges of the inferior Courts respectively shall, from Time to Time, appoint to enroll the Names of Persons admitted Attornies in the said Courts respectively, the Senior Clerk of the Petty Bag Office in the Court of Chancery, or his Deputy, the King's Remembrancer of the Court of Exchequer, or his Deputy, the Chief Clerk of the Court of the Duchy Chamber of Lancaster , or his Deputy, the Register of the respective Courts of Equity in the said Counties Palatine, and of the Great Sessions in Wales , or their respective Deputies, and such Officers of the inferior Courts of Equity as the Judge or Judges of such inferior Courts respectively shall, from Time to Time, appoint to enroll the Names of Persons admitted Solicitors in the said Courts respectively, shall, and they are hereby respectively required, from Time to Time, upon Payment of the Fee of one Shilling, to enter, in alphabetical Order, the Name and Place of Residence of every such Attorney and Solicitor enrolled an Attorney or Solicitor in the said Courts respectively (and who shall have delivered in such Paper or Note in Writing, duly stamped, and required a Certificate of his Enrolment, as aforesaid) in Rolls or Books to be provided and kept for that Purpose in the said several and respective Offices; and also that the Registers of all and every the Ecclesiastical Courts, Courts of Admiralty, or of the Cinque Ports, or their respective Deputies, shall, and they are hereby respectively required, in like Manner, from Time to Time, to enter, in alphabetical Order, the Name and Place of Residence of every Notary, Proctor, or Procurator, admitted a Notary, Proctor, or Procurator, in the said Courts respectively, and who shall have delivered in a like Paper or Note in Writing, containing his Name and Place of Residence, and requiring a Certificate of his Admission as aforesaid, in Rolls or Rooksto be provided and kept for that Purpose in the said respective Offices; and also that all such Officers of the Courts of Sessions, Courts of Justiciary, Circuit Courts, Court of Exchequer, or Sheriff or Stewart Courts, or any other inferior Courts inScotland , as the Judge or Judges of the said Courts respectively shall, from Time to Time, appoint to register any Certificate of the Oaths appointed by Law to be taken and subscribed in the said Courts respectively, by Persons officiating therein as Procurators, Agents, or Solicitors, shall, and they are hereby respectively required, in like Manner, from Time to Time, to enter, in alphabetical Order, the Name and Place of Residence of every such Procurator, Agent, or Solicitor, delivering in a like Paper or Note in Writing, containing his Name and Place of Residence, and requiring a Certificate of such Register as aforesaid, in Rolls or Books to be provided and kept for that Purposein the said respective Offices; and all and every the Officers aforesaid respectively shall, and they, and each and every of them, are hereby required, at the Time of making such Entry, to subscribe to every such Paper or Note in Writing, so delivered in, a Certificate signed by every such Officer respectively, according to the Form of the Schedule hereunto annexed; to all which said Rolls or Books, in the said Courts respectively, all Persons shall and may, at seasonable Times, have free Access without Fee or Reward.

S-V Entering Officers, &c. to issue annual Certificates, which must be renewed 10 Days before Expiration.

V Entering Officers, &c. to issue annual Certificates, which must be renewed 10 Days before Expiration.

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