Militia Act 1802
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1802 c. 90 |
| Year | 1802 |
(42 Geo. 3) C A P. XC.
[26th June 1802]
'WHEREAS a respectable Military Force, under the Command of Officers possessing landed Property, withinGreat Britain , is essential to the Constitution; and the Militia, as by Law established, through its constant Readiness on short Notice for effectual Service, has been found of the utmost Importance to the internal Defence of this Realm: And whereas it is necessary, for the better sulsilling the Purposes of the Institution of the Militia, that the Numbers thereof to be raised and kept in constant Readiness for effectual Service within Great Britain should be augmented: And whereas the Laws now in force for regulating the Militia require Amendment; and it is expedient that many of the Provisions contained in the several Acts relating to the same should be repealed, and others of them continued and amended, and that new Provisions should be made; and it would greatly tend to the better Execution thereof if the Whole of the said Provisions were comprised in one Act of Parliament: And whereas it is necessary for the Purposesaforesaid, that certain Acts and Parts of Acts now in force should be repealed;' be it therefore enacted by the King's most Excel lent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this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 an Act, passed in the twenty-sixth Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, intituled, Great Britaincalled England; and also so much of an Act, passed in the thirty-third Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, intituled, Great Britaincalled England,' as relates to Bounties to be paid to Militia Men whose Terms of Service are prolonged; and also an Act, passed in the thirty-fifth Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, intituled, Great Britaincalled England;' and also two several Acts, passed in the thirty-seventh Year of the Reignof his present Majesty, relating to the Supplementary Militia; and also an Act, passed in the thirty-eighth Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, intituled, ; and also another Act, passed in the thirty-eighth Year aforesaid, intituled, ; and also an Act, passed in the thirty-ninth Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, intituled, Middlesex Surrey; Middlesex,and other Persons, towards the completing of the said Militia ; and also another Act, passed in the thirty-ninth Year aforesaid, intituled, ; and also another Act, passed in the thirty-ninth and fortieth Years of the Reign of his present Majesty, intituled, ; and also another Act, parred in the forty-second Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, intituled,An Act to regulate, until the twenty-fifth Day of March One thousand eight hundred and three, the Number of private Militia Men in the several Counties, Ridings, and Places therein mentioned; and for supplying of Vacancies in the Militia ; shall be and the same are hereby repealed; and that the Militia raised by virtue of the said Actof the twenty-sixth Year aforesaid, shall, from and after the passing of this Act, be subject to all the Provisions and Regulations thereof: Provided always, that the repealing of the said several Acts hereby repealed, or any or either of them, shall not affect any Commission of Lieutenancy, or any other Commission already granted under or by virtue of the said Acts, or any or either of them, but that all such Personsto whom any such Commissions shall have been granted, shall and may act in the Execution of this Act, in like Manner as they might have acted in the Execution of the said former Acts, or any or either of them: Provided also, that so many of the Serjeants, Corporals, Drummers, and Private Militia Men as are now serving for the several Counties, Ridings, and Places aforesaid, shall be liable and continue to serve in the same Mannerand for the same Length of Time as they ought to have served if this Act not been made; and from Time to Time in every Case where it shall be necessary to supply any Deficiency in the Number of Private Militia Men of any County, Riding, or Place, the Man or Number of Men required to supply such Deficiency shall be raised, provided, and enrolled, and shall serve, in the Manner and for the Time directed by and under and according to the Provisions, Rules, and Regulations of this Act.
II His Majesty shall appoint Lieutenants of Counties, who shall call out Militia yearly, and may appoint Deputy Lieutenants and Officers, whose Names shall be certified to his Majesty for his Approbation.
II. And be it further enacted, That his Majesty may and shall, from Time to Time, constitute and appoint Lieutenants for the Counties, Ridings, and Places herein-after mentioned; and the several Lieutenants so appointed shall have full Power and Authority, and are hereby required, to call together, arm, array, and cause to be trained and exercised, such Persons, and in such Manner, as is herein-after directed, once in every Year; and the said Lieutenants severally shall from Time to Time constitute and appoint such Persons as they shall think fit, being qualified as herein-after is directed, and living within their respective Counties, Ridings, and Places, to be their Deputy Lieutenants (the Names of such Persons having been first presented to and approved by his Majesty), and shall also appoint a proper Number of Colonels, Lieutenant Colonels, Majors, and other Officers, qualified as herein-after directed, to train, discipline, and command the Persons to be so armed and arrayed according to the Rules, Orders, and Directions herein-after mentioned, and shall certify to his Majesty the Names and Ranks of all such Officers so to be appointed; and in case his Majesty shall, within fourteen Days after such Certificate shall have been laid before him, signify his Disapprobation of any of the Persons so to be appointed, it shall not be lawful for the said Lieutenants to grant a Commission to any Person so disapproved; but Commissions shall be granted to all such Persons who shall not be disapproved by his Majesty; and the Officers so appointed for the Militia, to be armed and arrayed as herein-after directed, shall rank with the Officers of his Majesty's Regular Forces as youngest of their Rank.
III There Deputy Lieutenants may be authorized to act in case of Absence, &c. of the Lieutenant.
III. And be it further enacted, That when the Lieutenant of any County, Riding, or Place, shall be out of the Kingdom ofGreat Britain , or when there shall be no Lieutenant, it shall be lawful for his Majesty to authorize any three Deputy Lieutenants of such County, Riding, or Place, to grant Commissions to Officers to serve in the Militia for such County, Riding, or Place, upon any Vacancy that shall then happen, in such Manner as such Lieutenant could do, and to do all other Acts, Matters, and Things, which might lawfully have been done by the said Lieutenant; and the same shall be good and valid in the Law, as if done by the said Lieutenant himself.
IV Commissions shall not be vacated by Removal, &c. of the Lieutenant.
IV. And be it further enacted, That no Commission of any Deputy Lieutenant, nor any Commission of any Officer in the Militia, already granted, or to be granted by any Lieutenant or Deputy Lieutenants, shall be vacated by reason of the Revocation, Expiration, or Discontinuance of the Commission by which any such Lieutenant or Deputy Lieutenants as aforesaid was or were appointed.
V County Lieutenant shall have the Chief Command of Militia.
V. And be it further enacted, That the Lieutenant of every County, Riding, or Place, shall have the Chief Command of the Militia within the County, Riding, or Place, to which he is appointed; and that twenty Deputy Lieutenants at the least shall be appointed within every County, Riding, and Place, if so many can be found qualified as herein-after directed; but if such Number of Persons so qualified cannot be found within any such County, Riding, or Place, then as many Persons so qualified as can be found within such County, Riding, or Place, shall be appointed to be Deputy Lieutenants for the Purposes of this Act.
VI Qualifications of Deputy Lieutenants and Officer in England, except for certain Places \(See post. ∥ 7, 8.)
VI. And be it further enacted, That all Persons to be appointed Deputy Lieutenants or Officers of the Militia, in pursuance of this Act, (except within the Counties ofCumberland, Huntingdon, Monmouth, Westmorland and Rutland , the Isle of Ely in the County of Cambridge , the several Counties and Places within the Dominion of Wales , and such Cities and Towns as are Counties within themselves), shall be qualified as follows; (that is to say), every Person so to be appointed a Deputy Lieutenant, shall be seised or possessed, either in Law or Equity for his own Use and Benefit, in Possession, of a Freehold, Copyhold, or Customary Estate for Life, or for the Life of his Wife, she having a Freehold, Copyhold, or Customary Estate for her Life, or for some greater Estate, or of an Estate for some long Term of Years determinable on one or more Life or Lives, in Manors, Messuages, Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments, inEngland, Wales , or the Town of Berwick upon Tweed , of the yearly Value of two hundred...
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