Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840
(3 & 4 Vict.) C A P. CVIII.
[10th August 1840]
'WHEREAS divers Bodies Corporate at sundry Times have been constituted within the Cities, Towns, Counties of Cities, Counties of Towns, and Boroughs ofIreland , to the Intent that the same might for ever be and remain well regulated and quietly governed; and it is expedient that the Charters by which several of the said Bodies Corporate are constituted should be altered in the Manner herein-after mentioned:' Be it therefore 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 so much of all Laws, Statutes, and Usages, and so much of all Royal and other Charters, Grants, and Letters Patent, Rules, Orders, and Directions, now in force relating to the several Boroughs named in the Schedules (A.), (B.), and (I.) to this Act annexed, or to the Inhabitants thereof, or to the several Bodies or reputed or late Bodies Corporate named in the said Schedules, or any of them, as is inconsistent with or contrary to the Provisions of this Act, shall be repealed and annulled, from the Time when this Act shall come into operation in each of such Boroughs respectively.
II Reservation of all Right of Property and beneficial Exemptions to Freemen, their Wives and Children.
II. And be it enacted, That every Person who now is or hereafter may be an Inhabitant of any Borough named in either of the said Schedules (A.), (B.), and (I.), and also every Person who has been admitted or who might hereafter have been admitted a Freeman or Burgess of any such Borough, if this Act had not been passed, otherwise than by Gift or Purchase, or who now is or hereafter may be the Wife or Widow, or Son or Daughter of any Freeman or Burgess or of any Person who shall have been entitled to be admitted a Freeman or Burgess of any such Borough as aforesaid, or who may have espoused or may hereafter espouse the Daughter or Widow of any such Freeman or Burgess or of any such Person as last aforesaid, or who has been or may hereafter be bound an Apprentice to any such Freeman or Burgess or any such Person as last aforesaid, shall have and enjoy and be entitled to acquire and enjoy the same Share and Benefit of the Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments, and of the Rents and Profits thereof, and of the Common Lands and Public Stock of any such Borough or Body Corporate, and of any Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments, and any Sum or Sums of Money, Chattels, Securities for Money, or other Personal Estate of which any Person or any Body Corporate may be seised or possessed, in whole or in part, for any charitable Uses or Trusts, as fully and effectually and for such Time and in such Manner as he or she, by any Statute, Charter, Bye Law, or Custom in force at the Time of passing this Act, might or could have had, acquired, or enjoyed the same in case this Act had not been passed: Provided always, that the total Amount to be divided amongst the Persons whose Rights are herein reserved in this Behalf shall not exceed the Surplus which shall remain after Payment of the Interest of all lawful Debts chargeable upon the Real or Personal Estate out of which the Sums so to be divided have arisen, together with the Salaries of Municipal Officers and all other lawful Expences which on the Fifth Day ofJune One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five were defrayed out of or chargeable upon the same: Provided also, that nothing herein-before contained shall be construed to apply to any Claim, Right, or Title of any Burgesses or Freemen, or of any Person, to any Discharge or Exemption from any Tolls or Dues levied wholly or in part by or to the Use or Benefit of any Borough or Body Corporate.
III None to be exempted from Tolls but those who were so on 5th June 1835.
III. And be it enacted, That after the passing of this Act no Person shall have or be entitled to claim thenceforward any Discharge or Exemption from any Tolls or Dues lawfully levied, in whole or in part, by or to the Use of any Body Corporate, except as herein-after is excepted: Provided nevertheless, that every Person who on the said Fifth Day ofJune One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five was an Inhabitant, or was admitted or was entitled to be admitted a Freeman or Burgess of any such Borough, or who on the said Fifth Day of June was the Wife or Widow, Son or Daughter of any Freeman of any Borough, or who on the said Fifth Day of June was bound an Apprentice, shall be entitled to have or acquire and enjoy the same Discharge or Exemption from any Tolls or Dues lawfully levied, in whole or in part, by or to the Use of any Borough or Body Corporate, as fully and for such Time and in such Sort as he or she by any Statute, Charter, Bye Law, or Custom in force on the said Fifth Day ofJune might or would have had, acquired, and enjoyed the same if this Act had not been passed, and no further or otherwise.
IV Conditions of Admission to be fulfilled as heretofore.
IV. And be it enacted, That nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to entitle any Person to any Share or Benefit of the Rights herein reserved who shall not have first fulfilled every Condition which if this Act had not passed would have been a Condition precedent to his or her being entitled to the Benefit of such Rights, so far as the same is capable of being fulfilled, according to the Provisions of this Act, or to strengthen, confirm, or affect any Claim, Right, or Title of any Burgesses or Freemen of any Borough or Body Corporate, or of any Person, to the Benefit of any such Rights as are herein-before reserved, but the same in every Case may be brought in question, impeached, and set aside in like Manner as if this Act had not been passed; and where, by any Statute, Charter, Bye Law, or Custom in force within any Borough at the Time of passing this Act, any Person whose Rights in this Behalf are herein-before reserved would have been liable, in case this Act had not been passed, to pay any Fine, Fee, or Sum of Money to any Body Corporate, or to any Member, Officer, or Servant of any Body Corporate, in consideration of his Freedom, or of his or her Title to such Rights as are herein reserved, no such Person shall be entitled to have or claim any Share or Benefit in respect of the Rights herein reserved as aforesaid, until he or she shall have paid the full Amount of such Fine, Fee, or Sum of Money in manner following; (that is to say,) if such Rights be within any Borough named in the said Schedule (A.), or in any Borough named in the said Schedule (B.) to which a Charter of Incorporation shall have been granted as herein-after is mentioned, to the Treasurer of such Borough appointed under the Provisions of this Act, on account of the Borough Fund herein-after mentioned; but if such Rights be within any Borough named in the said Schedule (B.) to which no such Charter of Incorporation shall have been granted, then to such Person as the Commissioners or Guardians of the Poor herein-after mentioned, and if within any Borough named in the Schedule (I.) to this Act annexed then as the Guardians of the Poor herein-after mentioned, shall appoint to receive the same, to be applied respectively to the public Benefit of the Inhabitants thereof.
V No Freedom by Gift or Purchase.
V. And be it enacted, That after the passing of this Act no Person shall be elected, made, or admitted a Burgess or Freeman of any Borough by Gift or Purchase.
VI Reservation of the Parliamentary Franchise to Freemen.
VI. 'And whereas by an Act passed in the Session of Parliament holden in the Second and Third Years of the Reign of His late Majesty, intituled Ireland, it was enacted, that all Freemen, Freeholders, and Persons who by reason of any corporate or other Right were then by Law entitled to vote at the Election of a Member or Members to serve in Parliament for any City, Town, or Borough, and all Persons who by reason of Birth, Marriage, Service, or of any Statute then in force, should be at any Time thereafter admitted to their Freedom in any City, Town, or Borough sending a Member or Members to Parliament, should, subject to the Conditions and Provisions in that Act contained, have and enjoy such Right of voting as fully and in like Manner as if that Act had not been passed;' be it enacted, That all Persons now entitled to vote at the Election of a Member or Members to serve in Parliament for any Borough named in either of the said Schedules (A.) and (B.) shall continue to enjoy such Right as fully as if this Act had not been passed; and that every Person who if this Act had not been passed would have had a Right to be admitted a Freeman or Burgess of any such Borough as aforesaid, or to be placed on the Roll of Freemen or Burgesses of any such Borough as aforesaid, in order to be registered, and to vote in the Election of a Member or Members to serve in Parliament, or might hereafter have been entitled to acquire in respect of Birth, or Marriage, or Servitude, or of any Statute then in force, as a Freeman or Burgess of such Borough, the Right of voting in the Election of a Member or Members to serve in Parliament for such Borough, shall be entitled, if such Borough be one of the Boroughs named in the said Schedule (A.), or one of the Boroughs to which a Charter of Incorporation shall have been granted as herein-after is mentioned, to be admitted a Freeman or Burgess of such Borough and placed on the ‘Freemen's...
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