The Freemen (Admission) Act 1763The citation of this act by this

short title In certain jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and other Westminster system, Westminster-influenced jurisdictions (such as Canada or Australia), as well as the United States and the Philippines, primary legislation has both a short title an ...

was authorised by the

Short Titles Act 1896 The Short Titles Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c. 14) is an Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom, act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaces the Short Titles Act 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c. 10). This act was retained for the Republic of I ...

, section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the

Interpretation Act 1978 The Interpretation Act 1978 (c. 30) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act makes provision for the interpretation of acts of Parliament, Measures of the General Synod of the Church of England, Measures of the Church Asse ...

. (

3 Geo. 3 This is a complete list of acts of the Parliament of Great Britain for the year 1762. For acts passed until 1707, see the list of acts of the Parliament of England and the list of acts of the Parliament of Scotland. See also the list of acts of ...

. c. 15), sometimes called the Freeman (Admission) Act 1763,This expression appears in the revised text of the fourth schedule to the

Ballot Act 1872 The Ballot Act 1872 ( 35 & 36 Vict. c. 33) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that introduced the requirement for parliamentary and local government elections in the United Kingdom to be held by secret ballot. The act abolishe ...

included in the third edition of The Statutes Revised (1950
vol 9
p 45), where it is described as "title or abbreviated title". The expression "Freeman (Admission) Act 1763" does not appear in the original text o
that Schedule
Section 3 of the

Statute Law Revision Act 1893 The Statute Law Revision Act 1893 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 14) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that repealed various United Kingdom enactments from 1837 to 1868 which had ceased to be in force or had become necessary. The act was ...

authorises the substitution of short titles for titles in such revised editions. was an act of the

Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union 1707, Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a ...

. The act withheld the right to vote in parliamentary elections, in those boroughs where honorary freemen could vote, from any freemen admitted to the freedom within twelve months of the first day of the election; it did not affect the rights of ordinary freemen, admitted by the custom of the borough in question.

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

were excluded from the restrictions. The act was passed in response to a number of instances of large numbers of non-resident honorary freemen being created to sway the results of elections, often after the writ for an election had been issued. At an election for Durham City in 1761, 215 new freemen, mostly non-resident, had been created after the issue of the writ and had proved decisive in a total poll of around 1,500. After the result was overturned on petition a bill was introduced to check this abuse, and the act was consequently known colloquially as the Durham Act.

References

* Lewis Namier & John Brooke, ''The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754-1790'' (London: HMSO, 1964) * Edward Porritt and Annie G Porritt, ''The Unreformed House of Commons'' (Cambridge University Press, 1903)

External links

Text of the Freeman (Admission) Act 1763
Great Britain Acts of Parliament 1763 Election law in the United Kingdom Election legislation 1763 in law {{GB-statute-stub