Aliens Act 1523
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1523 c. 2 |
| Year | 1523 |
(14 & 15 Hen. 8) C A P. II.
'BE it enacted by the King our Sovereign Lord, and the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by Authority of the same, That no Manner of Stranger, born out of the King's Obeisance, be he Denizen or not Denizen, using any Manner of Handicraft within this Realm, shall take from henceforth any Apprentice, except the same Apprentice be born under the King's Obeisance, (2)upon Pain to forfeit for every Apprentice that he shall take contrary to this Act,x. li. the one Half thereof to be to our Sovereign Lord the King, the other Half to him or them that shall sue for it, be it by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, Information, or otherwise; (3) in which Suit the Defendant shall not be admitted to wage his Law, ne any Essoin, Licence, or Protection to be allowed.
II No Alien shall keep above Two Journeymen, except they be born under the King's Obeisance. 5 El. c. 4.
II. Be it also enacted by the Authority aforesaid, and under like Pain to be forfeited and recovered as is afore said, That no Stranger, being Alien born, and using any Manner of Handicraft within this Realm, from the Feast ofAll Saints next ensuing, shall in any Manner of wise, use, take, retain, or keep in his or their Services, any Manner of Journeyman or Covenant-Servant, above the Number of Two at one Time, except the same Journeyman or Covenant Servant be born under the King's Obeisance.
III All Strangers dwelling within Two Miles of London, shall be under the Reformation of the Wardens of Handicrafts within the City.
III. And over this, be it enacted by Authority aforesaid, That all Manner of Persons, being Aliens born, using any Manner of Handicraft, be they Denizens or not Denizens, and inhabiting within the City ofLondon , or Suburbs of the same, within the Town of Westminster , the Parish of St. Martin's in the Fields , the Parish of Our Lady of the Strand , St. Clement of Danes without Temple-Bar , St. Giles in the Fields , St. Andrew's in Holbourn , the Town and Borough of Southwark , Shoreditch, White-Chapel Parish, St. John-street , the Parish of Clerkenwell , St. Botolph's Parish without Aldgate , St. Katharine's, Bermondsey-street , or within Two Miles Compass of the said City of London , or the Parishes aforesaid, shall be under the Search and Reformation of the Wardens and Fellowships of Handicrafts within the said City of London , with One substantial Stranger, being an Housholder of the same Craft, by the same Wardens to be chosen, that is to say, every such Stranger occupying any Mystery or Handicraft, as is afore said, shall be under the Search and Reformation of the Wardens, and one substantial Stranger, being an Housholder, of that Craft that they shall so occupy.
IV The Wardens, &c. shall assign a proper Mark for Strangers Wares.
IV. And that the Wardens of the said City of every such Handicraft, with One Stranger or Housholder (as is afore said) of the same Craft, have full Power and Authority, by this present Act, to limit...
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