Houses of Correction Act 1782
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1782 c. 64 |
| Year | 1782 |
(22 Geo. 3) C A P. LXIV.
'WHEREAS by an Act made in the seventh Year of the Reign of his late Majesty KingJames the Firstfor the due Execution of divers Laws and Statutes theretofore made against Rogues, Vagabonds, and sturdy Beggars, and other lewd and idle Persons, Houses of Correction are directed to be provided in every County, and furnished with all necessary Mills and other Implements to set the Rogues, Vagabonds, and sturdy Beggars, and other idle and disorderly Persons, to work, at the Expence of every such County, by Order of the Justices of the Peace at their General Quarter Sessions, who are also to appoint a Governor or Master of every such House of Correction, with Power to set the said Persons on Work: And whereas by an Act made in the seventeenth Year of the Reign of his late Majesty KingGeorge the Second, , the Justices of the Peace are authorized, upon Presentment by the Grand Jury at the Assizes, that the House of Correction is not sufficient or convenient, by Order, at their General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, to enlarge, or buy, or hire a more convenient House, or to purchase Land for such Buildings, and for a convenient Outlet, and to erect such Houses, and to raise upon the County such Sums of Money as shall be necessary for those Purposes: And whereas, by many other Acts of Parliament, Persons are directed to be sent by Warrants from Justices of the Peace to the Houses of Correction, there to be kept to hard Labour for a limited Time: And whereas in many Counties the said Houses of Correction are insufficient in Number, or deficient in Building, and the Apartments in them ale very ill accommodated to the Purposes for which they were intended; by Means whereof, and from a Want of due Order, Employment, and Discipline in such Houses of Correction, the Persons sent thither for Correction and Reformation frequently grow more dissolute and abandoned during their Continuance in such Houses:' For Remedy whereof, be it enacted by the King'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 the Justicesof the Peace in every County, Riding, Division, City, Liberty, and Precinct, withinEngland and Wales , at their respective Quarter Sessions of the Peace, to be held next after Midsummer from the Time of passing this Act, shall, and they are hereby required to nominate one or more Justice or Justices of the Peace, within their respective Jurisdictions, Divisions, or Districts, whom they shall think most proper, to examine and inspect the several Houses of Correction within their respective Jurisdictions; and the Justice or Justices, so to be nominated, is and are hereby required carefully and diligently to inspect the same, with all convenient Speed, and to report his or their Opinion to the Justices of their respective Jurisdictions, at the Michaelmas Quarter Sessions then next following, as to the State and Condition thereof, and the Increase of Number, or Additions or Alterations which they may judge necessary to make them more convenient and useful, having Regard to the classing of the several Persons who shall be kept there, according to the Nature of their Crimes and Punishments, and to the providing proper Places for the Employment of such Persons who are committed to hard Labour, and to the keeping every Part of such Prisons clean and wholesome; and the said Justice or Justices, so to be nominated, is and are hereby required to employ proper and skilful Persons to make Plans and Estimates of new Buildings, or the Additions or Alterations which he or they shall think necessary in the present Buildings to make them answer the several Purposes of this Act; which Plans, together with the Report of the said Justice or Justices, shall be laid before the Court at the said Michaelmas Quarter Sessions; or if, from any Difficulties or Accidents, such Report shall not happen to be made at that Sessions, then, and in that Case, the same shall be made at or before theEpiphany Quarter Sessions then next following; which Court is hereby authorised and required to consider the same, and if they approve such Plans, they may adjourn the Quarter Sessions to a further Day for receiving Proposals from Persons inclined to undertake such Work, of which due Notice shall be published, and then to contract with such Persons whom they shall think most proper to do the same; or if they disapprove such Plans or Estimates, to direct such others to be made as they shall think fit, and adjourn their Quarter Sessions to some further Day, to receive such new Plans and Estimates, and also Proposals from Persons inclined to undertake the Work; and the Justices, in settling and adjusting such Plans, are hereby required to provide separate Apartments for all Persons, committed upon Charges of Felony, or convicted of any Theft or Larceny, and committed to the House of Correction for Punishment by hard Labour, under or by virtue of the Laws in being, in order to prevent any Communication between them and the other Prisoners; and also proper Apartments covered or open, as shall be found most convenient for employing the several Persons who are to be kept to hard Labour; and they are also to provide separate Apartments, in each Division of the said House of Correction, for the Women who shall be committed thither.
II Justices, at their General Quarter Sessions, to make such Orders as they shall think proper.
II. And be it enacted, That the Justices of the Peace, at their General Quarter Sessions, shall, and they are hereby impowered, from Time to Time, upon...
To continue reading
Request your trial