William III, 1696-7: An Act for licensing Hawkers and Pedlars for a further provision for the Payment of the Int[er]est of the Transport Debt for the reducing of Ireland. [Chapter XXV. Rot. Parl. 8&9 Gul. III. p.9. nu.1.]

6 & 7 W. III. c.7. § 8.

From 24 June 1697 till 25 June 1698, every Hawker, &c. to pay a Duty of £4.; and an additional £4 for every Horse, &c.

Whereas an Act of Parliament was made in the Sixth and Seventh Yeares of His Majesties Reigne intituled An Act for granting to his Majesty several additional Duties upon Coffee Tea Chocolate and Spice towards Satisfaction of the Debts due for Transport Service for the Reduction of Ireland in which Provision was made for the Payment of Interest att Five pounds per Centum for Three Yeares for the Principal Sum[m]s of Three hundred and thirty thousand seven hundred and sixty nine pounds ten shillings seven pence then allowed to be due for the said Transport Service for the reducing of Ireland which Duties have proved very deficient to answer such Interest Wee your Majesties most dutiful and loyal Subjects the Co[m]mons in Parliament assembled being willing that a further Provision may be made and Fund raised for making good to your Majesties said Subjects the Deficiency of that Provision do hereby give & grant unto your Majesty the Duties herein after mentioned and do humbly beseech your Majesty that it may be enacted and be it enacted by the Kings most Excellent Majesty by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal & Co[m]mons in this present Parliament assembled and by the Authority of the same That from & after the Foure and twentieth Day of June One thousand six hundred ninety seven until the Five and twentieth Day of June which shall be in the Yeare of our Lord One thousand six hundred ninety eight there shall be answered and paid to his Majesty his Heires & Successors by every Hawker Pedler Petty Chapman or any other trading Person or Persons going from Towne to Towne or to other Means Houses & travelling either on Foot or with Horse Horses or otherwise within the Kingdome of England Dominion of Wales or Towne of Berwick upon Tweed (except as herein after is excepted) carrying to sell or exposing to sale any Goods Wares or Merchandizes a Duty of Foure pounds and that every Person so travelling with a Horse Ass or Mule or other Beast bearing or drawing Burthen shall pay the Su[m]m of Foure pounds from the said Fource & twentieth Day of June One thousand six hundred ninety seven to the Five & twentieth Day of June One thousand six hundred ninety eight for each Horse Ass or Mule or other Beast bearing or drawing Burthen hee or she shall so travel with over and above the said first mentioned Duty of Foure pounds.

II. Hawkers to certify Commissioners for Transportation how they travel and trade; and pay down One Moiety of the Duty, and give Bond for the other at Six Months End.

Allowance for prompt Payment.; Licence.

And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid That every Pedlar Hawker Petty Chapman and other trading Person or Persons so travelling as aforesaid shall before the Foure and twentieth Day of June One thousand six hundred ninety seven deliver or cause to be delivered unto the Co[m]missioners for Transportation or any Person or persons authorized or deputed by them or the major part of them in writing under their Hands & Seals a Note in writing under his or her Hand or under the Hand of some Person by her or them authorized in that behalfe how and in what manner hee or she will travel and trade whether on Foot or with One or more Horse or Horses Ass or Asses Mule or Mules or other Beast or Beasts of Burthen for her or his so travelling and trading for which hee or she shall thereupon pay or cause to be paid unto the said Co[m]missioners for Transportation or any Person or Persons authorized or deputed by them or the major part of them in writing under their Hands & Seales one Moiety of the Duty by this Act payable for the same and give Security by Bond with One or more sufficient Sureries to be taken in his Majesties Name for the true Payment of the other Moiety of the said Duties att the end of Six Kalendar Months unlesse the Party shall chuse to pay downe the other Moiety of the said Duty in which case hee or she shall be allowed after the Rate of Two shillings in the Pound for prompt Payment of the same and thereupon a Licence shall be granted unto him or her so to travel or trade by the said Co[m]missioners for Transportation or any Two or more of them.

III. Hawker, &c. trading without or contrary to Licence; Penalty £12

Refusing to produce Licence to Mayor, &c.; Penalty £5.; and on Non-payment; Punishment.

And be it further enacted That if any such Hawker Pedlar or Petty Chapman from & after the said Fource and twentieth Day of June One thousand six hundred ninety seven be found trading as aforesaid without or contrary to such Licence such Person shall for each and every such Offence forfeit the Su[m]m of Twelve pounds the one Moiety thereof to the Informer & the other Moiety to the Poor of the pish wherein such Offender shall be discovered and that every Person so trading who upon demand made by any Justice of the Peace Mayor Constable or other Officer of the Peace of any Towne Corporate or Borough where hee or she shall so trade shall refuse to produce and shew unto such Justice of Peace Mayor Constable or other Officer of the Peace his or her Licence for so trading to be granted as aforesaid that then the person so refusing shall forfeit Five pounds to be paid to the Churchwardens of the Parish where such demand shall be made to the Use of the Poor of the same and for Nonpayment thereof shall suffer as a co[m]mon Vagrant and be co[m]mitted to the House of Correction.

IV. Commissioners for Transportation to grant Licences to Hawkers, &c.

Fee.; A distinct Account to be kept, and Duties paid into the Exchequer Weekly.; Penalty.; Money to be applied as by 6 & 7 W. III. c. 7.

And be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid That it shall and may be lawfull for the said Co[m]missioners for Transportation or any Two or more of them and they are hereby directed appointed and required upon the Terms aforesaid and upon the Receipt and Security given as aforesaid to grant a Licence to be by them subscribed to every Hawker Pedlar Petty Chapman or any other trading Person for him or herselfe or for him or herselfe with One or more Horses Asses Mules or other Beasts which hee or she shall travel with as the Case shall require for which Licence there shall be taken onely One shilling unlesse such Hawker Pedlar or Petty Chapman shall travel with Horse Asse or Mule or other Beast of Burthen and in that Case there shall be paid for such Licence Two shillings onely over & above the Duties aforesaid and no more and that the said Co[m]missioners shall keep a separate and distinct Account of the Duties granted by this Act and pay the Money ariseing thereby into his Majesties Exchequer upon Wednesday in every Week (unlesse a Holyday) and if it be a Holyday then on the next Day after that is not a Holyday and upon Neglect or Refusal of the same shall incurr the Penalties Forfeitures Damages and Costs as other the Officers of the Exchequer herein after mentioned shall be liable unto which Money so paid in shall be applied to the Uses herein after menc[i]oned by this Act that is to say for the paying the Interest of the said Three hundred and thirty thousand seven hundred sixty nine pounds ten shillings seven pence in such Sort & Manner and in such Proportions as the Duties ariseing by virtue of the said recited Act made in the Sixth and Seventh Yeare of his Majesties Reigne are appointed to be paid and applied and not otherwise.

V. Forging Licence; Penalty £50 and Punishment.

And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid That if any Person and Persons whatsoever shall forge or counterfeit any Licence or Licences or travel with such forged or counterfeited Licences for the Purposes aforesaid such Person shall forfeit the Su[m]m of Fifty pounds one Moiety thereof to the King the other to him that shall prosecute or sue for the same to be recovered by Action of Debt Bill Plaint or Information in any of his Majesties Courts of Record att Westminster in which no Essoigne Protection Wager of Law or more then one Imparlance shall be allowed and shall be subject to such other Pains and Penalties as may be inflicted on Persons for Forgery.

VI. In Actions for executing Act, General Issue. Treble Costs.

And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid That if any Person or Persons shall be sued molested or troubled for putting in Execution any the Powers contained in this Act or for doeing any Matter or Thing pursuant thereunto such Person or Persons shall and may plead the General Issue Not Guilty and give the special matter in Evidence and if the Plaintiff or Plaintiffs shall be nonsuited or Judgment be given against him or them upon Demurrer or a Verdict passe for the Defendant such Defendant shall have his her or their Treble Costs to be recovered in such Manner as where by Law Costs are given to Defendants.

VII. Constable, &c. refusing to assist in the Execution of the Act;

Penalty 40s.

And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid That if any Constable Headborough or other Officer or Officers aforesaid shall refuse or neglect upon due Notice or on their owne View to be aiding and assisting in the Execution of this Act being thereunto required and each and every such Officer or Officers being thereof convicted by the Oath of One or more credible Witnesse or Witnesses before any Justice of the Peace for the County or Place where such Offence shall be co[m]mitted shall forfeit for each and every such Offence contrary to this Act the Su[m]m of Forty shillings to be levied by Distresse and Sale of the Offenders Goods by Warrant under the Hand and Seale of such Justice of the Peace the one Moiety to the Poor of the Parish where such Offence shall be co[m]mitted the other Moiety to the Informer who shall prosecute for the same rendring the Overplus thereof to the Owner if any be.

VIII. Hawker, &c. may be detained till be produce his Licence.

Hawker trading without Licence may be carried before Justice of Peace.; Penalty £12,; Distress.

And it is further enacted by the Authority aforesaid That it shall and may be lawfull for any Person and Persons whatsoever to seize and detaine any such Hawker Pedlar Petty Chapman or other trading Person or Persons as aforesaid till such Time as hee she or they shall produce a Licence in that behalfe if hee she or they have any and if hee she or they shall be found trading without a Licence contrary to this Act for such reasonable Time as hee she or they may give Notice to the Constable Headborough Tythingman Churchwarden Overseer of the Poor or some other Parish Officer or Officers who are hereby required to carry such Person so seized before some one of his Majesties Justices of the Peace of the County or Place where such Offence or Offences shall be co[m]mitted which said Justice of the Peace is hereby authorized and strictly required either upon the Confession of the Party offending or due Proof by Witnesse upon Oath (which hee is hereby impowered to administer) that the person so brought before him had so traded as aforesaid and that no such Licence shall be produced by such Offender before the said Justice by Warrant under his Hand and Seale to cause the said Su[m]m of Twelve pounds to be forthwith levied by Distresse and Sale of the Offender or Offenders Goods Wares or Merchandizes rendring the Overplus if any be to the Owner or Owners thereof after true deducc[i]on of the reasonable Charge for taking the said Distresse and out of the said Sale to pay the said respective Penalties and Forfeitures aforesaid.

IX. Proviso for selling of Newspapers, &c. Fish, &c. and Goods or Wares by the Makers thereof, and for Tinkers, Coopers, &c.

Provided always and be it enacted That this Act or any thing herein contained shall not extend to prohibit any Person from selling of any Acts of Parliament Forms of Prayer Proclamations Gazettes licensed Almanacks or other printed Papers licensed by Authority or any Fish Fruits or Victuals nor to hinder any Person or Persons who are the real Workers or Makers of any Goods or Wares within the Kingdome of England Dominion of Wales or Towne of Berwick upon Tweed or his her or their Children Apprentices Servants or Agents from carrying abroad exposing to sale and selling any of the said Goods and Wares of his her or their owne making in any publick Mart Faires Marketts or elsewhere nor any Tinker Cooper Glazier Plummers Harnesse-menders or other Persons usually trading in mending Kettles Tubs Houshold Goods or Harnesse whatsoever from going about and carrying with him or them proper Materials for mending the same.

X. A Register to be kept of Monies paid into the Exchequer.

Provided also and it is further enacted by the Authority aforesaid That there shall be provided and kept in his Majesties Exchequer that is to say in the Office of the Auditor of Receipts one Book or Register in which all Moneys that shall be paid into the Exchequer by virtue of this Act shall be entred registred and kept apart and distinct from all other Moneys paid or payable to his Majesty or upon any other Branch of his Majesties Revenue or upon any other Account whatsoever.

XI. Officers of Exchequer misapplying Monies, Forfeiture of Office, Incapacity, and Penalty.

Orders for paying Money contrary to this Act void.

Provided and it is further enacted by the Authority aforesaid That if any Officer in the Exchequer shall divert or misapply any of the Moneys that shall be paid into the Exchequer by virtue of this Act to any other Uses or Purposes than are hereby directed then such Officer so offending shall forfeit his Office in the Exchequer and be incapable of any Office or Place of Trust and shall be liable to pay the treble Value of any Su[m]m or Su[m]ms so diverted or misapplied to any of the Persons thereby grieved their respective Executors Administrators or Assigns who will sue for the same by any Action of Debt Bill Plaint or Informac[i]on in any of his Majesties Courts of Record att Westminster wherein no Essoigne Protection Wager of Law Priveledge of Parliament or other Priveledge or more than one Imparlance shall be granted or allowed and all Orders and Warrants for issuing paying or disposing any of the Moneys to be raised by virtue of this Act contrary to the true Intent and Meaning thereof shall be utterly void to all intents & purposes whatsoever.

XII. Proviso for Sale of Goods in public Markets, &c.

Provided always and it is hereby further enacted That nothing herein contained shall extend or be construed to extend to hinder any Person or Persons from selling or exposing to sale any sorts of Goods or Merchandizes in any publick Mart Markett or Faire within the Kingdome of England Dominion of Wales or Towne of Berwick upon Tweed but that such person and Persons may do therein as they lawfully might have done before the making of this Act Any thing herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

XIII. Recital of 6&7 W.&M. c. 7. § 7.

Owners of Ships, &c. to deliver to Commissioners an Account of their Shares, &c.; and if transferred or assigned, and how entitled, &c.

And whereas by the said before in part recited Act itt is provided that the Co[m]missioners for Transportation should within Three Months after the passing of the said Act make out authentick Debentures for each Su[m]m of Money due to or for every respective Shipp as the same was adjusted by the Co[m]missioners for taking and stating the publick Accounts of the Kingdome and that such Debenture when made out be delivered either to the Owner of or to the Agent appearing for every such respective Shipp and shall be made payable to such Person or his Assigns as such respective Owner or his Agent shall nominate for the Use of the Owners of the respective Shipps Now for the better adjusting and setting forth of what Share Part and Proportion of the Money by this and the said in part recited Act any Person is or may be intituled unto & that the respective Agents may be the better informed for making their Payments and for preventing of Frauds in that behalfe Be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid That on or before the First Day of August One thousand six hundred ninety seven the several Owners of the said Shipps or such person or Persons to whom their several Shares Parts or Interests in the same shall before that time come or be transferred shall deliver in to the Co[m]missioners for Transportation an Account of what Share Part or Interest in each Shipp hee or they under whom they claime are att the Time of such Account possessed of and if such Share Part or Interest shall att that time be transferred assigned or vested in any other Person than the first Proprietor then the Person or Persons claiming the same shall give an Account to the said Co[m]missioners how and by what Ways and Means hee or they become intituled to the same and so from time to time upon the Death of any Person intituled to any Part Share or Interest of the Money intended to be raised by this or the said in part recited Act or upon assignement or transferring of such Part Share or Interest the Person who shall be intituled to such Part, Share or Interest upon such Death Assignment or Transferrence shall give an Account of the same to the said Co[m]missioners as above directed.

XIV. A Register of Claims to be kept.

Fee.; No Person to receive any Share till his Claim be delivered to the Commissioners.

And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid That a Register of every persons Claime and Interest shall be made and from time to time be continued and kept in a Book or Books to be provided by the said Co[m]missioners for that purpose in their Office and for [the (fn. 1) ] registring of each Persons Claime or Title there shall be paid to the Clerk One shilling and no more and no Person shall be intituled to receive from the Agent of any Shipp any of the Money raised or intended to be raised by this or the said in part recited Act till hee hath delivered in to the said Co[m]missioners an Account of his Share Part and Interest by him demanded or claimed together with his Title to the same (if hee be not the first Proprietor) as aforesaid which Register shall be att( (fn. 2) ) seasonable times viewed without Fee or Reward.

XV. 6&7 W. III. c. 7. § 1.

Surplus after Payment of Interest at 5 per Cent. to be kept in the Exchequer, &c.

And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid That in case it shall so happen that the several additional Duties so granted to his Majesty upon Coffee Tea Chocolate and Spice by the said herein recited Act together with the Duties to be raised by virtue of this Act shall amount to more than what may prove sufficient for Payment of Interest att Five Pounds per Centum for the said principal Sum[m] of Three hundred thirty thousand seven hundred sixty nine pounds ten shillings seven pence that then and in such Case such Surplus ariseing by the said Duties more than sufficient for payment of the said Interest shall remaine in the Excheq[uer] and not be disposed of otherwise than by Act of Parliament expresly made in that behalfe.

XVI. Commissioners, &c. to be paid out of Duties.

Provided always That it shall and may be lawfull for the Co[m]missioners of his Majesties Treasury or the Lord High Tresurer for the time being out of the Monies raised by this or the said recited Act to pay to the said Co[m]missioners their Clerks or any other Persons such Su[m]ms of Money as they or any of them shall or may reasonablie deserve for their Service or shall or may have expended in the Execution of or in relation to this or the said recited Act.

XVII. This Act not to give any new Powers for licensing Hawkers, &c. to sell Goods in Cities, &c.

Provided always and be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid That this Act or any thing therein contained shall not extend or be construed to give any Power for the licensing of any Hawker Pedlar or Petty Chapman to sell or expose to sale any Wares or Merchandizes in any City Borough Towne Corporate or Markett Towne within this Realme any otherwise than might have [been (fn. 3) ] done before the making of this Act Any thing therein contained to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.