Parliamentary Elections (Ireland) Act 1829
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1829 c. 8 |
| Year | 1829 |
(10 Geo. 4) C A P. VIII.
[13th April 1829]
'WHEREAS by an Act of the Parliament ofIreland , passed in the Thirty-third Year of the Reign of King Henry the Eighth, intituled , it is amongst other Things enacted, that every Knight, Citizen, and Burgess for every Parliament thereafter within the Realm ofIreland to be summoned, appointed, or holden, shall be chosen and elected by the greater Number of the Inhabitants of the said Counties, Cities, and Towns, being present at the said Election by virtue of the King's Writs for that Intent addressed, and also that every Elector of the said Knights shall dispend and have Lands and Tenements of Estate of Freehold within the said Counties at the least to the yearly Value of Forty Shillings, over and above all Charges: And Whereas by an Act passed in the Parliament of Ireland , in the Thirty-fifth Year of the Reign of His late Majesty King George the Third, intituled , and also by subsequent Acts, Persons having Freehold Estates are required to register their Freeholds in the Manner therein prescribed, in order to qualify them to vote at Elections for Members to serve in Parliament for Counties inIreland : And Whereas it is expedient to increase the Amount of the Qualification necessary to entitle Persons to vote at such Elections, and to amend the Laws now in force in Ireland relating to the Registry of Freeholds;' 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 this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That from and after the Commencement of this Act that Part of the said Act of the Thirty-thirdYear of KingHenry the Eighth, herein-before recited, which relates to the Amount or Value of the Freehold necessary to qualify Persons to be Electors of Knights of the Shire to serve in Parliament for Counties in Ireland , shall be and the same is hereby repealed.
II No Person to vote at any Election of Knight of the Shire unless he have a Freehold Estate of 10 l. a Year.
II. And be it enacted, That from and after the Commencement of this Act no Person shall be admitted to vote at any Election of any Knight of the Shire to serve in the Parliament of the United Kingdom for any County inIreland (save as hereinafter is provided), unless such Person shall have an Estate of Freehold, in Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments in such County, of the clear Yearly Value of Ten Pounds at the least, over and above all Charges, except only Public or Parliamentary Taxes, County, Church, or Parish Cesses or Rates, and Cesses on any Townland or Division of any Parish or Barony.
III Nor unless such Freehold if under 20 l. a Year, be registered according to this Act.
III. And be it enacted, That from and after the Commencement of this Act no Person shall be admitted to vote at any Election of a Knight of the Shire to serve in the Parliament of the United Kingdom for any County inIreland by virtue or in respect of any Estate of Freehold of less annual Value than Twenty Pounds of the late Currency of Ireland , unless such Freehold shall be registered pursuant to the Provisions of this Act, save only as hereinafter provided.
IV A Session for registering Freeholds to be holden in each County, at such Days and Places as the Lord Lieutenant shall appoint.
IV. And be it enacted, That after the Commencement of this Act a Session for the Purpose of registering Freeholds within this Act shall be holden in and for each County inIreland , by and before the Assistant Barrister of such County, on such Days and at such Places in each such County respectively as the Lord Lieutenant or other Chief Governor or Governors of Ireland shall appoint; and the Clerk of the Peace for each such County shall, Forty Days at the least before the Day so appointed, cause to be posted in each Market Town therein Notices, in the Form specified in the First Schedule to this Act annexed, that such Session, for the Purpose of registering Freeholds within this Act, will be holden on the Days and at the Places so appointed, and that Applications for that Purpose will be then and there taken into Consideration.
V Notice to be given to Clerk of the Peace of Applications to register.
V. And be it enacted, That every Person intending to register a Freehold at any such Session shall give to the Clerk of the Peace for the County Notice in Writing of such Intention Thirty clear Days at the least before the Day appointed for the holding of such Session in the Division of the County wherein such Freehold is situate, and shall in such Notice state, according to the Form prescribed in the Second Schedule to this Act annexed, his Name and Residence, the Description of the Lands, Tenements, Hereditaments, or Rent-charge in respect of which such Application is to be made, and whether he intends to register such Freehold at the annual Sum of Twenty Pounds or of Ten Pounds; and the Clerk of the Peace of each County shall enter all such Notices, according to the Orderin which he shall receive them, in a List in the Form specified in the Third Schedule to this Act annexed, and shall, Fifteen Days at least before the Day appointed for holding such Session, cause a Copy of such List to be published in some Newspaper printed in such County, or in case no Newspaper shall be therein printed, then in some Newspaper printed in any adjoining County: Provided always, that no such List for the Session to be first holden shall be liable to any Stamp Duty as an Advertisement.
VI Proceedings at the Session.
VI. And be it enacted, That at each such Session the Names of the Persons contained in such Lists shall be severally called by the Clerk of the Peace; and each Person so called, who shall claim to register any Freehold at the annual Sum of Twenty Pounds or of Ten Pounds, shall produce in open Court before such Assistant Barrister the Deed, Lease, or Instrument, duly stamped, by virtue of which such Person shall claim such Freehold; or in case he shall not claim by virtue of any Deed, Lease, or Instrument, then such Person shall otherwise establish his Title to such Freehold and such Person shall also make it appear that a solvent and responsible Tenant could afford to pay fairly and without Collusion for the same the annual Sum of Twenty Pounds or Ten Pounds, as the Case may be, as an additional Rent, over and above all Charges, save such as are herein-before excepted, and over and above any Rent to which the Person so claiming to register such Freehold may be liable in respect of the same.
VII Assistant Barrister to investigate the Claim to register.
VII. And be it enacted, That such Assistant Barrister shall inspect and examine every Deed, Lease, or Instrument so produced, and investigate the Title so made, as also the Title which any Claimant shall, in any other Manner seek to establish, and shall determine whether the same is or is not sufficient to entitle the Person claiming thereunder to an Estate of Freehold; and shall also examine and inquire, as well by the Oath of the Person so claiming as by any Evidence offered either in Support of or in Opposition to such Claim, whether a solvent and responsible Tenant could afford to pay fairly and without Collusion, as an additional Rent for such Freehold, the annual Sum of Twenty Pounds or Ten Pounds, as the Case may be, over and above all Charges, save such as are herein-before excepted, and over and above any Rent to which the Person so claiming may be liable in respect of the same; and shall also inquire by any of the Means aforesaid into the Truth of the several Particulars required to be stated in the Oath hereinafter prescribed to be taken for the Registry of such Freehold.
VIII If the Assistant Barrister adjudge the Claimant entitled, he shall take the Oath hereby prescribed.
VIII. And be it enacted, That if it shall appear to such Assistant Barrister that the Person so claiming is entitled to register such Freehold at the annual Sum, within the Meaning of this Act, at which he shall claim to register the same, such Assistant Barrister shall and may so adjudge; and in such Case the Person so adjudged entitled shall, instead of the Oath or Oaths, Affirmation or Affirmations, now by Law required in that Behalf, take and subscribe before such Assistant Barrister the Oath mentioned in the Fourth Schedule to this Act annexed, where the Freehold of such Person shall be of the annual Value of Twenty Pounds, not arising from a Rent-charge, and where the same shall arise from a Rentcharge, then the Oath prescribed in the Fifth Schedule to this Act annexed, and where the same shall be of the Value of Ten Pounds, then the Oath prescribed in the Sixth Schedule to this Act annexed.
IX Certificate of Registry.
IX. And be it enacted, That the Clerk of the Peace shall thereupon, instead of the Certificate of Registry now by Law required, deliver to the Person so adjudged to be entitled a Certificate, signed by such Assistant Barrister and by such Clerk of the Peace, stating that such...
To continue reading
Request your trial