Vagrancy Act 1824
| Year | 1824 |
(5 Geo. 4) C A P. LXXXIII.
[21st June 1824]
'WHEREAS an Act was passed in the Third Year of the Reign of His present Majesty, intituled England: And Whereas the said Act was to continue in force until the First Day ofSeptember One thousand eight hundred and twenty four, and no longer; and it is expedient to make further Provision for the Suppression of Vagrancy, and for the Punishment of idle and disorderly Persons, Rogues and Vagabonds, and incorrigible Rogues, inEngland ;' 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 all Provisions heretofore made relative to idle and disorderly Persons, Rogues and Vagabonds, incorrigible Rogues or other Vagrants, in England , shall be and the same are hereby repealed, except only as to any Offence committed before the passing of this Act, which shall be punished under the Provisions of the said recited Act, and save and except as hereinafter excepted.
'II. And Whereas by an Act passed in the Thirty second Year of the Reign of His late Majesty KingGeorge the Third, intituled Georgethe Second, intituled 'An Act to amend and make more effectual the Laws relating to Rogues, Vagabonds and other idle and disorderly Persons, and to Houses of Correction ,' His Majesty's Judges of Assizes and the Justices at the General or Quarter Sessions, or any Justice of the Peace, are empowered to order any Convict upon his Discharge from Prison to be conveyed by Pass in Manner therein directed; and the Judge, Justices or Justice aforesaid, are also empowered to convey by Puss any Person who shall be acquitted at the Assizes or General or Quarter Sessions, or discharged by Proclamation or otherwise, who shall apply to be conveyed as aforesaid: And Whereas Doubts have arisen whether such Parts of such Act as give such Power to order such Person to be conveyed by Pass were by the Provisions of the said recited Act of the Third Year of the Reign of His present Majesty repealed: And Whereas it is expedient to remove such Doubts;' Be it therefore declared and enacted, That all such Provisions of the said recited Act of the Thirty second Year of the Reign of His late Majesty King George the Third, as give such Power of conveying by Pass any Convict upon his Discharge from Prison, and any Person who shall be acquitted at the Assizesor General or Quarter Sessions, or discharged by Proclamation or otherwise, shall be and the same is hereby repealed.
III Idle and disorderly Persons committing certain Offences herein mentioned, how to be punished.
III. And be it further enacted, That every Person being able wholly or in part to maintain himself or herself, or his or her Family, by Work or by other Means, and wilfully refusing or neglecting so to do, by which Refusal or Neglect he or she, or any of his or her Family whom he or she may be legally bound to maintain, shall have become chargeable to any Parish, Township or Place; every Person returning to and becoming chargeable in any Parish, Township or Place from whence he or she shall have been legally removed by Order of Two Justices of the Peace, unless he or she shall produce a Certificate of the Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor of some other Parish, Township or Place, thereby acknowledging him or her to be settled in such other Parish, Township or Place; every Petty Chapman or Pedlar wandering abroad and trading, without being duly licensed, or otherwise authorized by Law; every Common Prostitute wandering in the public Streets or public Highways, or in any Place of public Resort, and behaving in a riotous or indecent Manner; and every Person wandering abroad, or placing himself or herself in any public Place, Street, Highway, Court or Passage, to beg or gather Alms, or causing or procuring or encouraging any Child or Children so to do, shall be deemed an idle and disorderly Person within the true Intent and Meaning of this Act; and it shall be lawful for any Justice of the Peace to commit such Offender (being thereof convicted before him by his own View, or by the Confession of such Offender, or by the Evidence on Oath of One or more credible Witness or Witnesses) to the House of Correction, there to be kept to hard Labour for any Time not exceeding One Calendar Month.
IV Persons committing certain Offences herein mentioned to be deemed Rogues and Vagabonds.
IV. And be it further enacted, That every Person committing any of the Offences hereinbefore mentioned, after having been convicted as an idle and disorderly Person; every Person pretending or professing to tell Fortunes, or using any subtle Craft, Means or Device, by Palmistry or otherwise, to deceive and impose on any of His Majesty's Subjects; every Person wandering abroad and lodging in any Barn or Outhouse, or in any deserted or unoccupied Building, or in the open Air, or under a Tent, or in any Cart or Waggon, not having any visible Means of Subsistence, and not giving a Good Account of himself or herself; every Person wilfully exposing to view, in any Street, Road, Highway or public Place, any obscene Print, Picture or other indecent Exhibition; every Person wilfully, openly, lewdly and obscenely exposing his Person in any Street, Road or public Highway, or in the View thereof, or in any Place of public Resort, with Intent to insult any Female; every Person wandering abroad and endeavouring by the Exposure of Wounds or Deformities to obtain or gather Alms; every Person going about as a Gatherer or Collector of Alms, or endeavouring to procure Charitable Contributions of any Nature or Kind, under any false or fraudulent Pretence; every Person running away and leaving his Wife, or his or her Child or Children, chargeable, or whereby she or they or any of them shall become chargeable to any Parish, Township or Place; every Person playing or betting in any Street, Road, Highway or other open and public Place, at or with any Table or Instrument of gaming, at any Game or pretended Game of Chance; every Person having in his or her Custody or Possession any Picklock Key, Crow, Jack, Bit or other Implement, with Intent feloniously to break into any Dwelling House, Warehouse, Coach House, Stable or Outbuilding, or being armed with any Gun, Pistol, Hanger, Cutlass, Bludgeon or other offensive Weapon, or having upon him or her any Instrument, with Intent to commit any felonious Act; every Person being found in or upon any Dwelling House, Warehouse, Coach House, Stable or Outhouse, or in any inclosed Yard, Garden or Area, for any unlawful Purpose; every suspected Person or reputed Thief, frequenting any River, Canal or navigable Stream, Dock or Basin, or any Quay, Wharf or Warehouse near or adjoining thereto, or any Street, Highway or Avenue leading thereto, or any Place of public Resort, or any Avenue leading thereto, or any Street, Highway or Place adjacent, with Intent to commit Felony; and every Person apprehended as an idle and disorderly Person, and violently resisting any Constable or other Peace Officer so apprehending him or her, and being subsequently convicted of the Offence for which he or she shall have been so apprehended, shall be deemed a Rogue and Vagabond, within the true Intent and Meaning of this Act; and it shall be lawful for any Justice of the Peace to commit such Offender (being thereof convicted before him by the Confession of such Offender, or by the Evidence on Oath of One or more credible Witness or Witnesses) to the House of Correction, there to be kept to hard Labour for any Time not exceeding Three Calendar Months; and every such Picklock Key, Crow, Jack, Bit and other Implement, and every such Gun, Pistol, Hanger, Cutlass, Bludgeon or other offensive Weapon, and every such Instrument as aforesaid, shall, by the Conviction of the Offender, become forfeited to the King's Majesty.
V Who shall be deemed incorrigible Rogues.
V. And be it further enacted, That very Person breaking or escaping out of any Place of legal Confinement before the Expiration of the Term for which he or she shall have been committed or ordered to be confined by virtue of this Act; every Person committing any Offence against this Act which shall subject him or her to be dealt with as a Rogue and Vagabond, such Person...
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