Part 3

ANNO QUINTO GEORGII IV. Regis.

_Cap._ cviii.

An Act to provide for the paving, gravelling, lighting, and watching certain Footways and Carriageways in and near _Brompton Square_ in the Parish of _Saint Mary Abbotts Kensington_ in the County of _Middlesex_; and to provide for the Maintenance of a Garden and Shrubbery in the said Square. [4th _June_ 1824.]

WHEREAS _William Farlar_ of _Brompton_ in the County of _Middlesex_, Esquire, claims to be seised of a Piece of Freehold Land at _Brompton_, in the Parish of _Saint Mary Abbotts Kensington_, in the County of _Middlesex_, which abuts South on the Turnpike Road from _Knightsbridge_ to _Fulham_, West on Land belonging to the Trustees of _Saint George’s_ Hospital, North on Land now or lately belonging to the Heirs of the late Duke of _Kingston_, and East on Ground now or lately belonging to _Elisha Biscoe_, and a Road leading to _Brompton_ Chapel: And whereas a Square called _Brompton Square_, and also divers Streets and public Places, have in part been laid out and formed, and are intended to be speedily completed on the said Piece of Land; and it would be beneficial to the Owners and Occupiers of Houses in the said Square, Streets, and public Places, and also be of public Advantage, to provide by Law for the paving, gravelling, watering, lighting, and watching of the said Square, Streets, and public Places, and for the Maintenance of a Pleasure Garden in the said Square: May it therefore please Your Majesty that it may be enacted; and be it 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 the Limits of this Act shall for all the Purposes thereof be deemed and taken to comprize all the Land of which the said _William Farlar_ claims to be seised as aforesaid, and all Messuages, Erections, and Buildings thereon.

II. And be it further enacted, That every Person who now is or for the Time being shall be in his own Right or in the Right of his Wife in the actual Possession, or in the Receipt of the Rents and Profits of a Dwelling House or other Tenement within the Limits of this Act, of the clear yearly Value of Forty Pounds above Reprisals, and also every Person who now is, or, for the Time being, shall be, actually and _bonâ fide_ an Occupier of a Dwelling House rated or liable to be rated by virtue or for the Purposes of this Act, shall be and they respectively are hereby constituted Trustees for putting this Act into Execution, and the said Trustees shall be called and known as “The Trustees for regulating and improving _Brompton Square_, and certain adjacent Places.”

III. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That no Person shall be capable of acting as a Trustee in the Execution of this Act, except in administering the Oath herein-after mentioned (which Oath any One of the said Trustees is hereby authorized to administer at any Meeting which shall be held pursuant to this Act), until such Person shall have taken and subscribed an Oath to the Effect following: that is to say,

‘I — — do swear, That I truly and bonâ fide am in my own Right [or in the Right of my Wife] in the actual Possession [or in the Receipt of the Rents and Profits] of a Dwelling House or other Tenement of the clear yearly Value of Forty Pounds above Reprises [or that I am an Occupier of a Dwelling House rated or liable to be rated by virtue and for the Purposes and] within the Limits of an Act of the Fifth Year of the Reign of King _George_ the Fourth, intituled [_set forth the Title of this Act_.]

‘So help me GOD.’

And if any Person not being qualified as aforesaid, or not having taken and subscribed the Oath herein-before mentioned, shall presume to act as a Trustee in the Execution of this Act, every such Person for every such Offence shall forfeit and pay the Sum of Fifty Pounds to any Person or Persons who shall sue for the same, to be recovered with full Costs of Suit in any of His Majesty’s Courts of Record at _Westminster_, by Action of Debt or on the Case, wherein no Essoign, Protection, or Wager of Law, and not more than One Imparlance, shall be allowed; and every Person against whom any such Action shall be brought shall prove that he was at the Time of acting qualified as aforesaid, or shall pay the said Penalty, without any other Proof on the Part of the Plaintiff than that such Person acted as a Trustee in the Execution of this Act: Provided always nevertheless, that all Acts and Proceedings of any Person acting as a Trustee in the Execution of this Act, though not qualified as aforesaid, previous to his being convicted, shall notwithstanding such Conviction be as good, valid, and effectual as if such Person had been duly qualified.

IV. And be it further enacted, That the said Trustees shall hold their First Meeting for executing this Act on the Fourth _Monday_ next after the passing of this Act, at the _Grapes Tavern_ at _Brompton_ aforesaid, if then open, and if not, then at some other House or Place in the said Parish of _Saint Mary Abbotts Kensington_, between the Hours of Nine and Eleven in the Forenoon, and may then and from Time to Time afterwards adjourn to such Time or Times, and to such Place or Places within the said Parish, as the Majority of the Trustees present at any Meeting shall from Time to Time appoint; and that Notice of every such adjourned Meeting shall be delivered or left at each Dwelling House within the Limits of this Act, Two Days at the least previously to every such Meeting; and if at any Time appointed for a Meeting Five or more Trustees shall not appear within One Hour after the Time appointed for first assembling, any One or more of the said Trustees then present may adjourn the Meeting to another Day; and in every Case of Neglect or Omission to adjourn (either by reason of the Non-attendance of any Trustee or otherwise), and also whenever any Three or more Trustees shall deem it necessary to have a Special Meeting before the Day of Adjournment, any Three or more of the said Trustees, or their Clerk, may call a Meeting at the Place where the last Meeting was held, by a Notice similar to the Notice directed to be given of adjourned Meetings; and that the said Trustees shall at all their Meetings defray their own Expences, except any Sum not exceeding Ten Shillings a Day for the Use of the Room wherein they shall meet; and at every Meeting of the said Trustees the Majority present at the Hour appointed for first assembling shall appoint One of the Trustees to act as a Chairman; and all Orders and Determinations of the Trustees shall be made at Meetings to be held pursuant to this Act and not otherwise; and no Order or Determination shall be made at any such Meeting, unless a Majority of the Trustees present shall concur therein, except in Cases where there shall be an Equality of Votes, when the Chairman (in addition to his own Vote as a Trustee) shall have a casting Vote; and all Acts, Orders, and Proceedings relating to this Act, which are hereby authorized or directed to be made, done, or executed by or before the said Trustees, and all the Powers and Authorities vested in them generally, may be made, done, and executed by the Majority of the Trustees present at the respective Meetings to be held pursuant to this Act (the whole Number present not being less than Five), and all such Acts, Orders, and Proceedings shall have the same Force and Effect as if the same were made, done, or executed by or before all the Trustees; and no Order or Determination made, agreed upon, or entered into at any Meeting of the said Trustees shall be revoked or altered at any subsequent Meeting, unless Notice of the Intention to propose such Revocation or Alteration shall have been given by Three or more Trustees, by Writing under their Hands, to the Trustees at a previous Meeting, nor unless such Revocation or Alteration shall be agreed to by a greater Number of Trustees than concurred in the making of the Order or Determination which it shall be proposed to revoke or alter.

V. And be it further enacted, That the said Trustees shall from Time to Time, by Writing under their Hands, appoint a Treasurer and Clerk, and also a Collector of the Rates to be made as herein-after mentioned, and may also from Time to Time appoint or employ such other Officers and Persons as they shall think necessary in the Execution of this Act; and the said Trustees may from Time to Time remove such Officers and Persons respectively, or any of them, and upon the Death, Resignation, or Removal of such Officers and Persons respectively, or any of them, may appoint others in their Stead, and may out of any Money to be raised or collected by virtue of this Act make such Allowances as they shall think proper unto such Officers and Persons respectively; and all such Officers and Persons respectively shall, at such Times and in such Manner as shall be directed by the said Trustees, deliver to the said Trustees, or to such Person or Persons as they shall nominate, true and perfect Accounts in Writing of all their Receipts and Payments by virtue of this Act, with proper Vouchers for the Payments, and shall pay all such Monies as shall appear to be in their Hands or owing by them respectively unto the said Trustees, or to such Person or Persons as they shall nominate, within such Time as the said Trustees shall appoint; and if any such Officer or Person shall refuse or neglect to deliver to the said Trustees, or to such Person or Persons as they shall nominate, such an Account as aforesaid, or to deliver up the Vouchers relating to the same, or to make Payment as aforesaid, or if any such Officer or Person shall not deliver up to the said Trustees, or to such Person or Persons as they shall nominate, all Books, Papers, and Writings in his Custody or Power relating to the Execution of this Act, within Seven Days after being thereto required by a Notice in Writing signed by Three or more of the said Trustees, and left at his last or usual Place of Abode, then and in every such Case, upon Complaint being made thereof by or on behalf of the said Trustees to any Justice of the Peace, such Justice is hereby required to issue a Summons or Warrant for bringing such Officer or Person before him, and upon his appearing or not being to be found to hear and determine the Matter of such Complaint in a summary Way, and to examine and adjust the said Account or Accounts if produced; and if upon the Confession of the Officer or Person against whom the Complaint shall be made, or by the Oath of any credible Witness or Witnesses, or upon Inspection of the said Accounts if produced, it shall appear to such Justice that any Money which shall have been collected or received by virtue of this Act, shall be in the Hands of or be owing from such Officer or Person, such Justice is hereby authorized and empowered forthwith, on Nonpayment thereof, by a Warrant under his Hand and Seal to cause such Money to be levied by Distress and Sale of the Goods and Chattels of such Officer or Person respectively; and if no Goods and Chattels shall be found sufficient to answer and satisfy the said Money, and the Charges of making and selling such Distress, or if it shall appear to such Justice that any Officer or Person shall have refused or neglected to render such Account as aforesaid, or to deliver up the Vouchers relating thereto, or that any Books, Papers, and Writings relating to the Execution of this Act shall be in the Custody or Power of such Officer or Person, then such Justice shall forthwith commit such Officer or Person to the Common Gaol or House of Correction, there to remain without Bail or Mainprize, in case he shall be committed for Nonpayment of any Money, until he shall have accounted for and paid the full Amount thereof, or compounded with the said Trustees in respect thereof, or in case he shall be committed for not delivering any Books, Papers, Writings, or Vouchers as aforesaid, until he shall have delivered up such Books, Papers, Writings, and Vouchers respectively, or made Satisfaction in respect thereof to the said Trustees; but no Person who shall be committed for want of sufficient Distress, shall be detained in Prison by virtue of this Act for any longer Term than Six Calendar Months.

VI. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That it shall not be lawful for the said Trustees to appoint the same Person who may be appointed their Clerk in the Execution of this Act, or the Partner or any Person in the Service or Employ of any such Clerk, to be the Treasurer for the Purposes of this Act, or to appoint the Person who may be appointed Treasurer, or the Partner or any Person in the Service or Employ of any such Treasurer, to be the Clerk to the said Trustees; and if any Person shall accept both the Offices of Clerk and Treasurer for the Purposes of this Act, or if any Person, being the Partner or in the Service or Employ of any such Clerk, shall accept the Office of Treasurer, or being the Partner or in the Service or Employ of any such Treasurer, shall accept the Office of Clerk in the Execution of this Act, or if any such Treasurer shall accept any Place or Office of Profit or Trust under the said Trustees, other than that of Treasurer, every such Person so offending shall for every such Offence forfeit and pay the Sum of One hundred Pounds to any Person or Persons who shall sue for the same, to be recovered, with full Costs of Suit, in any of His Majesty’s Courts of Record at _Westminster_, by Action of Debt or on the Case, or by Bill, Suit, or Information, wherein no Essoign, Protection, or Wager of Law, and not more than One Imparlance, shall be allowed.

VII. And be it further enacted, That the said Trustees shall and they are hereby required to order and direct a Book or Books to be provided and kept by their Clerk for the Time being, in which Book or Books such Clerk shall enter or cause to be entered true and regular Accounts of all Sums of Money received, paid, laid out, and expended for or on account of this Act, and of the several Articles, Matters, and Things for which such Sums of Money shall have been disbursed, laid out, and paid, which Book or Books shall at all seasonable Times be open to the Inspection of the said Trustees or any Person or Persons rated or assessed for the Purposes of this Act, without Fee or Reward; and the said Trustees, or Persons assessed as aforesaid, or any of them, may take Copies of or Extracts from the said Book or Books, or any Part or Parts thereof, without paying any thing for the same, and in case the said Clerk shall refuse to permit or shall not permit the said Trustees or either of them, or any Person rated or assessed as aforesaid, to inspect such Book or Books, or to take such Copies of or Extracts from the same as aforesaid, when required, such Clerk shall for every such Offence forfeit and pay a Sum not exceeding Ten Pounds.

VIII. And be it further enacted, That all the Footways and Carriageways now formed and which hereafter shall be formed in the said Square, and all other Footways and Carriageways which now are or hereafter may be laid out and formed in or upon the said Piece of Land belonging to the said _William Farlar_, and also the Footway next the Turnpike Road, such Footway extending from the Entrance of the Mews behind _Brompton Row_, and behind the East Side of the said Square, Westward along the South End of the said Square and in front of _Brunswick Place_, to the Entrance of _Cottage Place_, and the Mews behind the West Side of the said Square, and also all the Houses and Buildings now erected and which hereafter shall be erected upon the said Piece of Land belonging to the said _William Farlar_, shall be deemed to be within the Jurisdiction of this Act; and that it shall be lawful for the said Trustees to cause all the said Footways and Carriageways to be properly formed, paved, or gravelled, amended and kept in repair, upon such Levels and in such Manner and with such Materials as they shall judge necessary, and to cause the said Carriageways to be cleansed and watered, and Drains, Sinks, and Watercourses to be made for conveying the Water off and from the said Footways and Carriageways, and Posts and Rails or Chains to be set up for the Protection and Preservation of the Foot Pavements or any Part thereof, and to cause to be done or made all such Works, Alterations, and Improvements in and about the said Footways and Carriageways as the said Trustees shall from Time to Time deem necessary and proper for the making, maintaining, and supporting the same; and if any Person or Persons shall dig, break, or take up the said Footways or Carriageways, or any Part thereof, without the Consent of the said Trustees, or of some Person empowered by them to give such Consent, every such Person shall for every such Offence forfeit and pay a Sum not exceeding Ten Pounds.

IX. And be it further enacted, That if and as often as any of the Footways or Carriageways within the Jurisdiction of this Act, or any Part or Parts thereof, shall be dug up, opened, or disturbed for the Purpose of laying down, altering, repairing, renewing, or removing any Pipe or Pipes, or for any other Purpose whatsoever, then and in every such Case all and every the Works, Business, and Matters for or in respect whereof such Footways or Carriageways respectively, or any Part or Parts thereof, shall be so dug up, opened, or disturbed, shall be executed and completed with all possible Expedition, and in every such Case (whether such Footways or Carriageways shall be so dug up, opened, or disturbed with or without the Consent of the said Trustees) the Company or Companies, Person or Persons respectively, who from Time to Time shall cause or direct the said Footways or Carriageways, or any Part or Parts thereof respectively, to be so dug up, opened, or disturbed, shall at their own Costs and Charges cause the same to be forthwith well and substantially filled up, rammed down, repaired, and gravelled, and put into as good, sound, and perfect a State and Condition in all respects as the said Footways and Carriageways respectively were in immediately before the same being so dug up, opened, or disturbed; and in case any such Company or Companies, Person or Persons, shall neglect or refuse so to do for the Space of Twenty-four Hours next after the Completion of the Works, Business, or Matters in respect whereof the same shall be so dug up, opened, or disturbed, it shall be lawful for the said Trustees to cause such Footways and Carriageways respectively to be forthwith well and substantially filled up, rammed down, repaved, gravelled, and put into such good, sound, and perfect Condition as aforesaid; and all the Costs, Charges, and Expences thereof shall be repaid to the said Trustees by the Company or Companies, Person or Persons respectively, who shall have caused or directed the same Footways or Carriageways respectively to be so dug up, opened, or disturbed; and unless all such Costs, Charges, and Expences shall be so repaid to the said Trustees (on Demand made thereof by the Clerk or Collector for the Time being appointed or employed by the said Trustees), then all such Costs, Charges, and Expences may be recovered from the Company or Companies, Person or Persons, hereby made liable to repay the same as aforesaid, in the same Manner as any Penalty or Forfeiture incurred under the Provisions contained in this Act may be levied or recovered before any Justice of the Peace.

X. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Trustees from Time to Time to cause such Lamp Posts, Lamp Irons, and Lamps to be set up in or about the Footways and Carriageways within the Jurisdiction of this Act, or upon or against the Walls or Palisadoes of or belonging to any adjoining or contiguous House or Building, as they shall deem necessary for lighting the said Footways and Carriageways, and to cause such Lamps to be lighted with Oil or Gas during such Hours and Seasons as they shall from Time to Time deem necessary or proper; and if any Person or Persons shall extinguish the Light in any such Lamp whilst the same ought to be kept burning, every such Person shall for every such Offence forfeit and pay a Sum not exceeding Five Pounds: Provided always, that if any Damage shall be occasioned to any Building or Wall, or to any Rails or Palisadoes, by the affixing, setting up, taking down, altering, or repairing any such Lamp or Lamp Iron, or the Fastenings thereof, the said Trustees shall immediately cause such Injury or Damage to be well and sufficiently repaired, and the Expence thereof shall be paid out of any Money which shall be raised under the Authority of this Act: Provided also, that nothing herein contained shall authorize the said Trustees to cause any Pipe or Pipes for the Conveyance of Gas to be affixed or continued upon or against any House or Building, except it be with the Consent of the Occupier of such House or Building.

XI. And be it further enacted, That all Pipes and other Conduits to be laid or used for the Conveyance of Gas in, under, through, along, across, or round the said Square called _Brompton Square_, or any other Place within the Jurisdiction of this Act, shall be laid at the greatest practicable Distance from any Water Pipe now or for the Time being laid down for the Conveyance of Water under, through, along, across, or round the said Square, or any such other Place as aforesaid, except in Cases where it shall be unavoidably necessary to lay the Gas Pipes across any of the Water Pipes, in which Case the Gas Pipes shall be laid over and above the Water Pipes at the greatest practicable Distance therefrom, and shall form therewith a Right Angle, and in that Case the Gas Pipes so crossing the Water Pipes shall be at the least Six Feet in Length, so that no Joint of any such Gas Pipe shall be nearer to any Part of any such Water Pipes than Three Feet at the least; and in laying down the Gas Pipes, the said Trustees, or the Company, Contractor, or other Person or Persons supplying Gas or laying down Pipes for the Conveyance thereof, shall in no Case join Two or more Pipes together previously to their being laid in the Trench, but shall lay each Pipe as nearly as may be in its Place in the Trench, and shall in such Trench properly form the Jointing with the other Pipes to be added thereto with proper and sufficient Material, and shall also make and keep all and every such Trench and all Pipes connected or communicating therewith and all the Screws Joints, Inlets, and Apertures therein respectively, air-tight, and in every respect prevent the Gas from escaping therefrom, upon pain of forfeiting for every Offence the Sum of Five Pounds.