Vestries Act 1831
 | |
| Long title | An Act for the better Regulation of Vestries, and for the Appointment of Auditors of Accounts, in certain Parishes of England and Wales. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 1 & 2 Will. 4.c. 60 |
| Territorial extent | Provinces of Canterbury and York (England, Channel Islands, Isle of Man) |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 20 October 1831 |
| Repealed | 1 June 1992 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 1992 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of the Vestries Act 1831as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, fromlegislation.gov.uk. | |
TheVestries Act 1831(1 & 2 Will. 4.c. 60), commonly known asHobhouse's Vestry Act(named after theWhigfrontbencherSir John Hobhouse, later created Lord Broughton), was anAct of Parliamentin 1831 and was a local government overhaul which also affected theEstablished Churchat a local level. The act gavesubsidiarityin that local ratepayers would have to agree by a special majority for the reform to take effect in their local area (parish).
Where locally approved it replaced the selectvestry(the local government where not an open vestry and which was in most cases a narrowoligarchy) with a non-co-opted system of vestrymen (vestry members) to be instead elected byratepayers(male and female) who had been resident in the parish for more than a year.
To adopt the act (reform) the parish had to have over 800 ratepayers (thus excluding almost all rural parishes), of whom at least two-thirds would need to vote in support of the reform.
The five metropolitan parishes to adopt the act were:[2]
Membership of their vestries were replaced over a period of three years with a series of elections.
TheMetropolis Management Act 1855went further by abolishing the remaining select vestries of all metropolitan parishes in 1855 and extended the principle of election by ratepayers.
References
[edit]- ^The citation of this Act by thisshort titlewas authorised by theShort Titles Act 1896,section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of theInterpretation Act 1978.
- ^Green, David R.Pauper Capital: London and the Poor Law, 1790-1870.
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