Militia Act 1757
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1757 c. 26 |
(31 Geo. 2) C A P. XXVI.
'WHEREAS several Doubts have arisen, and Difficulties have occurred, in carrying into Executionan Act passed in the last Session of Parliament, intituled,An Act for the better Ordering of the Militia Forces in the several Counties of that Part of Great Britain called England: And whereas it has been found, that some farther Provisions are necessary, in order to enforce the Execution of the said Act;' Be it therefore enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That in all Counties, Ridingsor Places, wherein nothing has been done towards carrying the said Act into Execution, his Majesty's Lieutenant for every such County, Riding or Place, shall immediately proceed to put in Execution the said recited Act, and this present Act; and that his Majesty's Lieutenants, and all other Persons concerned in such Execution, shall, in all Points, conform themselves to the Directions of the said former Act, so far only as they are not either amended or repealed by this present Act;and in all Counties, Ridings or Places, where some Progress has been made towards the Execution of the said former Act, but not sufficient to enable them to chuse the Men by Lot out of the Lists already returned, his Majesty's Lieutenant of every such County, Riding or Place, and all other Persons concerned as aforesaid, shall begin with and proceed in the Execution of the said former Act, and of this present Act, in like Manner, to all Intents and Purposes, as if nothing had been hitherto done in such County, Riding or Place, towards the Executionof the said former Act; and that in all Counties, Ridings or Places where the Militia Men have been actually chosen by Lot, or where they can now be chosen out of the Lists already returned, either for the whole County, or for any Subdivision thereof, his Majesty's Lieutenant, and all other Persons concerned in the Execution of the said former Act, and of this present Act, within such County, Riding or Place, shall proceed to execute the remaining Provisions of the said former Act (which have not been yet executed in all or any of the Subdivisions within such County, Riding or Place) as the same are amended, supplied or enforced by the Provisions of this Act.
II Direction to appoint the Officers of the Militia before the second Meeting of the Deputy Lieutenants in their Subdivisions.
II. And be it enacted, That his Majesty's Lieutenant of every County, Riding or Place, shall, and he is hereby required to appoint a proper Number of Commission Officers to train and discipline the Militia of his respective County, Riding or Place, before the Times appointed for holding the second Meetings of the Deputy Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace within their respective Subdivisions, for chusing by Lot the Persons to serve in the Militia for such County, Riding or Place.
III Repeal of the Clause in the former Act prescribing that there shall not be more than 3 Officers to 80 Private Men, and so in Proportion.
'III. And whereas in the said recited Act passed in the last Session of Parliament, there is contained a Proviso, That there shall not be more than three Commission Officers (that is to say) one Captain, one Lieutenant and one Ensign to eighty Private Men, and so in Proportion, as near as may be, to any greater or lesser Number of Private Men, which has been found inconvenient;' Be it therefore enacted and declared, That the said Proviso shall be and is hereby repealed.
IV A Leasehold Estate originally granted for 21 Years renewable, shall be deemed a Qualification for Deputy Lieutenants and Officers.
IV. And be it enacted, That a Person seised or possessed, either in Law or Equity, for his own Use and Benefit, in Possession of an Estate for a certain Term originally granted for twenty-one Years or more, and renewable, of an annual Value, over and above all Rents and Charges payable out of, or in respect of, the same, equal to the annual Value of such an Estate as is required by the said recited Act for the Qualification of a Deputy Lieutenant and Commission Officer of the Militia respectively, and situate as in the said recited Act required, shall be, and is hereby deemed and declared to be, duly and sufficiently qualified to act and serve under such respective Commission; any thing in the said recited Act, or in this Act, contained to the contrary notwithstanding.
V That in those Counties where 20 Deputy Lieutenants cannot be found with 300 l. Qualification, the Lieutenant may appoint Persons with 200 l. Qualification.
V. And be it enacted, That in such Counties where twenty Deputy Lieutenants cannot be found, who are seised or possessed of an Estate of the yearly Value of three hundred Pounds, as is required by the said recited Act, and this Act, it may and shall be lawful for his Majesty's Lieutenant of any such County, to appoint such Number of Persons to be Deputy Lieutenants as he shall think fit, who shall respectively be seised or possessed of a like Estate of the yearly Value of two hundred Pounds, and situate as in the said recited Act is required; provided that the Persons so appointed shall not make the whole Number of Deputy Lieutenants for the said County to exceed the Number of twenty; and every such Person shall be, and is hereby deemed and declared to be, duly and sufficiently qualified to act and serve under such respective Commission; any thing in the said recited Act, or this Act, contained to the contrary notwithstanding.
VI Power to Captains to appoint Corporals and Drummers, and displace them; and, with the Approbation of the Lieutenants, to appoint Serjeants out of the Militia Men to fill up Vacancies; and the Colonel or Commanding Officer of the Battalion, may, upon Complaint to the Captain, remove such Serjeants.
VI. And be it enacted, That the Captain of every Company of Militia may and shall appoint two Persons to be Drummers to his Company, and may and shall appoint Corporals out of the Private Men of his Company, in the Proportion of one Corporal to twenty Men, and may displace such Drummers and Corporals respectively for Misbehaviour, and appoint others in their Room, from time to time, as he shall see Occasion; and may and shall appoint, with the Approbation of his Majesty's Lieutenant, Serjeants out of the Private Men of his Company, to fill up such Vacancies of Serjeants as may happen therein; and every such Appointment shall be deemed an actual Discharge of the Person so appointed from serving in the Militia as a Private Militia Man; and that it shall be lawful for the Colonel, or, in his Absence, for the Commanding Officer of any Battalion of Militia, to displace, upon the Application of the Captain, any Person so appointed a Serjeant out of the Private Militia Men.
VII A Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace may act in any Subdivision.
VII. Provided always, and be it enacted and declared, That it is and shall be lawful for any Deputy Lieutenant, or Justice of the Peace, to act in the Execution of this Act in any and every Subdivision within the County, Riding or Place for which he is or shall be commissioned; and that each and every such Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace hath, and shall have, the same Power and Authority therein, as is by the said recited Act, or by this Act, given to any Deputy Lieutenant or Justice of the Peace, within the Subdivision to which he is or shall be particularly appointed; any thing in the said recited Act, or in this Act, to the contrary notwithstanding.
VIII A Clerk for the General Meetings to be appointed by the Lieutenant; and Clerks for the Subdivision Meetings to be appointed by the Deputy Lieutenants.
VIII. And be it enacted, That his Majesty's Lieutenant for any County, Riding or Place, may and shall appoint a Clerk for the General Meetings within such County, Riding or Place, and may displace such Clerk if he shall think fit, and appoint another in his Room; and the Deputy Lieutenants, at their first Meeting within their respective Subdivisions, or the major Part of them present, may and shall appoint a Clerk for their Subdivision, and may, at any other Meeting within their Subdivision, displace such Clerk, if they, or the major Part of them present, shall think fit, and appoint another in his Room.
IX Where Commissions have...
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