Thames and Isis, Navigation Act 1771
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1771 c. 45 |
(11 Geo. 3) C A P. XLV.
'WHEREAS the carrying on and regulating the Navigation of the RiversThames and Isis from the City of London to the Town of Cricklade , in the County of Wilts , was, in and by an Act of Parliament made and passed in the twenty-fourth Year of the Reign of his late Majesty King George the Second, intituled, An Act for the better carrying on and regulating the Navigation of the Rivers Thames and Isis from the City of London Westward to the Town of Cricklade, in the County of Wilts, vested in certain Commissioners therein appointed, who, for want of proper Powers, have not been able to prevent frequent Abuses and Exactions being committed by the Owners of several Towing-paths and other Passages on the Banks of the said Rivers, and by the Owners of Locks, Weirs, Turnpikes, Dams, Flood-gates, and other Engines, in and upon or near adjoining so the said Rivers, and also by several Barge-masters and their Servants navigating thereon; by reason whereof the Price of Water-carriage on those Rivers is very much raised, and the Navigation of the said Rivers greatly damaged, contrary to the Intent and Meaning of the said Act: And whereas, upon a Survey and Estimate made and taken of the necessary Expence of making proper Turnpikes, and of cleansing and embanking divers Parts of the said Rivers, and for purchasing Lands for the making of Towing-paths, and of building Bridges across divers Streams that empty themselves into the said Rivers, and for other Purposes, in order to complete the Navigation of the said Rivers, it appears, that the same will amount to a considerable Sum of Money, which cannot be raised without the Aid and Authority of Parliament:' May it therefore please 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, for completing the said Navigation, and for preventing all Abuses and Exactions relating thereto, which may render the same less useful to the Public, all Members of the House of Commonsfor the time being, that do or shall reside within the Counties ofWilts, Gloucester, Oxford, Berks, Bucks, Surry , and Middlesex , the Representatives in Parliament of the said Counties for the time being, the Representatives in Parliament of the City of London and of all Towns within the said Counties for the time being, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London for the time being, the High Bailiff of Westminster for the time being, the Vice Chancellor and Heads of Colleges or Halls in the University of Oxford for the time being, the Dean and Canons of Christ Church for the time being, the Dean and Prebendaries of Westminster for the time being, the Dean and Residentaries of Saint Paul's London , for the time being, the Dean and Canons of Windsor for the time being, the Provost and Fellows of Eton College for the time being, the Rectors and Incumbents for the time being of the several Parishes that border upon the Thames , the Mayors and Recorders of Oxford, Abingdon, Wallingford, Reading, Henley, Maidenhead , and Windsor , and the Bailiffs and Recorder of Kingston upon Thames for the time being, the Trustees or Commissioners of the River Wey , the Proprietors of the said River, the Mayor, Aldermen, and Recorder of Guilford , the Bailiffs of the Town of Godalming , and all Persons who do or shall at any Time reside, or have an Estate of one hundred Pounds per Annum within the respective Counties of Middlesex, Surry, Berks, Bucks, Oxford, Gloucester , and Wilts , shall be, and are hereby constituted Commissioners for putting in Execution all and singular the Powers in this Act contained; and that all and every Person and Persons constituted and appointed a Commissioner or Commissioners by virtue or in pursuance of this Act, before he and they respectively take upon himself or themselves to act as a Commissioner or Commissioners (other than the administering the following Oath to one another, which they, or any two of them, are hereby impowered and required to do) shall take and subscribe the following Oath:
‘IA. B. do swear, That I will, without Favour or Affection, truly, faithfully, and impartially execute, perform, and discharge the Office and Duty of a Commissioner, according to the Powers, Authorities, and Directions given and established by an Act of Parliament for improving and completing the Navigation of the Rivers Thames and Isis from the City of London to the Town of Cricklade, in the County of Wilts; and that I will execute the said Act according to the best of my Skill and Knowledge.
So help me G O D .’
Which Oath so taken and subscribed as aforesaid, shall be kept by the Clerk of the Peace among the Records of the Sessions of the Peace in and for the respective Counties where the same shall be so taken and subscribed.
II Qualification of Commissioners.
II. Provided always, That no Person, except the Mayor, Aldermen ofGuilford , and the Bailiffs of the Town of Godalming , shall act as a Commissioner in any Case in the Execution of this Act, unless he shall be seised in his own Right, or in the Right of his Wife, of Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments of the clear yearly Value of one hundred Pounds, or shall be Heir-apparent of some Person having such Estate of the yearly Value of two hundred Pounds, or shall be possessed of a personal Estate to the Amount of three thousand Pounds.
III If disqualified, shall forfeit 200 l.
III. And be it further enacted, That in case any Person shall presume to act as a Commissioner before he has taken the said Oath, or if he shall have acted not being duly qualified, or whilst he was under any Disqualification by this Act, he shall, upon Conviction thereof, forfeit the Sum of two hundred Pounds; to be recovered by the General Treasurer of the said Navigation, by Action of Debt, in any of his Majesty's Courts of Record atWestminster ; and such Person shall prove that he is qualified as aforesaid, or otherwise shall forfeit the said Sum of two hundred Pounds; which Sum, when recovered, after deducting of all Costs and Charges attending the Recovery thereof, shall be applied to and for the Purposes of this Act.
IV Time and Place of Commissioners first Meeting. Ordinary Meetings how to be held.
IV. And be it further enacted, That the said Commissioners, or any seven or more of them, for the better and more orderly putting in Execution the Powers hereby to them given, shall, for the first Time, meet on the secondThursday after the passing of this Act, at the Town-hall of Henley upon Thames ; and afterwards, in the said Year, and every subsequent Year, without any previous Notice, on the first Saturday after the twenty-fourth Day of June , at the Town-hall of Great Marlow , in the County of Bucks ; on the first Saturday after the twenty-ninth Day of September , at the Town-hall of Kingston , in the County of Surry ; on the first Saturday after the twenty-fifth Day of December , at the Town-hall of Oxford ; on the first Saturday after the twenty-fifth Day of March , at the Town-hall of Reading , in the County of Berks ; which Meetings, subsequent to the first-mentioned Meeting, shall be called Quarterly or Ordinary Meetings: And at any one of the said quarterly or ordinary Meetings it shall and may be lawful for any Commissionerthen present to propose any Person to be a Commissioner, being an Inhabitant of any County bordering upon theThames or Isis , provided such Person is otherwise duly qualified according to this Act, or is not thereby in any Manner disqualified to be elected a Commissioner; and if the Person so proposed shall be elected by a Majority of Commissioners present at the next quarterly or ordinary Meeting, he shall be a Commissioner to all Intents and Purposes, in the same Manner as if he had been appointed by this Act.
V Method of adjourning.
V. And be it further enacted, That at any of the said quarterly or ordinary Meetings, and also at all General Meetings, it shall and may be lawful for any seven or more of the said Commissioners to proceed to execute this Act, and all the Powers, Matters, and Things herein contained, and also to adjourn themselves, from Time to Time, and Place to Place, as they shall think necessary; but in case it shall happen that seven Commissioners shall not be present at any such ordinary, or at any extraordinary or adjourned Meeting, then, and in such Case only, it shall and may be lawful for any two or more of the said Commissioners to adjourn themselves from Time to Time, and Place to Place, as they shall think proper, until seven or more Commissioners shall meet and be present at one Time, who shall adjourn themselves, from time to time, to such Place, and so from Place to Place within the Counties ofMiddlesex, Surry, Berks, Buckingham, Oxford, Gloucester , and Wilts , and near to the same Rivers, or some Part thereof, as they shall think proper: And the said Commissioners, or any three or more of them, are hereby impowered and authorised afterwards, at any Time or Times, when it shall happen that no General Meeting is appointed to be held by Adjournment, to appoint extraordinary General Meetings of the said Commissioners for putting in Execution all or any of the Powers hereby in them vested, at such Times and Places as they shall think proper, within any of the Counties by or through which the said Rivers run, upon or near the same, upon giving ten Days Notice in such public News-papers, as to the said...
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