Servants' Characters Act 1792
| Year | 1792 |
(32 Geo. 3) C A P. LVI.
'WHEREAS many false and counterfeit Characters of Servants have either been given personally, or in Writing, by evil-disposed Persons being, or pretending to be, the Master, Mistress, Retainer, or Superintendant of such Servants, or by Persons who have actually retained such Servants in their respective Service, contrary to Truth and Justice, and to the Peace and Security of his Majesty's Subjects: And whereas the Evil herein complained of is not only difficult to be guarded against, but is also of great Magnitude, and continually increasing, and no sufficient Remedy has hitherto been applied;' be it therefore enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lord Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That, from and after the first Day ofJuly one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, if any Person or Persons shall falsely personate any Master or Mistress, or the Executor, Administrator, Wise, Relation, Housekeeper, Steward, Agent, or Servant of any such Master or Mistress, and shall either personally, or in Writing, give any false, forged, or counterfeited Character to any Person offering him or herself to be hired as a Servant into the Service of any Person or Persons, then, and in such Case, every such Person or Persons so offending shall forfeit and undergo the Penalty or Punishment herein-after mentioned and in that Behalf provided.
II or asserting that a Servant has been hired for a Period of Time, or in a Station;
II. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That, from and after the said first Day ofJuly one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, if any Person or Persons shall knowingly and wilfully pretend, or falsely assert, in Writing, that any Servant has been hired or retained for any Period of Time whatsoever, or in any Station or Capacity whatsoever, other than that for which or in which he, she, or they shall have hired or retained such Servant in his, her, or their Service or Employment, or for the Service of any other Person or Persons, that then, and in either of the said Cases, such Person or Persons, so offending as aforesaid, shall forfeit and undergo the Penalty or Punishment herein-after mentioned and in that Behalf provided.
III or was discharged at any other Time, or had not been hired in any previous Service; contrary to the Fact;
III. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That, from and after the said first Day ofJuly one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, if any Person or Persons shall knowingly and wilfully pretend, or falsely assert, in Writing, that any Servant was discharged or left his, her, or their Service at any other Time than that at which he or she was discharged or actually left such Service, or that any such Servant had not been hired or employed in any previous Service, contrary to Truth, that then, and in either of the said Cases, such Person or Persons shall forfeit and undergo the Penalty or Punishment herein-after mentioned and in that Behalf provided.
IV or any Person offering himself as a Servant, pretending to have served where he has not served, or with a false Certificate, or who shall alter any Certificate;
IV. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid...
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