Hackney Carriages, Metropolis Act 1838
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1838 c. 79 |
| Year | 1838 |
(1 & 2 Vict.) C A P. LXXIX.
[10th August 1838]
'WHEREAS it is expedient that the Drivers of Hackney Carriages and the Drivers and the Conductors of Metropolitan Stage Carriages in and near the Metropolis, and the Watermen at Standings for Hackney Carriages, should be licensed, and that further Provisions should be made for the Regulation of such Hackney Carriages and Metropolitan Stage Carriages, and the Drivers, Conductors, Watermen, and Attendants thereof:' 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 Parliamentassembled, and by the Authority of the same, That the Words and Expressions herein-after mentioned, which in their ordinary Signification have a more confined or a different Meaning, shall in this Act (except where the Nature of the Provisions or the Context of the Act shall exclude such Construction) be interpreted as follows; (that is to say,) the Words ‘Hackney Carriage’ shall include every Carriage except a Stage Carriage, or a Carriage drawn or impelled by the Power of Steam, or otherwise than by Animal Power, with Two or more Wheels, which shall be used for the Purpose of standing or plying for a Passenger or Passengers for Hire at any Place within the Distance of Ten Miles from the General Post Office in the City ofLondon ; and that so much of an Act passed in the Firstand Second Years of the Reign of His late Majesty, intituledAn Act to amend the Laws relating to Hackney Carriages, and to Waggons, Carts, and Drays, used in the Metropolis, and to place the Collection of the Duties on Hackney Carriages, and on Hawkers and Pedlars in England, under the Commissioners of Stamps , as relates to Hackney Carriages and to Watermen, shall extend and apply to Hackney Carriages and to Watermen within the Meaning of this Act: Provided nevertheless, that every Licence to act as a Waterman, and all Power to grant such Licences by virtue of the said recited Act, shall cease and determine; and every Person to whom any such Licence shall have been granted shall, within One Calendar Month before the Commencement of this Act, deliver up to the Registrar appointed under the Authority of this Act the Licence, and the Badge to which every such Licence relates, and shall thereupon be entitled to a new Licence and Ticket from the said Registrar in manner herein-after mentioned; and the Words ‘Metropolitan Stage Carriage’ shall include every Stage Carriage except such as shall on every Journey go to or come from some Town or Place beyond the Limits of this Act; and the Words ‘Limits of this Act’ shall include every Place within the Distance of Ten Miles from the General Post Office in the City of London , and the whole of every Town, Village, or Hamlet, any Part or Portion of which shall be within the said Distance from the said General Post Office; and the Word ‘Proprietor’ shall include every Person who shall, either solely or in Partnership with any other Person, be concerned in keeping any Hackney Carriage or any Metropolitan Stage Carriage, or who shall be concerned otherwise than merely as a Driver or Attendant in using or employing for Hire any Hackney Carriage or any Metropolitan Stage Carriage; and the Word ‘Conductor’ shall include every Director, Cad, or other Person, except the Driver, who shall be attendant upon or with any Metropolitan Stage Carriage; and the Word ‘Waterman’ shall include every Assistant to Drivers of Hackney Carriages at the Standings or Places where Hackney Carriages usually stand or ply for Hire; and the Word ‘Passenger’ shall include every Person carried by any Hackney Carriage or by any Metropolitan Stage Carriage except One Driver, and where there shall be a Conductor to such Metropolitan Stage Carriage, One Conductor; and the Word ‘Horse’ shall include every Mare or Gelding; and every Word importing the Singular Number only shall extend and be applied to several Persons and Things as well as One Person or Thing, and every Word importing the Masculine Gender only shall extend to a Female as well as a Male.
II Stamp Duty of 5 s. on every Licence granted under this Act.
II. And be it enacted, That there shall be charged upon and in respect of every Licence to be granted under the Authority of this Act as herein-after provided a Duty of Five Shillings, and that the same shall be under the Care and Management of the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes, and shall be denominated and deemed to be a Stamp Duty, and shall be raised, levied, paid, secured, and accounted for under the Provisions of any Act or Acts in force or to be in force for raising, levying, or securing the Stamp Duties, or any of them; and it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners, and they are hereby required, upon Application for that Purpose made by the Person who for the Time being shall be the Registrar of Metropolitan Public Carriages, duly appointed under the Provisions herein-after contained, to issue to such Person, Vellum, Parchment, or Paper for such Licences, duly stamped, for denoting the Duties charged by this Act, either upon the present Payment of the Duties payable on such Licences, or upon giving such Security for the Payment thereof, and upon such Terms and subject to such Regulations as the said Commissioners shall think proper.
III ‘Metropolitan Stage Carriage’ to be inscribed on every Carriage; and the Number of the Stamp Office Plate, and the Number of Passengers to be carried, painted or affixed thereon.
III. And be it enacted, That upon every such Metropolitan Stage Carriage there shall be affixed immediately above the Stamp Office Plates, or in such other Position as the Registrar to be appointed by virtue of this Act shall direct, a Plate or Plates upon which there shall be inscribed in Black Letters of at least One Inch in Height, and of a proportionate Breadth, upon a White Ground, the Words ‘Metropolitan Stage Carriage,’ or such other Words as the said Registrar shall from Time to Time direct; and also that upon every such Metropolitan Stage Carriage the Number of the Stamp Office Plate relating to such Stage Carriage, and the Number of Passengers which such Carriage shall be licensed to carry in the Inside and on the Outside thereof shall be painted or affixed in a conspicuous Manner, both in the Inside and on the Outside of every such Carriage, in such Manner as shall be approved of by the Registrar to be appointed by virtue of this Act, on pain of a Penalty not exceeding Twenty Shillings, to be paid on Conviction of Neglect thereof before any One of Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace.
IV Secretary for the Home Department to appoint a Registrar and Clerks.
IV. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department for the Time being to nominate and appoint a fit and proper Person to be called the Registrar of Metropolitan Public Carriages, by whom the several Licences and Tickets to be granted and issued to Drivers of Hackney Carriages, and to Drivers and Conductors of Metropolitan Stage Carriages, and to Watermen as herein-after directed, shall be granted and issued, at such convenient Place as the said Secretary shall direct and appoint, and also all such Clerks and other Officers as the said Secretary shall deem necessary for the Assistance of such Registrar in the due Execution of this Act; and the said Secretary may at his Discretion remove any of the Persons so being such Registrar, Clerks, and Officers appointed as aforesaid, and upon any Vacancy occasioned by such Removal or otherwise appoint some other fit and proper Person to be such Registrar, Clerk, or Officer; and it shall be lawful for the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to fix and appoint such Salaries to be paid to such Registrar, Clerks, and Officers as they shall think proper, which Salaries, together with such other Expences in and about the Execution of this Act as the said Commissioners shall direct, shall be paid by the said Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes out of any Monies to arise from any of the Duties under their Care and Management.
V Drivers, Conductors, and Watermen to have Licences and Tickets.
V. And be it enacted, That it shall not be lawful for any Person to act as Driver of any Hackney Carriage, or as Driver or as Conductor of any Metropolitan Stage Carriage, whether such Person shall or shall not be the Proprietor of such Carriage, or for any Person to act as a Waterman, unless such Person shall have a Licence so to do, and a numbered Ticket granted to him under the Authority of this Act, and remaining in force; and if any Person shall act as such Driver or Conductor or Waterman without such Licenceand Ticket, or if any Person to whom any such Licence and Ticket shall have been granted shall, except in compliance with the Provisions of this Act, transfer or lend such Licence, or permit any other Person to use or wear such Ticket, he shall for every such Offence forfeit any Sum not exceeding Five Pounds; and if any Proprietor shall knowingly permit or suffer any Person not duly licensed under the Authority of this Act to act as Driver of any Hackney Carriage, or as Driver or as Conductor of any Metropolitan Stage Carriage of which he shall be the Proprietor, such Proprietor shall for...
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