Pawnbrokers Act 1872
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
Pawnbrokers Act, 1872
(35 & 36 Vict.) CHAPTER 93.
An Act for consolidating, with Amendments, the Acts relating to Pawnbrokers in Great Britain.
[10th August 1872]
B E it 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 Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Preliminary.
1 Short title.
1. This Act may be cited as ThePawnbrokers Act, 1872.
2 Extent of Act.
2. This Act shall not extend to Ireland.
3 Commencement of Act.
3. This Act shall, except as otherwise expressed, commence and take effect from and immediately after the thirty-first day of December one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, which time is in this Act referred to as the commencement of this Act, and the Schedules to this Act, including the notes thereto, shall have effect as part of this Act.
4 Repeal of enactments in schedule as to Pawnbrokersin Great Britain.
4. The enactments described in the First Schedule to this Act, as far as the same regulate the business of pawnbroking in Great Britain, or otherwise affect Pawnbrokers in Great Britain in relation to loans made by them on pledges pawned with them, and to those pledges, and to the pawning, redemption, and sale thereof, and to transactions and matters connected therewith, shall, on and from the commencement of this Act, be repealed; but this repeal shall not affect the past operation of any of those enactments, or any right, title, obligation, or liability accrued, or the validity or invalidity of any contract made, or of anything done or suffered, under any of those enactments before the commencement of this Act; nor shall this repeal interfere with the institution or prosecution of any proceeding in respect of any offence committed against, or any penalty or forfeiture incurred under, any of those enactments, or take away or abridge any protection or benefit conferred or secured by any of those enactments in relation to anything done thereunder, before the commencement of this Act.
Definitions; Application of Act.
5 Interpretation.
5. In this Act—
‘Pawnbroker’ includes every person who carries on the business of taking goods and chattels in pawn:
‘Pledge’ means an article pawned with a pawnbroker:
‘Pawner’ means a person delivering an article for pawn to a pawnbroker:
‘Shop’ includes dwelling-house and warehouse, or other place of business, or place where business is transacted:
‘Unfinished goods or materials’ includes any goods of any manufacture or of any part or branch of any manufacture either mixed or separate, or any materials whatever plainly intended for the composing or manufacturing of any goods, after such goods or materials are put into a state or course of manufacture, or into a state for any process or operation to be performed thereupon or therewith, and before the same are completed or finished for the purpose of wear or consumption:
‘Constable’ includes any peace officer:
‘Justice’ means justice of the peace having jurisdiction in the county or place where the matter requiring the cognizance of a justice arises:
‘Court of summary jurisdiction’ means any justice, justices, or magistrate (however designated) having jurisdiction under the Summary Jurisdiction Act of 1848 (described in Part I. of the Second Schedule to this Act).
6 Extension of Act to keepers of certain shops.
6. In order to prevent evasion of the provisions of this Act, the following persons shall be deemed to be persons carrying on the business of taking goods and chattels in pawn (that is to say), every person who keeps a shop for the purchase or sale of goods or chattels, or for taking in goods or chattels by way of security for money advanced thereon, and who purchases or receives or takes in goods or chattels, and pays or advances or lends thereon any sum of money not exceeding ten pounds with or under an agreement or understanding expressed or implied, or to be from the nature and character of the dealing reasonably inferred, that those goods or chattels may be afterwards redeemed or repurchased on any terms; and every such transaction, article, payment, advance, and loan shall be deemed a pawning, pledge, and loan respectively within this Act.
7 Executors, &c. of Pawnbrokers.
7. The provisions of this Act relating to Pawnbrokers shall extend to and include the executors or administrators of deceased Pawnbrokers, except that an executor or administrator shall not be answerable for any penalty or forfeiture personally or out of his own estate, unless the same is incurred by his own act or neglect.
8 Agents, servants, apprentices, &c. of Pawnbrokers.
8. For the purposes of this Act anything done or omitted by the servant, apprentice, or agent of a Pawnbroker in the course of or in relation to the business of the Pawnbroker, shall be deemed to be done or omitted (as the case may be) by the Pawnbroker; and anything by this Act authorised to be done by a Pawnbroker may be done by his servant, apprentice, or agent.
9 Assigns, executors, &c. of pawners.
9. The rights, powers, and benefits by this Act reserved to and conferred on pawners shall extend to and be deemed to be reserved to and conferred on the assigns of pawners, and to and on the executors or administrators of deceased pawners; but any person representing himself to a Pawnbroker to be the assign, executor, or administrator of a pawner shall, if required by the Pawnbroker, produce to the Pawnbroker the assignment, probate, letters of administration, or other instrument under which he claims.
10 Application of Act in respect of loans.
10. This Act shall apply—
(1) (1.) To every loan by a Pawnbroker of forty shillings or under:
(2) (2.) To every loan by a Pawnbroker of above forty shillings and not above ten pounds, except as in this Act otherwise provided in relation to cases where a special contract respecting the terms of the loan (as authorised by this Act) is made between the pawner and the Pawnbroker at the time of the pawning.
Nothing in this Act shall apply to a loan by a Pawnbroker of above ten pounds, or to the pledge on which the loan is made, or to the Pawnbroker or pawner in relation to the loan or pledge; and, notwithstanding anything in this Act, a person shall not be deemed a Pawnbroker by reason only of his paying, advancing, or lending on any terms any sum or sums of above ten pounds.
11 Exception of loans before commencement of Act.
11. Nothing in this Act shall apply to a loan made by a Pawnbroker before the commencement of this Act, or to the pledge on which the loan is made, or to the Pawnbroker or pawner in relation to the loan or pledge; and the enactments in force at the time of the making of the loan shall, after and notwithstanding the commencement of this Act, have effect in relation to every such loan and pledge, as if this Act had not been passed.
General Obligations of Pawnbrokers.
12 Pawnbrokers to keep books, &c. as in schedule.
12. A Pawnbroker shall keep and use in his business such books and documents as are described in the Third Schedule to this Act, in the forms therein indicated or to the like effect, and shall from time to time, as occasion requires, enter therein in a fair and legible manner the particulars indicated in and in accordance with the directions of that schedule and shall make all inquiries necessary for that purpose.
If a Pawnbroker, fails in any respect to comply with the requisitions of this section he shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.
13 Pawnbrokers to keep names over doors, and tables ofrates, &c. exhibited in shops.
13. A Pawnbroker shall observe the following rules:—
(1) (1.) He shall always keep exhibited in large characters over the outer door of his shop his Christian name and surname or names, with the word Pawnbroker:
(2) (2.) He shall always keep placed in a conspicuous part of his shop (so as to be legible by every person pawning or redeeming pledges, standing in any box or place provided in the shop for persons pawning or redeeming pledges) the same information as is by the rules of the Third Schedule to this Act required to be printed on pawn-tickets.
If a Pawnbroker fails in any respect to comply with the requisitions of this section he shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.
Pawning; Redemption; Sale.
14 Pawn-tickets to be given for pledges.
14. A Pawnbroker shall on taking a pledge in pawn give to the pawner a pawn-ticket, and shall not take a pledge in pawn unless the pawner takes the pawn-ticket.
15 Profit and charges allowed to Pawnbrokers.
15. A Pawnbroker may take profit on a loan on a pledge at a rate not exceeding that specified in the Fourth Schedule to this Act.
A Pawnbroker may demand and take the charges specified in the same schedule, in the cases and according to the rules therein stated and prescribed.
A Pawnbroker shall not, in respect of a loan on a pledge, take any profit, or demand or take any charge or sum whatever, other than those specified in the same schedule.
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