Spirits Act 1880
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
Spirits Act, 1880.
(43 & 44 Vict.) CHAPTER 24.
An Act to consolidate and amend the Law relating to the Manufacture and Sale of Spirits.
[26th August 1880]
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 theSpirits Act, 1880.
2 Commencement.
2. This Act shall come into operation on the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and eighty-one, which date is in this Act referred to as the commencement of this Act.
3 Definitions.
3. In this Act each of the following terms shall have the meaning assigned to it by this section, unless it is otherwise expressly provided, or there is something in the subject or context inconsistent with such meaning,—
‘Spirits’ means spirits of any description, and includes all liquors mixed with spirits, and all mixtures, compounds, or preparations made with spirits:
‘Low wines’ means spirits of the first extraction conveyed into a low wines receiver:
‘Feints’ means spirits conveyed into a feints receiver:
‘British spirits’ means spirits liable to a duty of Excise:
‘Plain spirits’ means any British spirits, (except low wines and feints,) which have not had any flavour communicated thereto or ingredient or material mixed therewith:
‘Spirits of wine’ means rectified spirits of the strength of not less than forty-three degrees above proof:
‘British compounds’ means spirits redistilled or which have had any flavour communicated thereto, or ingredient or material mixed therewith:
‘Foreign spirits’ means all spirits and strong waters liable to a duty of Customs:
‘Sugar’ includes any saccharine substance or syrup manufactured from any material from which sugar can be manufactured:
‘Commissioners’ means the Commissioners of Inland Revenue:
‘Methylate’ means to mix spirits with some substance in such manner as to render the mixture unfit for use as a beverage, and ‘methylated spirits’ means spirits so mixed to the satisfaction of the Commissioners:
‘Proof’ means the strength of proof as ascertained by Sykes's hydrometer:
‘Still’ includes any part of a still, and any distilling apparatus whatever for distilling or making spirits:
‘Distiller,’‘rectifier,’‘dealer,’ and ‘retailer’ mean respectively a person who distils, rectifies, or compounds, deals in, or retails spirits:
‘Excise trader’ means any person carrying on a business subject to any of the regulations of this Act, and includes a maltster who makes malt duty free for distillation and any proprietor or occupier of an excise warehouse:
‘Licence’ means a licence granted by the Commissioners or by an officer duly authorised by them; and ‘licensed,’ as applied to an Excise trader, means a person holding a licence so granted for the purpose of his business:
‘Premises,’ when used with reference to an Excise trader, means any building or place used by him in the course of his business, and of which entry is required to be made:
‘Prescribed’ and ‘approved’ mean respectively prescribed or approved by the Commissioners:
‘Warehouse’ means any warehouse approved or provided for the deposit of spirits:
‘Distiller's warehouse’ means an approved warehouse on the premises of a distiller:
‘Excise warehouse’ means a warehouse approved or provided by the Commissioners as a general warehouse for the deposit of spirits:
‘Customs warehouse’ means a warehouse approved or provided by the Commissioners of Customs for the deposit of spirits:
‘Collector’ means the collector of Inland Revenue, and in connexion with the business of an Excise trader means the collector for the collection in which the premises of the trader are situate, and includes a person acting as such collector:
‘Officer’ means officer of Inland Revenue:
‘Proper officer’ means the officer of the division or ride in which the business of an Excise trader is carried on, or in which anything is by this Act required to be done by, or any notice to be given to, such officer, and includes a person acting as such officer, and also any officer superior in matters of Excise to such officer:
‘Writing’ includes print, and ‘written’ includes printed:
‘Justice’ means a justice of the peace or a magistrate having jurisdiction for the county or place where any offence is committed or suspected to have been committed, or any offender is apprehended or found, or any goods, or commodities are seized or liable to seizure or suspected to be so liable:
‘County or place’ includes a city, county of a city, county of a town, borough, liberty, division, franchise, or other place of magisterial jurisdiction:
‘Schedule’ means schedule to this Act.
4 Division into Parts.
4. This Act is divided into Parts, as follows:—
Part I.—Spirits other than Methylated Spirits.
Part II.—Methylated Spirits.
Part III.—Supplemental.
PART I.
Spirits other than Methylated Spirits.
General.
5 Prohibition of distilling, &c. without licence.
(1)5. (1.) No person may, without being licensed to do so, or on any premises to which his licence does not extend—
(a .) Have or use a still for distilling, rectifying, or compounding spirits; or
(b .) Brew or make wort or wash, or distil low wines, feints, or spirits; or
(c .) Rectify or compound spirits.
(2) If any person contravenes this section he shall for each offence incur a fine of five hundred pounds, and all spirits, and vessels, utensils, and materials for distilling or preparing spirits in his possession shall be forfeited.
6 Liabilities of person having wash and a still.
6. Every person who makes or keeps wash prepared or fit for distillation, or low wines or feints, and has in his possession or use a still, shall, as respects the duties, penalties, and forfeitures imposed by law on distillers, be deemed to be a distiller.
7 As to capacity, &c. of still in England.
(1)7. (1.) In England if a distiller keeps or uses a still of which the body, without the head, is of less capacity than three thousand gallons he must not keep or use in his distillery at the same time more than two wash stills and two low wine stills.
(2) (2.) For every still kept or used in contravention of this section the distiller shall incur a fine of one hundred pounds, and a further fine of one hundred pounds for every time that any such still is used; and every still kept or used in contravention of this section shall be forfeited.
8 Condition for grant of licence for still of less than 400 gallons.
(1)8. (1.) A person shall not have a licence to keep a still of less capacity than four hundred gallons, unless he has in use a still of that capacity, or produces to the Commissioners a certificate, signed by three justices for the county or place, that he is a person of good character, and fit and proper to be licensed to keep such a still, and that the premises in which he proposes to erect the still and of which he is in actual possession, are of the yearly value of ten pounds at least.
(2) (2.) If the still is intended to be kept by persons in partnership, a certificate to the above effect with regard to one of the partners shall be sufficient.
(3) (3.) The Commissioners may, if they think fit, refuse to grant the licence, notwithstanding the production of the justices certificate; but, in case of refusal, they shall state the grounds thereof, in writing signed by them, to the justices.
Distiller's Premises.
9 Distillery to be within quarter of a mile of market town, except on terms as to lodgings for officers.
(1)9. (1.) A person shall not be entitled to a licence for, or be permitted to make entry of, a distillery, unless it is situate in or within a quarter of a mile of a market town.
(2) (2.) The Commissioners may, if they think fit, grant a licence for, and permit entry to be made of, a distillery situate beyond these limits, on the terms of the distiller providing to their satisfaction lodgings for the officers to be placed in charge of the distillery.
(3) (3.) The lodgings must be conveniently situate and must not form part of the distillery or of the distiller's dwelling-house, and the rent charged for them, unfurnished, must not, exceed fifteen pounds a year.
(4) (4.) If a distiller to whom a licence is granted on these terms fails to provide the lodgings, or to keep them in repair, or interrupts or annoys any officer residing therein in his use or enjoyment thereof, the Commissioners may suspend or revoke his licence.
10 Distillery not to be within quarter of a mile of rectifier's premises.
(1)10. (1.) No person may make entry of or use for brewing or making wort, or wash, or for distilling spirits, or for receiving or keeping spirits as a distiller, any premises within a quarter of a mile of any premises entered or used for rectifying or compounding spirits, or for receiving or keeping spirits by a rectifier.
(2) (2.) If any person contravenes this section he shall incur a fine of five hundred pounds for every week during which the premises are so entered or used.
11 Premises of distiller not to be connected with premises of brewer, &c.
(1)11. (1.) A distiller may not carry on upon his premises the business of a brewer of beer, or a maker of sweets, vinegar, cider, or perry, of a refiner of sugar,...
To continue reading
Request your trial