ΑΝ ACT

FOR THE BETTER LOCAL MANAGEMENT

OF THE METROPOLIS(a).

18 & 19 VICT. CAP. 120.

14TH AUGUST, 1855.

WHEREAS it is expedient that provision should be made for the better local management of the metropolis (b) in respect of the sewerage and drainage, and the paving, cleansing, lighting, and improvements thereof (c): 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, as follows:

(a) This Act has been amended by 19 & 20 Vict. c. 112, 21 & 22 Vict. c. 104, 25 & 26 Vict. c. 102, 38 & 39 Vict. c. 33, and 41 & 42 Vict. c. 32 (Metropolis Management and Building Acts Amendment Act, 1878). In addition to these, numerous other Acts have been passed relating to the powers and functions of the metropolitan and district boards and vestries, a reference to which will be found in the notes to sections 43 and 67, and other sections of this Act. A selection from the more important of these statutes will be found in the appendix.

(b) By the 250th section "the metropolis" is defined to include the city of London and the parishes and places mentioned in the schedules (A), (B), and (C) to the Act; and the city of London includes all parts now within the jurisdiction of the commissioners of sewers for the city of London. The 11 & 12 Vict. c. 163 (the City of London Sewers Act, 1848), s. 262, enacts that the word "city" shall mean the city of London and the liberties thereof, and shall include such parts of Holborn, the Minories, and Aldersgate Street, as are or have been usually treated as being within the liberties of the city, and the courts and alleys leading into the same or communicating therewith, and also the north side of Eldon Street, formerly called Broker Row, Moorfields, and the courts and alleys leading into the same or communicating therewith, and all precincts and places within the eity of London or the liberties thereof. See reference in note to section 135, post, to subsequent Acts making provision for the drainage of certain localities not situate within the area under the control of the Metropolitan Board of Works.

(c) See section 90, transferring, with certain exceptions, to the vestries and district boards constituted by this Act, in addition to the paving and other matters specified, all other duties, powers, and authorities in anywise relating to the regulation, government, or concerns of parishes, &c., and the 3rd section of 19 & 20 Vict. c. 112, post, transferring to them save as

B

Section 1.

1 & 2 Will. 4,
c. 60, repealed

so far as re

gards parishes

in schedules
(A.) and (B.)
(a).

Vestries in parishes named in

Election of Vestries and Auditors in Parishes in Schedules (A.)

and (B.)

1. The Act of the session holden in the first and second years of King William the Fourth, chapter sixty, "For the better Regulation of Vestries, and for the Appointment of Auditors of Accounts in certain Parishes of England and Wales," shall be repealed, from and after the passing of this Act, so far as regards any parish mentioned in either of the Schedules (A.) and (B.) to this Act: Provided always, that the vestry and auditors already elected for any such parish under the said Act shall continue to be such vestry and auditors until the first election of vestrymen and auditors for such parish under this Act has taken place, but no longer (b); and the provisions of the said Act of King William the Fourth shall continue applicable to every such vestry and to their proceedings, and the books in which the same are entered, and to such auditors and their proceedings accordingly.

2. The vestry in every parish mentioned in either of the schedules (A.) and (B.) to this Act shall consist of a certain number of persons qualified and elected as herein provided; (that is to say) eighteen vestrymen for every parish in which the number of rated houseschedules (A.) holders (c) shall not exceed one thousand; and six additional vestry

either of the

therein otherwise provided the duties, powers, and privileges (including such as relate to the affairs of the church, or the management or relief of the poor, or the administration of any money or other property applicable to the relief of the poor) which might have been performed or exercised by any open or elected or other vestry, &c.; and see as to the purposes and objects of the Act, as collected from its preamble and enactments, the judgment of Lord Justice Turner in Carter v. Cropley, 26 L. J. Ch. 247.

(a) The Act here repealed so far as regards parishes mentioned in schedules (A.) and (B.) is that commonly known as Hobhouse's Act, from which several of the provisions in the present Act relating to the constitution of vestries have in substance been adopted. See on the construction of that Act R. v. St. Pancras, 1 A. & E. 80; R. v. St. Pancras, 5 N. & M. 219; R. v. St. Marylebone, 5 A. & E. 268; R. v. St. Pancras, 11 A. & E. 15; and the cases cited, Chit. Stat. vol. 3, p. 1518, et seq. notes.

(b) As to first election of vestrymen and auditors, see sections 7, 11, post. (c) In a case in which A. and his partner had a dwelling house in a town with a counting-house attached to it, the partners using the counting-house daily for their business, and the dwelling-house being occupied by a clerk of the firm and the rent and taxes being paid by the partnership, it was held that each of the partners was a householder within 26 Geo. 3, c. 38; Rex v. Hall, 1 B. & C. 123. So also under similar circumstances, that each of the partners of a firm was a householder within 43 Eliz. c. 2, and liable to serve the office of overseer; R. v. Poynder, 1 B. & C. 178. Where a servant occupies premises of his master without paying rent, to determine whether he is a householder within that statute, the questiou is, whether the occupation is subservient and necessary to the service; if it is, the occupation is that of the master; if not, it is that of a tenant, and the servant is a householder; R. v. Spurrell, L. R. 1 Q. B, 72. See also Smith v. Overseers of Seghill, L. R. 10 Q. B. 422; Hughes v. Overseers of Chatham, 5 M. & G. 54; and Ex parte Overseers of Paddington, 3 Cox Mag. Ca. 42. As to what constitutes a person an inhabitant householder within the Municipal Corporation Act, refer to R. v. Mayor of Exeter, L. R. 4 Q. B. 110, 114, and see R. v. Boycott, 30 J. P. 406. As to majority of householders

every

and (B.) to consist of not less than 18 or

more than 120 persons qualifed and elected as after provided.

men, that is, twenty-four vestrymen for every parish in which the, Section 2. number of rated householders shall exceed one thousand; and twelve additional vestrymen, that is, thirty-six vestrymen, for parish in which the number of rated householders shall exceed two thousand; and so on at the proportion of twelve additional vestrymen for every thousand rated householders: Provided always, that in no case the number of vestrymen shall exceed one hundred and twenty; provided also, that the incumbent and churchwardens (d) of each such parish shall constitute a part of the vestry, and shall vote therein, in addition to the elected vestrymen : provided also, that every district rector now constituting in any such parish a part of the vestry thereof, shall continue to constitute a part of the vestry thereof under this Act: provided also, that where in any parish the whole number of persons qualified to be vestrymen shall not amount to eighteen, the vestry thereof shall consist of so many persons as are so qualified, anything in this Act to the contrary notwithstanding.

3. Each of the said parishes which at the time of the passing of this Act (e) contains more than two thousand rated householders shall be divided into wards; and it shall be lawful for such person or persons as may be appointed for this purpose as herein provided to determine and set out, on or before the tenth day of October next, the number, extent, limits, and boundary lines of such wards, but so nevertheless that no ward shall contain less than five hundred rated householders, and that the whole number of wards in any parish shall not exceed eight; and the person or persons setting out such wards in any parish shall apportion among the several wards the number of vestrymen to be elected for such parish, and shall, in assigning the number of vestrymen to each ward, have regard, as far as in his or their judgment it is practicable, as well to the number of persons rated to the relief of the poor in each ward as to the aggregate amount of the sums at which all such persons are rated; and the number of vestrymen assigned to each ward shall be a number divisible by three; and a copy of the particulars of such division and apportionment shall be forthwith transmitted to one of Her Majesty's principal secretaries of state, and also to the vestry clerk of the parish to which such division and apportionment relate; and if Her Majesty, by the advice of her privy council, approve of such division and apportionment, the particulars thereof shall be published in the London Gazette (f); and the parish shall, after such publication, be deemed to be divided into such wards so determined and set out, and such division shall continue and be in force until the same

for the purposes of a petition for a charter of incorporation, refer to R. v. Mayor of Aberavon, 28 J. P. 789.

(2) Where one of a number of trustees, directed by a local Act to be filled up at certain intervals to fifty-one over and besides the vicar, churchwards, &c., became churchwarden, it was held that no vacancy was thereby created; R. v. Trustees of Kensington, 2 B. & Ad. 740.

(e) The omission in this Act to make provision for a future increase of rated householders is supplied by section 41 of 25 & 26 Vict. c. 102, post, which provides for the division into wards, by the metropolitan board, of parishes not divided under this Act. Under that enactment the parishes of Hampstead, Battersea, and Wandsworth have been divided into wards.

The supplement to the London Gazette of 19th October, 1855, contains the orders in council approving the division and apportionment made pursuant to this provision.

Such parishes with more than 2,000 rated householders to be divided into wards.

Section 3. be altered as herein provided; and the number of vestrymen assigned to each ward shall be the number to be elected for such ward until altered as aforesaid: Provided always, that if Her Majesty, by advice of her privy council, do not approve such division and apportionment, such publication as aforesaid shall nevertheless be made, and such division and apportionment be in force for the purpose of any election under the provisions of this Act, until such time as Her Majesty, by advice of her privy council, upon further information and report from any such person or persons, definitely approve the division of such parish into wards, and of the number of vestrymen assigned to each ward, in manner herein before mentioned: Provided also, that where any parish is already divided into wards under any local Act such parish shall be deemed to be divided into such wards for the purposes of this Act, without any division of such parish into wards being made as herein before provided, but the number of vestrymen to be elected for such parish shall be apportioned as aforesaid among the wards of such parish by such person or persons as may be appointed for that purpose as herein provided.

Power to secretary of state to appoint persons to set out the wards, and apportion number of vestrymen to be elected.

If relative amounts of

population of wards vary in any future census, the

numbers of vestrymen may be altered (a).

4. One of Her Majesty's principal secretaries of state shall, as soon as conveniently may be after the passing of this Act, appoint not more than four fit persons, the names of such persons to be published in the London Gazette, to set out the wards into which the said parishes are by this Act directed to be divided, and to apportion the number of vestrymen to be elected for such parishes respectively among such wards, and also to apportion the number of vestrymen to be elected for any parish already divided into wards as aforesaid among such wards; and any one or more of such persons may be appointed to act as aforesaid separately from any other or others of them as such secretary of state may see fit; and such secretary of state shall, in case circumstances appear to him so to require, appoint any other fit person or persons in the place of or in addition to any such person or persons originally appointed under this provision; and every person appointed to set out such wards shall be paid at a rate not exceeding the sum of £5 5s. for every day that he is employed by virtue of such appointment, and the amount payable to him in respect of such employment in each parish shall be determined and certified by the commissioners of Her Majesty's treasury, and the amount so certified shall be paid out of the poor rates of the parish.

5. When at any time upon any account taken of the population by the authority of parliament, the relative numbers of the inhabited houses in the several wards of any parish divided into wards as aforesaid are found to have varied from those shown by the last previous census, it shall be lawful for the metropolitan board of works, upon the application of the vestry or any ratepayers of such parish, to alter the number of vestrymen assigned to such wards or any of them, but so that the number of vestrymen assigned to each ward shall be a number divisible by three.

Qualification 6. The vestry elected under this Act in any parish shall consist of vestrymen. of persons rated or assessed (b) to the relief of the poor upon a

(a) As to future division of parishes into wards, see note to section 3, ante. (6) By the amending Act, 19 & 20 Vict. c. 112, s. 4, post, an occupier of a tenement may claim to be rated to the poor rate, whether the landlord be or be not liable to be rated in respect thereof, and by section 6 an occupier rated is deemed to be rated under the Act and shall be entitled to vote in elec

tions of vestrymen, and shall, for the purposes of the Act, be deemed a ratepayer, subject to the proviso therein expressed. The 31 & 32 Vict. c. 122, s. 38, provides for the rating of persons coming into occupation (after the making of a rate) of new houses, &c., incomplete or unfit for occupation, or not entered in the valuation list in force when the current rate was made. And 32 & 33 Vict. c. 41 (Poor Rate Assessment and Collection Act, 1869) provides for payment of rates by owners, and rating owners instead of occupiers, and enacts that every payment of a rate by the occupier, notwithstanding the amount may be deducted from his rent, and any payment of a rate by the owner in the manner defined shall be deemed a payment of the poor rate by the occupier for the purpose of any qualification or franchise, depending as regards rating upon the payment of the poor rate. It also contains provision for rating successive occupiers and persons coming into occupation of unoccupied hereditaments, &c. The Parliamentary and Municipal Registration Act, 1878, section 14, recites section 14 of the Poor Rate Assessment and Collection Act, 1869, as to entering occupiers names in rate book, and declares that it shall not be deemed to apply exclusively to cases where an agreement has been made under section 3 of the Act, but shall be of general application. It had been previously decided under a local improvement act that a person did not possess the requisite qualification for a commissioner by rating who was not rated in any rate made, allowed, and published before the election, although before the election and after the allowance and publication of the last rate he had been entered as rateable in a list added to the rate, and had paid a proportional part of it; R. v. Eddowes, 1 Ell. and Ell. 330; see also Richards v. Gladwin, 27 L. J. M. C 193. By the 17th section of the Poor Rate Assessment and Collection Act, 1869, a poor rate (in the metropolis extended to every rate made by the overseers and chargeable upon the same property as the poor rate) shall be deemed to be made on the day when it is allowed by the justices, and if the justices sever in their allowance, then on the day of the last allowance. Under the Representation of the People Act, 1867, the rate entitling to registration must have been entirely made, i.e., signed, allowed, and published within the qualifying year; Jones v. Bubb, 5 Cox Mag. Ca. 273; see also Ainsworth v. Creeke, L. R. 4 C. P. 470. In 32 & 33 Vict. c. 67, the Valuation (Metropolis) Act, 1869, the term "ratepayer" is defined to mean every person who is liable to any rate or tax in respect of any property entered in any valuation list.

Where A. occupied jointly with B., the latter alone being assessed, and A. bona fide paid the rate, but without being called upon to do so, he was held not to be rated within 2 Will. 4, c. 45, s. 27; Moss v. Overseers of Lichfield, 7 M. & Gr. 72; and see R. v. Hulme, 4 Q. B. 538. A person was decided not to be disqualified for being put on a borough register of voters because he had not paid some arrears of a poor rate to which he was not rated, but only became liable to pay as incoming tenant by 17 Geo. 2, c. 38. s. 12; Flatcher v. Boodle, 34 L. J. C. P. 77.

The defendant was joint occupier with his father and brother of heredita. ments within a metropolitan parish. A rate was made in April, 1876, upon the father only. In May the defendant was elected a vestryman and declared by the inspectors after objection to be duly qualified and elected. In June he sat and voted as a vestryman. In July he caused his own name to be inserted in the demand note made in April, and in October, jointly with his father, paid the rate. It was held that the defendant was in May neither "rated "nor "assessed" within the meaning of this enactment, and was not qualified as a vestryman, that the decision of the inspectors was not conclusive, that by sitting and voting in June he had incurred the penalty imposed by section 54, and that his liability to that penalty was not taken away upon the subsequent payment of the rate; Goodhew v. Williams, L. R. 3 C. P. D. 382, where it is said by one of the judges that a similar rule of construction must be applied to this enactment as in the case of the parliamentary registration acts. Held also, the liability to this penalty was not taken away by section 4 of 19 & 20 Vict. c. 112, which, see post.

Section 6.

Note.