1776

Summary

Act made to alter the 1730 Act so that the river can be replaced by a canal.

Verbatim text

Anno Regni Georgii III Regis Magnæ Britanniæ, Francæ, & Hierniæ
Decimo Sexto
At the Parliament begun and holden in Westminster, the Twenty-ninth Day of November, Anno Domini 1774, in the Fifteenth Yar of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third by Grace of God, of Great Britaine, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c.
And from thence continued, by several Prorogations, to the Twenty fixth Day of October, 1775, being the Second Session of the Fourteenth Parliament of Great Britain.
London: Printed by Charles Eyre and William Strahan, Printers to the King’s most Excellent Majesty. 1776.
Anno Decimo Sexto Georgii III. Regis.
Cap. XXI.
An Act to amend an Act, passed in the Third Year of His late Majesty’s Reign, intituled, An Act for making navigable the River Stroudwater, in the County of Gloucester, from the River Severn, at or near Framiload, to Wallbridge, near the Town of Stroud, in the same County; and for giving other Powers, for the Purpose of making a Navigation from Framiload to Wallbridge aforesaid.
Whereas an Act was made in the Third Year of the Reign of his late Majesty King George the Second, intituled, An Act for making navigable the River Stroudwater, in the County of Gloucester, from the River Severn, at or near Framiload, to Wallbridge, near the Town of Stroud, in the same County: And whereas by the said Act certain Persons therein named, their Heirs, or Assigns, or Nominees, were authorised and impowered, at their proper Costs and Charges, to make the said River, called Stroudwater, navigable and passable for Boats, Barges, Lighters, and other Vessels, from the River Severn, at or near Framiload aforesaid, to Wallbridge, near the Town of Stroud aforesaid, and from Time to Time to continue, maintains, and use such Navigation in such Manner as they should think fit; and, for the better effecting the Premises, Commissioners were, by the said Act, nominated to determine Differences between the Undertakes and other Persons concerned; but no Proceedings were had towards making the said Navigation: And whereas an Act was made in the Thirty-second Year of the Reign of this said late Majesty, to amend and explain the said former Act, whereby other Persons therein named, their Heirs, Assigns, or Nominees, were impowered to make and maintain the said Navigation, in Manner and by the Ways and Means therein mentioned: And whereas by the said Act it was provided, that, in case the said Undertakers should not finish their said Undertaking one or before the Twenty-ninth Day of September, One thousand seven hundred and sixty-one, or within such further Time as the Commissioners should think proper to allow for finishing the same, the Powers, Authorities, Rights, Privileges, and Advantages, by the said Act granted to and vested in them, should cease and determine; and all the Lands, Engines, and Machines which should then have been by them purchased, erected, and made, for the Use and Purpose of the said Navigation, should be forfeited to the Commissioners appointed by and in pursuance of the said former Act, who were impowered to grand and convey the same to any other Person or Persons who should be willing to complete the said Undertaking in the Manner intended by, and under the Conditions, Privileges, Restrictions, and Limitations of the said former Act, in such Manner as might have been done in case the said last-mentioned Act had not been made: And whereas the Undertakers under the said last-mentioned Act made some Progress towards effecting the said Navigation, but did not complete he same, notwithstanding they has a further Time of Six Years allowed them for that Purpose, pursuant to the Provisions of the said Act: And whereas, upon the Eighth Day of December, One thousand seven hundred and seventy-four, the several Persons hereinafter named entered into an Article of Subscription for raising the Sum of Twenty thousand Pounds for making the said Navigation, to be divided and distinguished into Two hundred equal Parts or Shares, at the Rate of One hundred Pounds per Share, and agreed to advance and pay such Sum or Sums of Money as should respectively belong to the Share or Shares subscribed for, according to the Tenor of the said Article; videlicet, the Right Honourable the Lord Ducie Two Shares, Sir Onesiphorus Paul Baronet One Share, William Dallaway Three Shares, William Dallaway, for his Daughter Elizabeth, One Share, William Dallaway for his Daughter Rebecca Catherine, One Share, William Knight Two Shares, George Hawker, Six Shares, Joseph Wathen, Five Shares, Richard Aldridge Four Shares, James Winchcombe Five Shares, Thomas Baylis Eight Shares, John Holling Two Shares, Benjamin Grazebrook Six Shares, Fream Arundell Three Shares, Thomas Crozier Arundell Two Shares, Richard Hawker and Son Five Shares, John Butt Five Shares, Thomas White, Seven Shares, William Capell Two Shares, William Smith Two Shares, James Croome Three Shares, Wiiliam Wathen Two Shares, Richard Bigland Two Shares, Nathaniel Jones One Share, Francis Knight One Share, Thomas James One Share, Richard Gabb One Share, George Summer One Share, Rowles Scudamore One Share, Charles Freebury One Share, Robert Ellis One Share, Henry Shephard One Share, Anna Haynes One Share, Durley Wintle Five Shares, William Ellis One Share, James Dallaway Two Shares, William Hopton One Share, Hester Pegler One Share, John Gardner Ten Shares, Benjamin Fisher One Share, William Tombs One Share, Edmund Clutterbuck Two Shares, Daniel Clutterbuck One Share, Nathaniel Perks Two Shares, John Allaway Five Shares, Charles Page Two Shares, Timothy Lewis One Share, Bathurst Lewis, Son of Timothy Lewis, One Share, George Lewis, One Share, Joshua Thomas One Share, William Sevill Two Shares, John Wight One Share, William Sevill junior Two Shares, Anthony Keck One Share, Samuel Baylis Three Shares, John Cambridge Two Shares, William Turner One Share, Samuel Jones Two Shares, Samuel Arundell Three Shares, Jane Sheppard Two Shares, Samuel Peach One Share, Samuel Bowyer One Share, Abel Grey Two Shares, Thomas Gibson Four Shares, Thomas Bradbury Winter Four Shares, Bicknel Coney and John Wilson Five Shares, Elizabeth Hawes One Share, Thomas Colborne Two Shares, John Kemmett Two Shares, Joseph Beddome Two Shares, Rebecca Ann, Daughter of Joseph Beddome, Two Shares, Susanna Dallaway One Share, Elizabeth Clissold, Daughter of Nathaniel Clissold, One Share, John Clissold Two Shares, John Billingsley Two Shares, Richard Hall One Share, William Tombs One Share, John Mills One Share, Hannah Beale Two Shares, Abraham Wallbank One Share, Samuel Wallbank One Share, Joseph Cripps, Son of Joseph Cripps, One Share, Edward Cripps, Son of Joseph Cripps, One Share, Samuel Vines One Share and John Dauncey One Share. And whereas the Commissioners for putting the said first-mentioned Act in Execution, did, on or about the Twenty-ninth Day of December. One thousand seven hundred and seventy-four, under their Hands and Seals nominate and appoint William Dallaway, William Knight, George Hawker, Joseph Wathen, Richard Aldridge, James Winchcombe, Thomas Baylis, John Hollings, and Benjamin Grazebrook, being some of the Subscribers to the said Article, to be Undertakers for making such Navigation, in the Manner intended by, and under, and subject to, the Conditions, Privileges, Damages, Tolls, Restrictions, and Agreements, in the said first-mentioned Act for that Purpose, and gave, granted, and conveyed unto the said Undertakers, their Heirs, Assigns, and Nominees, all the Powers, Authorities, Rights, Profits, Privileges, and Interests, together with all Lands, Engines, and Machines, purchased and erected by any of the Undertakers thentofore nominated by virtue of the said former Acts, or either of them, and then vested in the said Commissioners: And whereas the Undertakers last appointed, together with the other Subscribers to the said Article of the Eighth Day of December, One thousand seven hundred and seventy-four, have begun a Cut from the said River Severn, near Framiload, with Intent to join the said River Stroudwater, in the Mill Pond of Richard Owen Cambridge Esquire, and have already made Calls upon the several Subscribers to the said Two hundred Sharers, for the Sum of Twenty-five Pounds on each Share, amounting in the Whole to the Sum of Five thousand Pounds, a considerable Part whereof has been expended towards making the said Cut, and in the Purchase of Lands, and in necessary Works relating thereto: And whereas it appears, that continuing the Works for the Navigation authorised to be made by the said first-mentioned Act, in Manner therein prescribed, will be attended with many Difficulties, and be liable to many Obstructions: And whereas, if a proper and convenient Navigation was made from the said River Severn, at or near Framiload, to Wallbridge aforesaid, the same would greatly tend to the Encouragement and Encrease of the Woollen Manufactory already carried on in that Neighbourhood to a very considerable Degree, and would be beneficial to Trade and Commerce: And whereas the said Undertakers and other Proprietors of Shares are wiling and desirous, at their own further proper Costs and Charges, to make and maintain such Navigation; but as the same cannot be effectually carried into Execution without the further Aid of Parliament; may it 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 the present Parliament assemble, and by the Authority of the same, That, from and after the passing of this Act, the said Right Honourable the Lord Ducie, Sir Onesiphorus Paul Baronet, William Dallaway, William Dallaway for his Daughter Elizabeth, William Dallaway for his Daughter Rebecca Catherine, William Knight, George Hawker, Joseph Wathen, Richard Aldridge, James Winchcombe, Thomas Baylis, John Hollings, Benjamin Grazebrook, Fream Arundell, Thomas Crozier Arundell, Richard Hawker and Son, John Butt, Thomas White, John Colborne, Thomas Heart, William Capel, William Smith, James Croome, William Wathen, Richard Bigland, Nathaniel Jones, Francis Knight, Thomas James, Richard Gabb, George Summer, Rowles Scudamore, Charles Freebury, Robert Ellis, James Dallaway, William Hopton, Hester Pegler, John Gardner, Benjamin Fisher, William Tombs, Edmund Clutterbuck, Daniel Clutterbuck, Nathaniel Perks, John Allaway, Charles Page, Timothy Lewis, Bathurst Lewis Son of Timothy Lewis, George Son of Timothy Lewis, John Peach, Joshua Thomas, William Sevill, John Wight, William Sevill junior, Anthony Keck, Samuel Baylis, John Cambridge, William Turner, Samuel Jones, Samuel Arundell, Jane Sheppard, Samuel Peach, Samuel Bowyer, Abel Grey, Thomas Gibson, Thomas Bradbury Winter, Bicknel Coney, and John Wilson, Elizabeth Hawes, William Bowyer, Francis Hawes, Thomas Colborne, John Priddey, Samual Skey, John Kemmett, Joseph Beddome, Rebecca Ann Daughter of Joseph Beddome, Susanna Dallaway, Elizabeth Clissold Daughter of Nathaniel Clissold, John Clissold, John Billingsley, Richard Hall, William Tombs, John Mills, Hannah Beale, Abraham Wallbank, Samuel Wallbank, Joseph Cripps Son of Joseph Cripps, Edward Cripps Son of Joseph Cripps, Samuel Vines, and John Dauncey, and their respective Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, are and shall be united into a Company for the better carrying on, making, compleating, and maintaining the said Navigation, for the Passage of Boats, Barges, Lighters, and other Vessels, from the River Severn, at or near Framiload, to Wallbridge, near the Town of Stroud, in the County of Gloucester, and shall for the Purpose be One Body Politick and Corporate by the Name of the Company of Proprietors of the Stroudwater Navigation, and by that Name shall have perpetual Succession, and a Common Seal, and by that Name shall and may sue and be sued, and also shall and may have Power and Authority to purchase Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments, for the Use of the said Navigation, without incurring any of the Penalties or Forfeitures of the Statues of Mortmain, or any of them, and also to sell any Lands or Tenements purchased for the Use of the said Navigation; and any Person or Persons, or Bodies Politick or Corporate, may give, grant, bargain, sell, or convey, to the said Company of Proprietors, any Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments, for the Use and Benefit of the said Navigation, without Licence of Alienation in Mortmain.
And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the said Company, by themselves, their Deputies, Agents, Officers, Workmen, Servants, and Assistants, at their own proper Costs and Charges, to make and complete the said Navigation in Manner following; that is to say, To make and complete the Cut or Canal already begun, from the said River Severn, near Framiload, to join and communicate with the said River Stroudwater, in the Mill Pond of Richard Owen Cambridge Esquire: to set out, open and make navigable, the Tow other Cuts or Canals herein-after particularly mentioned and described; that is to say, A Cut or Canal, to begin and branch out from the said River Stroudwater, in the said Mill Pond at or near Lockham Bridge, and to join and communicate with the same river at some convenient Place in Ebley Mill Pond; and One other Cut or Canal, to begin and branch out from the said last-mentioned Mill Pond, as to be carried through the Stream called Painswick Water, (being Part of Lodgmore Mill Pond), and from thence to Wallbridge, near the said Town of Stroud; and likewise to make navigable the said River Stroudwater, in the intermediate Spaces between the said several Cuts and Canals, in such Manner as in the Whole to make a complete Navigation between the said River Severn and Wallbridge; and from Time to Time, and at all Times, to continue, maintain, and use such Navigation, in such Manner as they shall think fit; any Thing in the said former Act contained to the contrary thereof in any-wise notwithstanding: All which Cuts and Canals shall be made and carried in such Course and Direction, as the same be delineated in the Map or Plan herein-after mentioned, or within the Space of Sixty yards from the same.
And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Company, by themselves, their Deputies, Agents, Officers, Workmen, Servants, and Assistance, at their own proper Costs and Charges, to make, dig or open, any Drain or Drains, Ditch or Ditches, or to widen, open, deepen, and scour any ancient Watercourses for the Purpose of carrying off waste Water from the said intended Navigation, and draining the Lands and Grounds adjoining or near thereto; and to carry away and use the Soil thrown up in making, digging, or opening such Drains or Ditches, within One Month, unless the Owners or Occupiers of the respective Lands or Grounds shall, within One Week, give Notice to the Agent of the said Company of their Intention to carry away the same.
Provided always, and be it further enacted, That nothing contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to give any Power or Authority to the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors or Assigns, to make any Cut or Cuts, Trench or Trenches, or Passage for Water, except for the Purpose of draining,in, upon or through, any Dwelling-house, Mill, or Garden adjoining to a Dwelling-house, erected or inclosed upon the Twenty-fifth Day of March, One thousand seven hundred and seventy-five.
And be it further enacted, that the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors and Assigns, shall, and they are hereby required, at their own proper Costs and Charges, to make, or cause to be made, such Arches, Tunnels, Drains, or other Passages, over, under, or into the said Cuts or Canals authorised to be made by this Act, and Towing-paths on the Sides thereof, or into the said River Stroudwater, of such Depth and Breadth as shall be sufficient at all Time to convey the Water from the Lands adjoining or lying near to the said Cuts or Canals, without obstructing or impounding the same; and that all such Arches, Tunnels, Drains, or other Passages, shall from Time to Time be supported, maintained, and kept in good and sufficient Repair, by the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors and Assigns; and if at any Time or Times, after One Calendar Month’s Notice shall be given by or on Behalf of any Owner or Occupier, Owners or Occupiers, of the said adjacent Lands, who shall find him, her, or themselves aggrieved by the Obstruction of the said Watercourses, to any One of the said Committee for the Time being, or to the known Agent of Collector of Tolls of the said Company of Proprietors for the Time Being, the said Arches, Tunnels, or other Passages, shall no be made, cleaned, repaired, and maintained, according to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act, it shall and may be lawful for any Person or Persons, having an Order in Writing for that Purpose from any Seven or more of the said Commissioners, from Time to Time, as often as there shall be Occasion, to make, cleanse, and repair said Arches, Tunnels, Drains, or other Passages; and the reasonable Expences thereof (to be ascertained by the said respective Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them) shall be defrayed by the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors and Assigns; and in case of Neglect or Refusal to satisfy the same, for the Space of One Calendar Month after Demand thereof made upon their Agent or Agents, or upon any Collector of the Tolls upon the said Navigation, such Expences shall and may be recovered and levies in such Manner as the Costs and Charges of making and erecting Bridges, and other Works, by the Owners or Occupiers of Lands, are herein-after directed and appointed to be recovered and levied.
And be it further enacted, That in case the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors or Assigns, or their Agents, shall fail or neglect to make, erect, and set up such Gates, Bridges, and Stiles, in and over the fences on the Side of the said Towing-path, or such Bridges, Arches, and Passages over, under, or through the said Canals or Cuts, and the said Trenches and Drains as aforesaid, or to make such Watering-places for Cattle as herein directed, for the Use and Convenience of the respective Owners or Occupiers of the Lands adjoining thereto, or from Time to Time To repair, maintain and support such Bridges, Arches, and Watering-places, when made, erected, and set up, of such Dimensions, and in such Manner as the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, shall from Time to Time direct or appoint, for the Space of Three Calendar Months next after the Time to be appointed for those Purposes, by the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them; then, and in such Case, it shall and may be lawful to and for every or any of the said Owners or Occupiers of the Lands or Ground, who shall find themselves or himself aggrieved by any such Failure or Neglect to make, erect, and set up all such Gates, Stiles, Bridges, Arches, Passages, Watering-places, and other Conveniences aforesaid, as the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, shall have before directed or appointed to be made, erected, and set up by the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors and Assigns, as aforesaid, and from Time to Time to repair and support the said Bridges, Arches, and Watering-places as Occasion shall require, (in case, upon Application to the said Commissioners, after Two Calendar Months previous Notice to the Treasure or Clerk of the said Proprietors, of such intended Application, the Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, shall authorise and direct such Repairs as aforesaid); and all the reasonable Costs and Charges thereof respectively shall be settled and allowed by the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, and shall be repaid to the respective Owners or Proprietors of the said adjacent Lands, who shall have so made and erected the said Gates, Stiles, Bridges, Arches, Passages, Watering-paces, or other Conveniences aforesaid, by the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors and Assigns, within the Space of Twenty Days next after the same shall have been so settled and allowed, and an Account and Demand shall have been delivered and made thereof; and on Default of Payment of the said Costs and Charges within the Time aforesaid, the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, shall, and they are hereby required, by Warrant under their Hands and Seals directed, to levy the said Costs and Charges, by Distress and Sale of the Goods and Chattels of the said Company of Proprietors, the Successors and Assigns, in or upon the said Canal or Cuts, or the Wharfe, Quays, or Warehouses, adjoining to or near the same, to and for the Use of such Person or Persons who shall have so laid out and expended the same as aforesaid, rendering to the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors and Assigns, or to some of their Agents, the Overplus, (If any such there be after deducting the reasonable Charges of making such Distress and Sale, to be settled by the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them.
Provided always, and be it further enacted, That if the Owners or Occupiers of any Lands through which the said intended Canals or Cuts shall pass, do or shall at any Time or Times hereafter and upon Experience, that the several Gates, Stiles, Bridges, Arches, Passages, Watering-places, and other Conveniences, which the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, shall have limited and directed to be made by the Company of Proprietors, their Successors and Assigns, in, upon, over, under, or through the said Canals or Cuts, or the Towing-paths thereof, are insufficient, either in the Number or Situation, for the commodious Use and Occupation of their respective Lands and Grounds on both Sides, or on either Side of the said Canals or Cuts; that then and so often, or in any such Case, it shall and may be lawful to and for any such Owners or Occupiers to the said Lands for the Time being, with the Consent and Appropriation of the said Committee for the Time being, or the major Part thereof, upon Request made to the for that Purpose, or in case of their Refusal for the Space of Fourteen Days after such Request, then with the Consent and Appropriation of the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, to make, fix, and erect, at their own Costs and Charges, One or more Gate or Gates, Stiles, Bridges, Arches, Passages, Watering-places, or other Conveniences, of the same or the like Construction with the others made and erected by the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors, or Assigns, on, in, over, or near the said Canals or Cuts, or Towing-paths thereof, in such Places as shall be found and adjudged most necessary and convenient for the better Use, Cultivation, and Improvement or Occupation of such Lands and Grounds, and to repair and support the said Gates, Stiles, Bridges, Arches, Passages, Watering-places, and other Conveniences, at their own like Costs and Charges, as Occupation shall require, so as the Navigation of, in, or upon the said Canals of Cuts be not interrupted or obstructed thereby for a longer Space of Time, or in any other Manner then the same will necessarily be by any other Gates, Stiles, or Bridges, or other Conveniences as aforesaid, to be made or erected in or over the same Canals or Cuts by the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors, and Assigns as aforesaid; and in case the said Navigation shall be obstructed or interrupted thereby, every Person or Persons so obstructing or interrupting the same, shall forfeit and pay unto the said Company, the same Sum and Sums of Money for every hour that the Navigation shall be obstructed or interrupted, as in herein-after provided to be paid by the said Company to the Occupiers of Mills for drawing the Water from them.
And be it further enacted, That from and after the passing of this Act, all the Clauses, Powers, Authorities, Provisions, Rights, Profits, Rates, Tolls, Duties, Reservations, Forfeitures, Privileges, and Interests, and all Regulations, Conditions, Restrictions, Costs, Penalties, Prohibitions, Exemptions, Savings, Matters and Things, which were given, granted, and provided in and by the said recited Act, made in the Third Year of His late Majesty King George the Second, for making navigable the River Stroudwater, and for maintaining and using the same, and for taking Tolls, Tonage, Lock Dues, and other Dues, and for making Satisfaction for Damages to be sustained thereby, and for preserving Rights, and which are not hereby altered or repealed, and are capable of taking Effect, shall and may be used, had, exercised, enjoyed, and complied with, for the Purpose of making, completing, maintaining, and using the Navigation by this Act directed and intended to be made, and for making Satisfaction for Damages to be sustained by or from the same, and for preserving Rights, as fully and effectually to all Intents and Purposes, as if the said Act was repeated and re-enacted in this Act; but subject nevertheless to such Variations and Alterations, and aided by such additional Powers, Provisions, and Regulations, as are by the Act made and granted.
Provided always, and be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That every Boat or other Vessel which shall be navigated on the said River Stroudwater, and shall pass on, or make use of, any Part of the Navigation hereby authorised to be made, shall pay the said Company such and the same Tolls and Duties as if such Boat or other Vessel had passed upon the said intended Navigation from the River Severn to the Place where such Boat or other Vessel shall take in or discharge its Loading upon the said intended Navigation.
And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Tolls, Tonnage, Lock Dues, and other Dues to arise by virtue of this Act, or of the said former Act, shall at all Times hereafter be exempted from the Payment of any Taxes, Rates, Assessments, and Impositions whatsoever, any Law or Statute to the contrary notwithstanding; which Exemption from the Payment of such Taxes, Rates, Assessments, and Impositions, shall be considered by the Jury in the Estimate of the Value in the Purchase of the Lands intended to be cut through.
And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Company to supply the said Cuts or Canals intended to be made by virtue of this Act, which the same shall be making, and likewise when made, with Water as well from the said River called Stroudwater, as from such Springs as shall be found in making the said Cuts or Canals, and from such Brooks, Streams, and Water-course, as are of shall be found within the Distance of One hundred Yards from any Part of the same Cuts or Canals, and to make all necessary Passages for Water from any Part of the said River, and from any Brooks, Streams, Springs, or Water-courses, to the said Cuts or Canals; and also to make such Reservoirs, Side-cuts, or Drains, as shall be necessary for the Purposes of the said Cuts or Canals, within the Distance above mentioned, for the more conveniently supplying the said Cuts or Canals with Water, under the Powers and Authorities of this Act, and by the said recited Act of the Third Year of His said late Majesty given and enacted for the Purpose of making the Navigation therein mentioned, and for maintaining, regulating, and using the same; and it shall be lawful for the said Company, from Time to Time, to make such proper Dams, Sluices, and Stanks, for the making and preserving of the Navigation, and during the Repairs of any Mills, Floodgates, Weirs, or Mill Banks, as shall be thought needful or necessary.
And it be further enacts, That it shall and may be lawful for the said Company, their Servants, Deputies, Agents, Officers, Workmen, or Assistants, at any Time when it shall be necessary, between the first Day of November and the Twenty-ninth Day of May, in every Year, to draw or let down a sufficient Quantity of Water out of the said River Stroudwater, for the Purpose of scouring or cleansing the said Canal, so that the same be done at such Time, and in such Manner, as not to prejudice or hinder the working of any of the Mills on the said River, and the said Company making Satisfaction for any Injury that may be done thereby.
And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That any temporary or other Stank of Dam which shall or may be erected or made in the Mill-pond of Richard Owen Cambridge Esquire, between the Lock and the flood-gates, shall not be higher that within Two Feet of the Constables of the Mills, except with the Leave of the Proprietors and Occupiers of such Mills.
And it be further enacted, That if any Owner or Occupier of the several Mills called Lodgmore, Ebley, and Wheatenhurst Mills, upon the said River Stroudwater, do or shall, upon Request made, and Twenty-four Hours Notice in Writing give to the Owner or Occupier, or left at such Mill or Mills for that Purpose, by any Person employed by the said Company, neglect or refuse either to draw up or open, shut or put down, any Clough or Cloughs, or Floodgates, which shall be necessary to be opened or drawn up, shut or put down respectively, for the better making, effecting, and maintaining, the said Navigation, and the Cuts and Works requisite for that Purpose, and for altering and repairing the same, from Time to Time, forfeit and pay any Sum not exceeding Twenty Pounds, nor less than Ten Pounds. Provided always, That the Owner or Owners, Occupier or Occupiers, of any such Mill or Mills, shall and may, in every such Case as aforesaid, lawfully demand and receive from the said Company, as a Recompense and Compensation for such drawing up, opening, putting down, or shutting, such Clough or Cloughs, or Floodgates respectively, after the Rate of Two Shillings an our for the First Twelve Hours, and after the Rate of Three Shillings and Hour for every Hour afterwards, that the Mill or Mills on each Pen or Pound of Water shall be thereby stopped or hindered from working; the same to be levied and recovered by such Ways and Means as are in the said recited Act of George the Third, and in this Act, mentioned for the recovering of Passage Toll.
And be it further enacted, that if by Means of making the said Navigation, any Cattles, which used to bepasture in the adjacent Lands or Grounds, shall be cut of from and deprived of their usual Watering-places then and in such Case the said Company shall, at their own proper Costs and Charges, set out and provide proper and convenient Places, in the Lands adjoining to the said Navigation, for Cattle to Water at and drink out of, in every such Ground, in Lieu and in Stead of the Watering-place or Places where they were heretofore accustomed to drink and water at, as aforesaid, and to supply the said Watering-places with Water from and out of the said Navigation, if necessary.
And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Agents, Servants, and Workmen, of the said Company, from Time to Time, to enter upon the Lands and Grounds of the several Persons, Bodies Corporate or Collegiate, through which the said Navigation and other Works hereby authorised are intended to be made, in order to survey and take a Level of the same, and to set out and ascertain such Parts thereof as they shall think necessary or proper for the making such Navigation, and other Matters and Conveniences aforesaid, such Agents, Servants, and Workmen, making Satisfaction for the Damage they shall do thereby, to the Occupiers of such Lands or Grounds for the Time being, in case the same exceeds the Sum of One Shilling.
And whereas divers Levels and Surveys have been taken, to ascertain the Practicability of making the said intended Cuts or Canals (and a Map or Plan, and a Book of Reference thereto, have been made in Consequence of such Levels and Surveys) through, across, under, or over the several Estates, Lands, or Grounds, now or late belonging, or reputed to belong, to the several and respective Persons, and such Roads, Rivers, and Brooks, as are particularly mentioned and described in the said Plan; be it therefore further enacted and declared, That there shall be Two Parts made of the said Map or Plan, and Book of Reference, which shall be certified by the Right Honourable the Speaker of the Honourable the House of Commons, and severally deposited with and kept by the Clerk of the Peace for the County of Gloucester, and the Clerk of the said Company of Proprietors for the Time being, to which all Person shall have Liberty to resort, and make Extracts and Copies thereof, as Occasion shall require; and the said Maps or Plans, and Books of Reference, so certified, or true Copies thereof, shall be, and are hereby declared to be, good Evidence in all Cours of Law, or elsewhere; and the Clerk for the Time being of the said Company of Proprietors, upon Six Days Notice to him given him for the Purpose, shall, from Time to Time, produce the said Map or Plan, and Book of Reference, in his Custody, before the Commissioners herein-after appointed, and their Successors, or any Jury or Juries, to be impannelled by virtue of the said former Act or this Act, at the Time and Place to be mentioned in such Notice, in order that the same may then and there be given in Evidence.
And be it further enacted, That the said Company, in making the said intended Cuts or Canals, shall not deviate more than Sixty Yards from the Course or Direction in the said Map or Plan, and set forth in the said Book of Reference, no cut, carry, and convey the same into, through, across, under, or over, any other Part or Pars of the several Estates, Lands, and Grounds, now or late belonging, or reputed to belong, to such Person or Persons, and such Roads, Rivers, and Brooks respectively, than are mentioned in said Book of Reference, (save in such Instances only as are particularly provided for in this Act) without the Approbation and Consent in Writing, signed by the Person or Persons to whom such Estates, Lands, or Grounds, do or shall respectively belong, or without an Order of the Commissioners, or any Nine or more of them, at a Meeting to be held for that Purpose (of which Fourteen Days Notice in Writing, signed by the Clerk of the Time being of the said Company, specifying the Deviation desired to be made, shall be given to the Owner or Owners of such Lands or Grounds); and if, at the Time mentioned in such Notice, the said Commissioners, or any Nine or more of them, shall think it reasonable that such Deviation therein mentioned ought to be made, it shall and may be lawful for them to make such Order in the Premises as to them shall seem proper, and the said Company shall and may make the said Cuts or Canals in the Manner mentioned in such Order.
Provided always, and it is hereby further enacted and declared, That the said Company shall and may make the said intended Cuts or Canals into, through, across, or over, the Lands or Grounds of any Person or Persons whomsoever, into whose Estates, Land, or Grounds, such Deviations as aforesaid shall extend, (although their Names or Names are not mentioned in the said Book of Reference) or into the Estates, Lands, or Grounds. Of any Person or Persons whose Name or Names shall appear, to the Satisfaction of he said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, and be by them certified under their Hands, to be by Mistake omitted in the said Book of Reference, or that, instead thereof, the Name or Names of some other Person or Persons, to whom such last-mentioned Estates, Lands, and Grounds, do not belong, hath or have been inserted therein; any Thing herein contained to the contrary thereof in any-wise notwithstanding.
Provided also, and be it further enacted, That the Lands or Grounds to be taken or used for such Cuts or Canals, and for Towing-paths, and the Ditches, Drains, and Fences to separate such Towing-paths from the adjoining Lands, shall not exceed Thirty Yards in Breadth (except in such Places where the said Cuts or Canals shall be raised higher, or cut more than Five Feet deeper than the present Surface of the Land, an in such Places where it shall be judged necessary for Boats and other Vessels to turn, lie, or pass each other, or where any Crane may be erected) nor above One hundred and twenty Yards in Breadth, in any of the said respective Places.
And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That where, by Means of the said Canals or Cuts being cut through any Lands or Grounds, such Lands or Grounds shall be divided, and the Parcel or Parcels of Land or Ground left on each or either Side of the said Canals or Cuts, or either of them, shall be less than One Acre in Quantity, or less than Fifty Yards in Breadth, the said Company of Proprietors shall purchase and take to such Parcel or Parcels of Land or Ground being less than such Quantity of Breadth as aforesaid, and shall pay for the same to the Owners or Proprietors thereof, the same Rate or Price, by the Acre, as shall have been paid for, or settled and ascertained to be paid for, the Land actually cut and used in the Part of the said Canals or cuts which shall run through such Lands or Grounds as aforesaid, in case the Owners or Proprietors of such Lands or Grounds shall require the said Company of Proprietors to purchase and take to such small Parcels or Parcels of Land or Ground as aforesaid.
And be it further enacted, That it shall not be lawful for the said Company, or any Person or Persons, to make any other Part or Parts of the said River Stroudwater navigable, or to exercise any of the Powers or Authorities given by the said recited Act, for any other Use or Purpose whatsoever, that for making, using, and maintaining the Navigation hereby authorised to be made, and executing the several Powers and Provisions of this Act.
And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That noting in this Act contained shall authorise or impower the said Company, or any other Person or Persons whomsoever, to divert, turn, or alter the present Turnpike Road leading from the Town of Stroud to Framiload aforesaid, except in crossing the said Road, as delineated in the said Map or Plan.
And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for all Bodies Politick, Corporate or Collegiate, Corporations Aggregate or Sole, Husbands, Guardians, Trustees, Feoffees in Trust, Committees, Executors, Administrators, and all other Trustees whatsoever, not only for and on Behalf of themselves, their Heirs and Successors, but also for and on Behalf of their Cestuiquo Trusts, whether Infants, Issue unborn, Lunaticks, Idiots, Femes-covert who are or shall be feifed, possessed of, or interested in, their own Right, and to and for every other Peron and Persons whomsoever who are or shall be feifed, possessed of, or interested in, any Lands, Ground, Tenements, or Hereditaments, which may be proper and convenient for, and facilitate the carrying on and effecting the said Navigation, to contract with the said Company of Proprietors for the Sale of, and to sell and convey unto their Trustees, their Heirs, and Assigns, in Trust for the said Company, for the Use of the said Navigation, all or any Part of such Lands, Ground, Tenements, or Hereditaments, either in Consideration of a Sum of Money to be paid in gross, or of an annual Rent or Payment to be charged and secured as herein-after mentioned; and where, by making of the said Navigation, the Property of any Land Owner shall be separated into small Parcels, so as to render the Occupation thereof inconvenient, it shall be lawful for all Bodies Politick, Corporate and Collegiate, and all other Persons under any of the aforesaid Disabilities, by and with the Consent of the Commissioners to be appointed as herein-after mentioned, to be testified by any Writing or Writings to be by them, sealed and delivered in the Presence of, and attested by, Two or more credible Persons, to contract for, sell, od dispose of, or to convey in Exchange, in lieu of other Lands, all or any Part of such Lands or Grounds, through or near which the intended Navigation shall be made, to any Person or Persons whomsoever, for such Price of Prices of Money, or other Equivalent, as to the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, shall seem reasonable; and that all such Contracts, Agreements, Sales, Conveyances, and Assurances, shall be valid and effectual in Law to all Intents and Purposes whatsoever; and Law, Statute, Usage, or Custom to the contrary thereof in any-wise notwithstanding: And all Bodies Politick, Corporate or Collegiate, and all Persons whomsoever so conveying or exchanging as aforesaid, are hereby indemnified for what he, she, or they, or any of them, shall respectively do by virtue or in pursuance of the Act; and that all such Contracts, Agreements, Sales, Conveyances, and Assurances, to be made as aforesaid, and to which the said Company shall be Parties, shall, at the Expence of the said Company, be inrolled with the Clerk of the Peace for the said County of Gloucester; and true Copies thereof shall be allowed to be good Evidence in all Courts whatsoever; for which Inrollment, or Copy thereof, shall be taken the Sum of Sixpence, and no more, for every One hundred Words, and so in Proportion for any greater or less Number.
Provided always, and it be enacted, That all Contracts, Agreements, Bargains, Sales, and Exchanges of any Lands which are of the Nature of Copyhold, shall be executed and completed, by Surrender thereof. In the respective Courts of the Manor whereof such Lands are held, according to the Custom of the said Manors respectively, and shall remain subject to such and the same Fines, Rents, and Services, as are due and payable, or of Right accustomed, in such and the same Manner as if this Act had not been made; any Thing herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding.
And whereas Differences may arise between the said Company of Proprietors and the several Owners and Occupiers of, and Persons interested in, any Lands, Grounds, Tenements, and Hereditaments, which shall or may be affected by the Execution of any of the Powers hereby or by the said former Acts granted, touching the Purchase-money to be paid, or Recompence to be made, to them respectively, or otherwise; be it therefore further enacted, That the Honourable Henry Bathurst commonly called Lord Apsley, Fream Arundell, John Allaway, Edward Aldrige, Richard Aldridge, Samuel Arundell, Matthew A Deane junior, Thomas Adey, John Adey, Samuel Adey, Charles Adey, John Andrews, John Arnold Clerk, the Right Honourable William Viscount Barrington in the Kingdom of Ireland, the Honourable John Bathurst, the Honourable Apsley Bathurst, the Honourable George Berkeley, Thomas Bush, Edmund Burke, Charles Barrow, Nathaniel Beard, Thomas Crawley Boevay, Ralph Bigland, Richard Bigland, Edward Bacon, Samuel Blackwell, Thomas Brown, James Benson Doctor of Laws, Thomas Baylis, Henry Barns, Charles Ballinger, Samuel Baylis, Thomas Berwick, Thomas Baghott, Daniel Baylis, Thomas Bathurst, Edward Bearcroft, Martin Barry Clerk, John Benson, John Bosworth Clerk, Charles Bragge, Charles Bragg junior, John Brown of Peglesworth, Matther Brickdale, William Buckle of Mythe, Charles Bishop Clark, Richard Brerton Clerk, John Baylis, John Baylis junior, Richard Bond, Samuel Bowyer, Ingram Ball, Matthias Barker, Right Honourable John Lord Viscount Coleraine in the Kingdom of Ireland, the Honourable Thomas Coventry, Sir William Codrington Baronet, Crayle Crayle, John Coxe, Maynard Colchester, Richard Colchester, John Colchester, Christopher Capel, Charles Coxe, Charles Westley Coxe, Escourt Creswell, Henry Cruger, Robert Cambell, William Bromley Chester, Jeremiah Church, Richard Owen Cambridge, Richard Capel, Daniel Capel, Paul Colville Castleman, William Capel, Henry Cook, Richard Champion, Samuel Colborne, James Chambers, Thomas Chambers, George Chambers, Samuel Cook, William Cole, Daniel Chance, William Campbell, Richard Clutterbuck, Edmund Clutterbuck, Edmund Clutterbuck junior, Richard Brown Cheston, James Comeline Clerk, George Champion, John Colborne, Stephen Cambridge, Thomas Coxe Clerk, Alexander Colston Clerk, Thomas Cooper, William Caruthers, Thomas Fry Clerk, William Clutterbuck, Thomas Cripps, John Cripps, Joseph Cripps, Samuel Clutterbuck, Thomas Clutterbuck, Jasper Clutterbuck, John Clutterbuck, Charles Coxe, John Copson Clerk, John Cambridge, Samuel Cambridge, Henry Cripps, Michael Clayfields, the Honourable George Coventry commonly called Lord Deerhurst, James Dutton, Thomas Bagshott Delabere, James Lenox Dutton, Richard Delabere, John Delabere, John Baghott Delabere Clerk, James Dallaway, William Dallaway, William Dallaway junior, John Davis M.D, John Dauncey, Abraham David, Jeremiah Day, John Dimock, Sir Abraham Isaac Elton Baronet, Matther Estcourt, John Elliot, Thomas Estcourt, Edward Estcourt Clerk, Thomas Ellis, Daniel Ellis, William Ellis Clerk, Albert Eyles, Thomas Earle, Edward Elton, Thomas Foley, Richard Fowler, Thomas Foley junior, Thomas Farr, Paul Farr, Andrew Foley, the Right Honourable William Lord Viscount Gage of the Kingdom of Ireland, the Honourable Thomas Gage, Sir William Guise Baronet, John Guise, Thomas Gilbert, Ambrose Goddard, the Reverend Josiah Tucker Dean of Gloucester, Thomas Gryffin, Timothy Gyde, Robert George, John George, Edward Gryffin Clerk, John Gardner, Christopher Gardiner, Benjamin Grazebrook, Richard Gabb, John Gilman, the Honourable ? How, the Honourable William How, the Right Honourable Thomas Harley, Michael Hicks, William Hicks, Howe Hicks, Nicholas Hyett, Benjamin Hyett, John Hyatt, Thomas Hayward, Charles Hayward, Samuel Hayward, John Hayward, George Hawker, Winchcombe Henry Hartley, David Hartley, John Peach Hungerford, Matthey Hale, John Holbrow, Peter Hawker Clerk, Samuel Heaven, Samuel Heaven junior, Thomas Hughes, William Hewer, William Hale, John Hollings, John Holbrow of Leonard Stanley, Lewis Hoskins, George Hardwick, Kedgewyn Hoskins, John Howell, John Saunders Hayward, William Hopton, Thomas Hawker, John Harmer of Gloucester, Samuel Horrell, Thomas Heart, John Hawker, William Hall, William Hill, William Hill junior, Thomas Ingram of Colne Saint Aldwins, Roynon Jones, Edward Jones, Thomas Jones, John Jones, Humphry Jefferis, Samuel Jones M.D, John Wilkins Jepson, Samuel Ingram, John Turner Jones, Nathaniel Jones, Ellis James, John James, Selwyn James, Robert Kingscote, William Knight, William Kimber, Richard King, John King of Frogmarsh, Anthony Keck, Ezekiel King, Francis Knight, Robert Lawrance, Daniel Lysons M.D, Samuel Lysons Clerk, William Lane, John Longdon Clerk, John Leversage, Peter Leversage, Timothy Lewis, Bathurst Lewis, George Lewis, Thomas Little, Henry Loveday, William Loveday, Henry Lippincott, John Rogers Lawrance, Thomas Master, Richard Master, John Meares, John Mills Clerk, John Mills, Joseph Martin, Thomas Mayor, John Mabbett, Thomas Mee, Arnold Nesbitt, George Newland, Thomas Needs, John Neale, Benjamin Newton Clerk, Sir Onesiphorus Paul Baronet, Lewis Pryse, Lewis Pryse the Younger, Hugh Price Clerk, Thomas Purnell Purnell, John Purnell, William Purnell, Thomas Pettat, Samuel Peach, Charles Penruddocke, Edward Pehlips, Joseph Pyrke, William Peach, Richard Pettat, Anthony Rawling Paine, John Pettat Clerk, Stephen Phillips Clerk, Stephen Phillips junior, Edmund Phillips, Holliday Phillips, Thomas Palling, Edward Palling, John Peach, Samuel Peach Clerk, John Peglere, Samuel Purnell, William Parry of Easton Grey, Samuel Phillimore, John Phillimore, John Phillimore junior, John Pitt of Gloucester, Edmund Probyn, Thomas Parker Clerk, Robert Penny Doctor in Divinity, John Pinfold, John Paul of Tetbury, Obadiah Paul, Thomas Pavey, Edward Palling the Younger, Richard Pulton, Thomas Powell, James Pickett, Thoams Parker, Nathaniel Perks, William Phelps, Thomas Raymond, Nathaniel Rogers, John Rogers, James Rooke, Abraham Rudhall, Ambrose Reddall, Edward Southwell, Sir William Strachan Baronet, Sir Jarrit Smith Baronet, Edward Sheppard, Philip Sheppard, William Shurmer, George Snow, Samuel Sandys, Charles Seppard, John Self, Robert Sandford, John Scudamore, Powell Snell, John Sandford Doctor in Divinity, William Sandford Doctor in Divinity, Thomas Shurmer, Thomas Shurmer junior, Francis Reynolds, Ricard Self, John Hugh Smythe, Thomas Smith, George Savage, John Savage Clerk, Robert Stephens Clerk, William Skinn, Henry Stephens, Thomas Saunders, Matthew Saunders, John Smith, William Shatford, William Smith, Nathaniel Rogers, John Chaundler Ready, Robert Ready Clerk, George Augustus Selwyn, Henry Smith, Thomas Snell of Hunt Court, Peter Snell, Thomas Sanders, John Skinner Stock, Matthew Stephens, the Right Honourable Charles Lord Viscount Tracey of the Kingdom of Ireland, the Honourable and Reverend George Talbot, the Honourable and Referend Joh Tracey Doctor in Divinity, Thomas Tippets, Thomas Tyndall, William Townsend, William Taylor, William Turner, Thomas Turner, Samuel Vines, William Veal, William Vizard, William Hughs Vernon, the Right Honourable ? Somerset commonly called Maquis of Worcester, Sir Jacob Wheate Baronet, James Whitthed, Charles Wyndham, Samuel Wallington, Henry Wyatt, Samuel Whitmore, Henry Whorwood, Thomas Whitmore, Samuel Walbank, James Winchcombe, Joseph Wathen, William Wathen, Nathaniel Winchcombe, Henry Winchcombe, William Wilkins, Samuel Webb, John Warren Doctor in Divinity, Durley Wintle, Richard Watts, Nathaniel Watts, Thomas White of Dudbridge, Thomas White of Pagan Hill, Thomas Wathen, Abraham Walbank, John White Doctor in Divinity, Samuel Worthington M.D, Thomas White, Richard Williss, George White, George White junior, John White, Edward Wood, Driver Wathen, Jasper Winnett, Pinfold Westley, Freame Wyndowe, John Thomas Wheate Clerk, Nathaniel Wraxall, Edmund Waller, Samuel Wilson, Nathaniel Webb, William Hayward Winston, the Reverend James Webster Archdeacon of Gloucester, Robert George Dobyns Yate, Thomas Yeates, and Samuel Yeats, shall be, and they and their Successors to be elected In Manner herein-after mentioned, are hereby appointed Commissioners for settling, determining, and adjusting all Questions, Matters and Differences, which shall or may arise between the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors, and Assigns, or any of them, and the several Proprietors of, and Persons interested in, any Lands, Grounds, Tenements, or Hereditaments, that shall and may be affected or prejudiced by the Execution of any of the Powers granted in and by the said recited Act, or this present Act, and for otherwise putting this Act in Execution; and in case any Person or Persons, Bodies Politick, Corporate, or Collegiate, shall be dissatisfied with the Determination of the Commissioners, touching the Recompence and Satisfaction to be paid as aforesaid, or shall not agree with the said Company in the Premises, the same shall be settled and finally determined by a Jury to be summoned for that Purpose, in Manner prescribed by the said recited Act.
Provided always, and it is hereby further enacted, That the said Commissioners and Juries respectively shall in all Determinations, Judgements, and Verdicts, which they shall respectively mane and give in Execution of the Powers vested in them by virtue of the said recited or this present Act, concerning the values of Lands, and Damages sustained or to be sustained, separate and distinguish the Value set upon the Lands, and the Money assessed or adjudged for Damages, from each other; all which said Determinations, Judgements, and Verdicts, shall be final to all Intents and Purposes, and shall not be removed, by Certiorari or other Process whatsoever, into any of His Majesty’s Courts of Record at Westminster, or any other Court, any Law or Statute notwithstanding.
And be it further enacted, That in all Cases where a Verdict or Assessment shall be given or made for more Monies, as a Recompence or Satisfaction for any Lands, Grounds, Waters, or Hereditaments, or for any Damage to be done to any Lands, Grounds, Waters, Hereditaments, or Property of any Person or Persons whomsoever, than had been previously offered or tendered by or on Behalf of the said Company of Proprietors, or than had been determined or assessed by the Commissioners, or if no such Recompence or Satisfaction had been offered or tendered in respect of Damages, by or on Behalf of the said Company, then all the Expences of summoning such Jury, and taking such Inquest, shall be settled by the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, and be defrayed by the said Company, if the Commissioners or Judge, before who the any Questions, Controversies, Disputes, Matters, or Things, shall be determined, that certify that the said Company ought to pay and defray such Costs, and Expences; but if any Verdict or Assessment, shall be given or made for no more or a less Sum that had been previously offered by or on Behalf of the said Company, or than had been determined or assessed by the said Commissioners as aforesaid, or in can no Damages shall be given by the Verdict (where the Dispute is for Damages only) then and in every such Case the Costs and Expences of summoning such Jury, and taking such Inquest, shall be settled in like Manner by the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, and be borne and paid by the Person or Persons with whom the said Company shall have such Controversy or Dispute, in case the Commissioners or Judge, before whom any Questions, Controversies, Disputes, Matters, or Things, shall be determined, shall certify that such Person or Persons ought to pay and defray such Costs and Expences; and in case the said Commissioners or Judge, before whom any Questions, Controversies, Disputes, Matters, or Things, shall be determined, shall refuse or neglect to certify as aforesaid, then and in every such Case each Party shall pay their own Costs and Expences.
And it is further enacted, That all and every Person or Persons making Complaint, and requesting such Jury, shall, before the said Commissioners shall be obliged to issue out their Warrant or Warrants for the summoning of such Jury (as in the said recited Act is directed) first enter into a Bond with Two sufficient Securities, to the Treasurer of the said Company for the Time being, in the Penalty of One hundred Pounds, to prosecute such his, her, or their Complaint, and to bear and pay the Costs and Expences of summoning such Jury, and taking such Inquest, in the Proportion and Manner herein-before mentioned.
And be it further enacted, That the said Commissioners shall not, nor shall any of them, be obliged, by virtue of the said former Act or this Act, to receive or take Notice of any Complained to be made by any Person or Persons whomsoever, for any Injury or Damage by him, her or them sustained, or supposed to be sustained, by virtue of the said former Act or this Act, unless Application hath been made or shall be made in relation thereto, by or on Behalf of such Person or Persons, to the said Company of Proprietors, or to their known Agent or Agents, or some Collector of the Tolls arising from the said Navigation, within the Space of Three Calendar Months next after the Time that such supposed Injury or Damage shall have been sustained, or the doing or committing thereof shall have ceased.
And be it further enacted, That all Sums of Money which are to be paid to any Bodies Politick, Corporate or Collegiate, Corporations Aggregate or Sole, Feoffees in Trust, Executors, Administrators, Husbands, Guardians, Committees, or other Trustees whatsoever, for or on Behalf of any Infants, Lunaticks, Idiots, Femes-covert, or other Certuique Trusts, or to any Person or Persons whose Lands are limited in strict Settlement, for the Purchase or Exchange of any Lands, Ground, Tenements, or Hereditaments, as aforesaid, shall (in case the same exceeds the Sum of Twenty Pounds) by such Bodies Politick, Corporate or Collegiate, Corporations Aggregate or Sole, Feoffees in Trust, Executors, Administrators, Husbands, Guardians, Committees, or other Trustees, Person or Person, feifed of Messuages, Lands, or Tenements, so limited in strict Settlement, be laid out, as soon as conveniently may be, in the Purchase of Messuages, Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments, in Fee Simple, in that Part of Great Britain called England, and conveyed to, or to the Use of, such Bodies Politick, Corporate or Collegiate, Corporations Aggregate or Sole, Feoffees in Trust, Executors, Administrators, Husbands, Guardians, Committees, or other Trustees, or to, for, upon and subject to such Uses, Trusts, Limitations, Remainders, and Contingencies, as the Lands, Grounds, Tenements or Hereditaments, for or in respect whereof such Purchase-monies or Monies received in Exchange shall be so paid as aforesaid, were limited, settled, and assured, at the Times such Monies were so agreed for, ascertained, or assessed, respectively, as aforesaid, or so many of such Uses as shall be then existing, and capable of taking Effect; such Conveyances and Settlements, other than those which concern any Purchase or Exchange between any Land Owners as aforesaid, to be made at the Expence of the said Company; and in the mean Time, and until such Purchase or Purchases shall be made, the said Monies shall be placed out, by such Bodies Politick, Corporate or Collegiate, Corporations Aggregate or Sole, Feoffees in Trust, Executors, Administrators, Husbands, Guardians, Committees, or other Trustees, Person or Persons, in some of the Publick Funds, or on Government of Real Securities, in the Names of Two Persons as Trustees, the One to be nominated by the Party or Parties interested therein, and the other by the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them; and the Interest arising or to be produced from such Funds or Securities, and also the annual Rent or Rents for such Lands, Ground, Tenement, or Hereditaments, (where a Rent shall be fixed upon as aforesaid) shall be paid unto such Person or Persons as respectively as would, for the Time being, be entitled to the Rents and Profits of such Lands, Grounds, Tenements, or Hereditaments, so to be purchased, in case the same were purchased and settled pursuant to the Tenor and true Meaning of this Act.
And be it further enacted, That the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, shall be and are hereby impowered and required to settle what Shares and Proportions of the Purchase-money, and Recompence for Damage, (which shall be so agreed for by the said Company, or determined and adjusted by the said Commissioners, or assessed by the said Juries, in Manner respectively as aforesaid) shall be allowed and paid to each Tenant, or other Person having a particular Estate, Term, or Interest, in the Premises, for his, her, or their respective Interests therein; except in such Cases where the same are herein directed to be laid out and invested in the Purchase of Messuage, Land, Tenements, or Hereditaments.
And be it further enacted, That, in Default of Payment of such Gross Sum or Sums of Money, and at such Times, and in such Manner, as shall be assessed and awarded as Damages for any kind by the said Commissioners, or by any Jury, the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, shall, and they are hereby authorized and required to appoint One or mor Person or Persons to receive so much of the Rates and Duties by the said former Act granted, and by the Act continued, as shall be sufficient for the Purposes after mentioned, and thereout, in the first Place, to pay all such Damages so to be determined or assessed as aforesaid, with the Costs (if any) occasioned by such Refusal or Default of Payment, together with legal Interest for the same, to be computed from such Time such Damages shall be awarded; and the Money, so to be received by such Person or Persons, shall and is hereby declared to be as so much Money received in the Use of such Person or Persons who shall be entitled to receive such Satisfaction for Damages as aforesaid, in Order and Course respectively of such Determinations shall be in Priority of Time; and after such Damages and Costs shall be paid and satisfied, the Power and Authority of such Receivers, for the Purposes aforesaid, shall cease and determine; or otherwise such Party or Parties so aggrieved shall and may have a Remedy for such Sum or Sums of Money, so to be assessed and awarded, which shall not be paid, according to the Judgement of the said Commissioners as aforesaid, with Interest and Costs for the same as aforesaid, by Action at Law, in any of His Majesty’s Courts of Records at Westminter, against the said Company, to recover the same, with full Costs of Suit.
And it is further enacted, That all and every such yearly Rents or Sums as shall be agreed upon, or settled and ascertained as aforesaid, shall be charged and chargeable on the Tolls, Rates, or Duties, arising by virtue of the said former Act and this Act, and shall be paid by the said Company, as the same shall become due and payable; and in case of Non-payment thereof, within Forty Days next after the same shall become due and a Demand thereof made, the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, are hereby authorized and required, by an Order under their Hands and Seals, to appoint One or more Person or Persons to receive a sufficient Part of the said Tolls, Rates, and Duties, and to pay the same to such Person or Persons to whom such yearly Rents or Sums shall be due and unpaid as aforesaid, until such yearly Rents or Sums, with the Costs and Charges of recovering and receiving the same, shall be fully satisfied and paid; or otherwise the said yearly Rents or Sums may be sued for and recovered, with Costs, by Action of Debt, in any of His Majesty’s Courts of Record at Westminster, or, at the Election of the Parties entitled thereto respectively, may be recovered by Distress and Sale of the Goods and Chattels of the said Company, in such Manner as the Law directs in Cases of Distress for Rent.
Provided always, and be it enacted, That in case the Damages and Costs, by this and the said former At directed to be satisfied out of the Tolls arising by the said intended Navigation, shall not be paid and satisfied within the Space of Four Months after the same shall be so determined or assessed as aforesaid, that then and in such Case it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, upon Complaint made to them by or on Behalf of the Person or Person sustaining such Damage, to issue their Warrant or Warrants, under their Hands and Seals, to the Sheriff of the said County of Gloucester, directing and impowering such Sheriff to levy and raise the Damages and Costs so to be determined and assessed, by Distress and Sale of Goods and Chattels of the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors and Assigns, together with such reasonable Charges as the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, shall in such Warrant direct and appoint; and the Sheriff, to whom such Warrant or Warrants shall be directed as aforesaid, is herby required to execute the same.
And it is further enacted, That if any Person or Persons shall wilfully, and to the Prejudice of the Navigation, break, throw down, damage, or destroy, and Banks or other Works, erected or made, or to be erected or made, by virtue of the said former Act or this Act, or shall wilfully or maliciously do any Hurt or Mischief to, obstruct, hinder, or prevent he carrying on, completing, supporting, or maintaining the said intended Navigation, or any Works by the said former Act or hereby authorised to be made, every Person so offending shall forfeit any Sum not exceeding Twenty Pounds, nor less than Forty Shillings, such Penalty to be levied by Distress and Sale of the Goods and Chattels of such Offender or Offenders; and in case of Non-payment of such Penalty, or no sufficient Distress can be found, then such Offender or Offenders shall be committed to the House of Correction for the County of Gloucester, for any Time not exceeding Three Calendar Months, at the Discretion of the Justices before whom such Offender shall be convicted.
And, that the said Company may be fully impowered and enabled to carry on, complete, and maintain, so useful an Undertaking, be it further enacted, That, from and after the passing of this Act, all Lands, Engines, and Machines, and all other Matters and Things whatsoever, which were purchased or provided by any of the Undertakers, by virtue of the said former Acts, or either of them, and which were granted and conveyed by the Commissioners to the Undertakers in December, One thousand seven hundred and seventy-four, as is herein-before mentioned, and also all Lands, Materials, Implements, Matters and Things, purchased, obtained, made, and provided, by the said last-mentioned Undertakers, and paid for, or contracted to be paid for, out of the said Call of Twenty-five Pounds per Centum, and likewise the Undertaking of the Navigation, by this Act authorised and directed to be made, together with all the Tolls, Tonnage, Lock Dues, or Duties, and Powers to take the same, and all other Powers, Privileges, Advantages, Property, and Interest in the said Navigation, and all other Things which were, in or by the said recited Act, made in the Third Year of King George the Second, vested in the Undertakers thereby appointed, (except as the same may be hereby altered) together with all the Powers, Privileges, and Advantages, by this Act given, and also the Money remaining unexpended of the said Five thousand Pounds herein-before mentioned to have been called for, shall be, and are hereby divided and distinguished into Two hundred equal Parts or Shares; and that the said Two hundred Shares be, and are hereby vested in the Company hereby constituted and their respective Successors, Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, in due Proportion, according to the Number of Shares whereof they are Proprietors, and shall be and be deemed to be Personal Estates.
And be it further enacted, That no Person having already subscribed to, or becoming the Proprietor in, such Navigation, do become a Proprietor of more than Fifteen Shares, either in his, or her own Name, or in the Name of any other Person or Persons in Trust for him or her, (except the same shall come to him or her by Devise, Bequest, Marriage, or Act of Law) upon Pain of forfeiting to the said Company of Proprietors all such Shares exceeding Fifteen as aforesaid, (except as herein mentioned); and the Money remaining to be raised of the said Twenty thousand Pounds is hereby directed and appointed to be laid out and applied, in the First Place, for and towards the Payment, Discharge, and Satisfaction, of all Fees and Disbursements for applying for, obtaining, and passing this present Act of Parliament, and all other necessary Expences preparatory and relating thereunto, and all the Residue and Remainder of such Money for and towards, the making, completing, and maintaining the Navigation by this Act directed and intended to be made, and other the Expences of the said former and this Act, and to no other Use, Intent, or Purpose whatsoever.
And it is further enacted, That all Bodies Politick and Corporate, and every Person or Persons, their several and respective Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, who have already subscribed, or who shall severally subscribe and pay in, the Sum of One hundred Pounds, or such Sum or Sums as shall be demanded in Lieu thereof, towards the carrying on and completing the said intended Navigation, shall be entitled to and receive after the said Navigation shall be completed, the entire and neat Distribution of One Two-hundredth Part of the Profits and Advantages that shall and may arise and accrue by virtue of the Sum and Sums of Money to be raised, recovered, or received, by the Authority of the said former Act and this Act, and so in Proportion for any greater Number of Shares, nor exceeding Fifteen Shares as aforesaid, (except as herein mentioned); and every Body Corporate or Politick, Person or Persons, having such Property of One Two-hundredth Part or Share of the said Undertaking, and so in Proportion as aforesaid, shall bear and pay a proportional Sum of Money towards raising the said Sum of Twenty thousand Pounds, for carrying on the said Undertaking, in Manner herein enacted, directed and appointed.
And be it further enacted, That all and every Body or Bodies Politick or Corporate, or other Person or Persons, who shall have subscribed or undertaken for One Share in the said Navigation, and their respective Successors, Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, shall be deemed a Proprietor for so much, and shall have a Vote at every Publick Meeting or Assembly to be held, as hereafter appointed, for carrying on the said Undertaking; which Vote may be given by him, her, or them, or by his, her, or their Proxy or Proxies, duly constituted, under his, her, or their Hand and Seal, in the Presence or One credible Witness, (such Proxy or Proxies being a Proprietor or Proprietors of the said Navigation) and such Vote or Votes by Proxy shall be good and sufficient to all Intents and Purposes, as if such Principal or Principals had voted in Person; and any Body or Bodies Politick or Corporate, Person or Persons, who shall have One such Share, shall have Liberty, by him, her, or themselves, or by his, her, or their Proxy or Proxies, constituted as aforesaid, to give One Vote for such Share, Two Votes for Three Shares, Three Votes for Five Shares, and Five Votes, and no more, for Ten Shares and upwards; and that no Proprietor shall vote by Proxy for more than Five Shares; nor shall any Proprietor be admitted to vote as Proxy for more than Three absent Proprietors; and such Votes to be taken by Ballot, if required; and whatever Question, Election of Officers, or other Matters or Things, shall be proposed, discussed, or considered in any publick Assembly to be held by virtue of this Act, shall be finally determined by the Majority of Votes and Proxies the present, computing in Manner aforesaid, and not otherwise; and if it shall happen that the Votes are equal, the Chairman or Person presiding at such Assembly shall determine such Equality by his casting Vote.
And be it further enacted, That, in case the said Sum of Twenty thousand Pounds, subscribed for in the said Article, and herein-before authorised to be raise, shall be found insufficient for the making, completing, and maintaining the said Navigation, and other the Works hereby authorised to be made, and all necessary Charges and Expences relating thereunto, the, and in such Case, it shall be lawful for the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors, Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, to raise and contribute among themselves in Manner and Form aforesaid, and in such Shares and Proportions as to them shall seem meet, or by the Admission of new Subscribers, any further or other Sum of Money for completing and perfecting the said Navigation, not exceeding the Sum of Ten thousand Pounds; and every Subscriber towards raising such further or other Sum. Shall have the like Vote by himself or his Proxy, in respect of every such Shares in the said additional Sum to be raised, and shall also be liable to such Forfeitures, and stand interested in all the Profits and Powers of the said Navigation, proportionally to the Sum her or they many contribute thereunto, as generally and extensively to all Intents and Purposes as if such further or other Sum, hereby allowed to be subscribed for and raised, had originally been Part of the said Twenty thousand Pounds, any Thing herein contained to the contrary thereof in any-wise notwithstanding: Or it shall be lawful for the said Company, or the Committee for the Time being to be appointed by virtue of this Act, or any Seven or more of such Committee, at any of their Meetings assembled, to borrow and take up at legal or less Interest all or any Part of the said Sum of Ten thousand Pounds on the Credit of the said Navigation and Undertaking, as to them shall seem meet and convenient; and they are hereby fully authorised and impowered to grant or assign over the said Navigation, Undertaking, and Premises, and the Tolls, Rates, and Duties, arising or to arise by virtue of the said former Act and this Act, or any Part thereof, (the Tolls and Charges of assigning the same to be paid out of such Tolls, Rates, and Duties) as a Security for any such Sum or Sums of Money to be borrowed, with Interest, to such Person or Persons, or their Trustees, who shall advance the same, under the Common Seal of the said Company, by the following Words of Assignment, or by any other Words to the same Effect; viz.
By virtue of an Act, made in the Sixteenth Year of the Reign of His Majesty King George the Third, to amend an Act, passed in the Third Year of His late Majesty’s Reign, intituled, “An Act for making navigable the River Stroudwater, in the County of Gloucester, from the River Severn, at or near Framiload, to Wallbridge, near the town of Stroud, in the same County;” and for giving other Powers, for the Purpose of making a Navigation from Framiload to Wallbridge aforesaid; We the Company of Proprietors of the said Navigation, incorporated by and under the said Act, in Consideration of the Sum of …… of lawful British Money to us in Hand paid, by …… of ……. do assign unto the said ……., his Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, all and singular the Tolls, Rates, and Duties, arising by virtue of the said Acts, and also the said Navigation, Undertaking, and Premises, and all the Right, Title, and Interest, of us the Company of Proprietors, of, in, and unto the same, to hold until the said ……, his Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, until the said Sum of ……. Together with Interest for the same, at the Rate of …… per Centum per Annum, shall be paid.
Given under our Seal the ….. Day of …….
And all and every Person to whom such Assignment or Assignments shall be made, shall be equally entitled to their Proportion of the said Tolls, Rates, Duties, and Premises, according to the respective Sums in such Assignment mentioned to be advanced, without any Preference by Reason of Priority of such Assignment, or on any other Account whatsoever; and the Money so borrowed shall be applied for and towards the making, completing, and maintaining of the said Navigation and other Works hereby authorised to be made.
And be it further enacted, That Entries or Memorials of every such Grant or Grants, Assignment or Assignments, containing the Dates, Names of the Parties, and Sums of Money borrowed, shall be made in the Book or Books to be kept for that Purpose by the Clerk to the said Company of Proprietors; which said Book or Books shall and may be perused at all reasonable Times by and of the Proprietors or Creditors of the Navigation, or other Persons interested therein, without Fee or Reward; and that all and every other Person or Persons to whom such Assignment of Assignments shall be made as aforesaid, or who shall be entitled to the Money thereby granted or secured, may from Time to Time assign or transfer his, her, or their Right, Title, Interest, or Benefit, to the said Principal and Interest Money, thereby secured to any Person or Persons whomsoever, by indorsing, on the Back of such Grant of Security, before One credible Witness, the following Words, or Words to like Effect; viz.
I do transfer this Grant or Assignment, with all my Right and Title to the Principal Money thereby secured, and to all the Interest now due, or hereafter to become due, unto C.D. of …., his Executors, Administrators, and Assigns.
Dated this …… Day of …… in the Year of our Lord ………
Witness, ………..
Which said Transfer or Assignment shall, within Twenty Days after the Date thereof, be produced and notified to the said Clerk, who shall cause an Entry or Memorial to be made of such Assignment or Transfer, containing the Date, Names of the Parties, and the Sum of Money therein transferred, in the said Book or Books to be kept for entering the said original Grant or Assignment, (for which the Clerk or Clerks shall be paid One Shilling); and, after such Entry made, but not till then, every such Assignment shall entitle such Assignee, his, her, or their Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, to the Benefit thereof and Payment thereon; and such Assignee may, in like Manner, assign again and so toties quoties; and it shall not be in the Power of such Person or Persons who shall have made any such last-mentioned Assignment, to make void, release, or discharge the original Mortgage or Assignment, or any Monies thereby due, or any Part thereof.
And it is hereby further enacted, That the Interest of the Money which shall be borrowed by Mortgage as aforesaid, shall be paid half-yearly to the several Persons entitled thereto, (in Preference to any Interest or Dividends due and payable, by virtue of this Act, to the said Company of Proprietors, or any of them), and shall from Time to Time be fully paid and discharged, or provided for, before the yearly or other Interest or Dividends due to the said Proprietors shall be paid, made, or divided.
And be it further enacted, That the First General Assembly or Meeting of the Proprietors for putting the said former Act and this Act into Execution, shall be held at the George Inn in the Town of Stroud aforesaid, upon the Second Thursday after the Day of the passing of this Act; at which said First Meeting the said Proprietors assembled together, with such Proxies as shall be then present, shall choose a Committee, not exceeding Thirteen, nor less than Nine Proprietors in the said Navigation, and all the Affairs and Business of the said Company of Proprietors for the Year then next following, or until another Committee shall be appointed, and to d all other Matters and Things whatsoever relating thereto; at which Meeting also the said Proprietors shall chuse and appoint a Treasurer or Treasurers without any Salary, and a Clerk or Clerks with a fixed Salary, who shall always attend the General Meetings and Assemblies of the said Proprietors, and the Meetings of the said Committee, and make Entries, and do whatsoever shall be ordered at such Meetings respectively.
And it is hereby further enacted, That the said Committee of Proprietors shall be afterwards annually chosen at a General Meeting of Proprietors, and shall meet constantly Once every Month (or oftener, if the said Committee shall find it necessary) at a Day, Hour, and Place to be appointed, until the said Navigation shall be completed, and as often afterwards (at such Place as may be by them appointed, after Seven Days Notice given thereof by the Clerk of the said Company) as Occasion shall require; and all the Proceedings of the said Committee shall be regularly entered in a Book or Books to be kept by the Clerk for that Purpose; and, in order to defray the Expence of the Meetings of the said Committee, it shall be lawful for the said Committee, and they are hereby allowed, to expend or detain to themselves a certain Sum of Monies out of the Capital Stock of the said Proprietors, not exceeding One Pound twelve Shillings and Sixpence for every such Meeting, which said Sum shall be equally divided among such of the said Committee who shall then attend and be present at the Hour and Place so appointed.
Provided always, That no One Member of the said Committee, though he may be a Proprietor of many Shares, shall have more than One Vote in the said Committee, except the Chairman, who shall be chosen by themselves, and who, in case of a Division of equal Numbers, shall have the Casting Vote.
Provided also, That such Committee shall from Time to Time make Reports of their Proceedings to the said General Assembles, and be subject to the Examination and Controul of the Said General Assemblies of the said Proprietors as aforesaid, and shall pay due Obedience to all such Orders and Directions in and about the Premises as shall from Time to Time be made by the said Proprietors at any General Assembly, such Orders and Directions not being contrary to any express Directions or Provisions in this Act contained.
And be it further enacted, That the said Committee of Proprietors shall have Power from Time to Time to make such Call or Calls for Money from the Proprietors of the said Navigation, to defray the Expences of or to carry on the same, as they from Time to Time shall find wanting and necessary for those Purposes, so that the First Call by virtue of this Act doth not exceed the Sum of Five Pounds for every One hundred Pounds, and every succeeding Call not to exceed the Sum of Ten Pounds for every One hundred Pounds, and so as no Calls be made but at the Distance of Sixty Days at the least from each other; which Money so called for, and also the Money remaining unexpended, at the Time of passing this Act, of the said Sum of Five thousand Pounds, actually called for as Part of the Subscription herein-before mentioned, shall be paid into the Hands of the Treasurer or Treasurers to the said Company for the Time being, to be paid and applied, in such Manner as the said Committee shall from Time to Time appoint and direct, for the Use of the said Navigation; and such Committee shall, until the next Annual or other General Assembly, to be holden in Manner as aforesaid, have full Power and Authority to direct and manage all and every the Affairs of the said Company of Proprietors, as well in buying and purchasing Lands, Liberties, and Materials, for the Use of the said Navigation, as in employing, ordering, and directing the Works and Workmen, and in placing and displacing Under Officers, Clerks, Servants, and Agents, and in making all Contracts and Bargains touching the said Undertaking, so that no such Purchase, Bargain, or other Matter, be done or transacted without the Concurrence of the major Part of the said Committee, who shall be then and there assembled; and every Owner or Owners of One of more Share or Shares in the said Undertaking, shall pay his, her, or their Shares and Proportions of the Monies to be called for as aforesaid, at such Time and Place as shall be appointed, of which Sixty Days Notice (except for the First Call of Five Pounds per Centum, which may be at Thirty Days Notice) shall be given by publishing the same in some Publick Newspaper circulating in the County of Gloucester; and the Clerk of the said Company shall also give Notice, by Letter directed to each Subscriber or Proprietor, at his, her or their usual Place of Abode, of such Call, and the Treasurer’s Name and Place of Abode to whom such Payments are to be made; and if any Person or Persons shall neglect or refuse to pay his, her, or their rateable or proportionable Part or Share of the said Money, to be called for by the First Call to be made by virtue of this Act, at the Time and Place to be appointed as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the said Company to sue for and recover the same in any of His Majesty’s Courts of Record, by Action of Debe, or on the Case, Bill, Suit, or Information, wherein no Essoin, Protection, or Wager of Law, or more than One Imparlance, shall be allowed; and if any Person or Persons shall neglect or refuse to pay his, her, or their rateable or proportionable Part of Share of the said Money, to be called for after the First Call as aforesaid, at the Time and Place so appointed, he, she, or they, so neglecting or refusing, shall forfeit the Sum of Five Pounds for every One hundred Pounds of his, her, or their respective Share or Shares, Parts and Interests, in the said Navigation, Undertaking, and Premises; and in case any such Person or Persons shall neglect to pay his, her, or their rateable or proportionable Part of Share of the said Money, to be called for as aforesaid, for the Space of Two Calendar Months after the Time appointed for Payment thereof as aforesaid, then he, she, or they, so neglecting, shall forfeit his, her, or their respective Share and Shares, Parts and Interests, in the said Navigation, Undertaking, and Premises, and all the Profit and Benefit thereof; all which Forfeitures shall go to the rest of the Company of Proprietors of the said Navigation, in Trust for and for the Benefit of all the rest of the said Proprietors, in Proportion to their respective Interests; and another Person shall be admitted in the Place and Stead of such Person forfeiting as aforesaid, at the Election of the Proprietors, so as to keep up the original Number.
Provided always, That no Advantage shall be taken of any Forfeiture of any Share or Shares of the said Undertaking, unless the same shall be declared to be forfeited, at some General Assembly of the said Company of Proprietors which shall be held within Six Calendar Months next after such Forfeiture shall happen to be made; and every such Forfeiture shall be an Indemnification to and for every Proprietor and Proprietors so forfeiting against all Action or Actions, Suits, or Prosecutions whatsoever, to be commenced or prosecuted for any Breach of Contract, or other Agreement, between such Proprietor or Proprietors so forfeiting, and the rest of the Proprietors, with regard to carrying on such intended Navigation.
And be it further enacted, That the said Company of Proprietors for the Time being shall always have Power and Authority at any General Assembly to remove or displace and Person or Persons chosen to be of the Committee as aforesaid, or any other Officer or Officers under them, and to revoke, alter, amend, or change, any of the Rules and Directions herein-before prescribed and laid down, with regard to their Proceedings amongst themselves, as to the major Part of them shall seem meet, (the Method of calling General or Special Assemblies, and voting and appointing Committees, only excepted); and shall have Power to make such new Rules, Bye-laws, and Orders, for the good Government of said Company, and the good and orderly using of the said Navigation, and from Time to Time to alter and repeal the said Bye-laws, Orders, and Regulations, and to impose and inflict such reasonable Fines and Forfeitures upon all Persons offending against the same, as to the major Pat of such General Assembly shall seem meet, not exceeding the Sum of Five Pounds for any One Offence; such Fines or Forfeitures to be levied and recovered by such Ways or Means as Fines or Forfeitures are, by the said former Act, to be levied and recovered; which said Rules, Bye-laws, and Orders, being put in Writing, under the Common Seal of the said Company, shall be binding to, and be observed by, all Parties, and shall be sufficient in any Court of Law or Equity to justify all Persons who shall act under the same, provided they be not repugnant to the Common Law of England.
And be it further enacted, That if any Owner or Owners of any Share or Shares in the said Undertaking shall die before Calls shall be made for the full Sum to be advanced on each Share, which he, she, or they shall be possessed of, or entitled to, (without having made Provision by Will, or otherwise, hao such Share or Shares shall be disposed of, and the Money paid in upon Calls for the future) then, and in such Case, the Executors or Administrators of any such Owner so dying, and the Trustee or Trustees, Guardian or Guardians, of any Infant, or other Person or Persons whatsoever, entitled to the Estates and Effects of such Owner deceased, shall be indemnified against all such Infant or Infants, or other Persons whatsoever, for paying any Sum of Money when called for, as aforesaid, to complete any such Subscription: And if such Owner deceased shall not have left Assets sufficient, or in case the Executors or Administrators, Trustee or Guardian, shall refuse or neglect to answer such Calls and Payments, the said Company of Proprietors shall be and are hereby impowered, authorsized, and required, to admit any other Person or Persons to be Proprietor or Proprietors of the Share and Shares of such Owner deceased, on Condition that he, she, or they, so admitted, do and shall, on or before such Admission, pay to the Executors or Administrators of such deceased Owner, or the Trustee or Trustees, Guardian or Guardians, of any Infant or others entitled to his or her Effects, the full Sum or Sums of Money which have been by such Owners, in his or her Lifetime, by virtue of any Call or Calls or otherwise, advanced upon such Share or Shares; and, in Default of such Calls being answered and made good in Manner aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the said Company to sell and dispose of the Share or Shares of such deceased Owner, and pay and appl the Mone arising by such Sale (after deducting the reasonable Charges occasioned by such Sale) to and for the Benefit of the Representatives of such deceased Owner.
And be it further enacted, That the Tickets or Titles to the Shares of the said Company of Proprietors shall be made out in Numerical Order, and written upon Vellum or Parchment, and signed by the Treasurer or Treasurers of the said Company, and witnessed by the Clerk, and the same shall be delivered to each Subscriber, or his or her legal Representative, and their Names and Places of Abode entered in the Register Book to be kept for that Purpose by the Clerk of the said Company; a Duplicate of which Book shall be left in the Treasurer’s hands, and settled, compared, and adjusted by the said Clerk Once every Month.
And be it further enacted, That the Shares of the said Company shall be negotiable and transferrable after the said Navigation is completed, but not before, (except as in the said recited Act of the Third Year of his late Majesty, or as herein-after is provided); and when any of the said shares are assigned over or transferred, the Proprietors thereof, or their Attornies lawfully authorized, to whom such Share is to be assigned and transferred, and shall mutually sing the said Transfer in the Company’s Register Book, and the Name and usual Place of Abode of the new Proprietors shall be entered, and a new Ticket or Share, if required, shall be made out in the Manner herein-before directed, as if he, she, or they, had been originally a Subscriber or Proprietor, (the old Ticket or Title of such Share or Shares being first delivered up): Or, if the Property or Interest of and in the said Shares shall belong, or become vested, by any legal Ways or Means, the new Possessor, or his Guardian or Trustee, shall produce the same, and make out his or her Claim before the Committee, at any of their Meetings, and the same shall be properly registered by the Clerk in the Company’s Books, in the Manner aforesaid, or a new Ticket or Share made out, if required; and for such Entries and Transfers, or new Shares made out, or Records of Powers of Attorney, or any other Entry in the Register’s Book, the Clerk shall receive for his Trouble Two Shillings and Sixpence, and no more, to be paid by the Person or Persons requiring such Entry to be made as aforesaid; and no Purchaser or Purchasers of any Share or Shares in the said Company shall be entitled to vote at an General Meeting, unless it appears, by the Register Book of the said Company, that he, she, or they, have or hath been a Proprietor of such Share or Shared for at least Six Months before that Time, save and except such Proprietor or Proprietors who became so by Inheritance, Device, or legal Registration, or as Trustee or Guardian as aforesaid, who shall have a Right to vote, and in every Respect to act, so soon as their Claims and Rights thereto are made out, and entered in the Register Book of the said Company in Manner as aforesaid.
And be it further enacted, That after any Call of such Monies shall be made by Authority of this Act, no Person or Persons shall sell or transfer any share which he, she, or they, shall then have in said Undertaking, until the Monies called for upon their respective Share or Shares so to be sold, shall be paid, upon the Penalty of forfeiting his, her, or their respective Shares of the said Undertaking, to the said Company in Trust, for the Benefit of all the other Proprietors, unless the Person who shall be Vendor or Vendee shall, at the Time of such Transfer, pay the Money called for upon each Share so transferred, to the Treasurer of the said Company; such forfeiture nevertheless to be notified and declared at a General Assembly in Manner above directed.
And be it further enacted, That the Conveyance, for the Sale of the said Shares, shall be in the following form, or by any other Words to the like effect; (to wit)
I A.B of …... in Consideration of …… paid to me by C.D of …… do hereby bargain, sell, and transfer to the said C.D, his Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, …… Share or Shares (as the Case is) of the Undertaking of the Stroudwater Navigation, to hold unto and to the Use of him the said C.D, his Executors, Administrators, and Assigns; subject to the same Rules and Orders, and to the same Conditions that I now hold the same: And I the said C.D do hereby agree to accept the said …... Share or Shares of the said Undertaking, subject to the same Rules, Orders, and Conditions.
Witness our Hands and Seals, the …… Day of …….
And be it further enacted, That no Resolution shall be taken, or Business done, at any or the Meetings of the said Committee, unless Five Persons, chosen of such Committee shall be present; nor shall the Money allowed for the Expence and Trouble of attending such Meeting be paid, unless that Number be present to share the same; nor shall the Treasurer or Treasurers issue out any Sum or Sums of Money for the use of the said Company without an Order signed by the Majority of the Committee present at such Meetings, and never by fewer than Five of them; and all such Orders for the Payment of Money shall be entered in the Company’s Books, and the Treasurer or Treasurers shall be allowed all his or their Expences in the Execution of his or their Office; and the Clerk or Clerks shall be intrusted with Money from Time to Time, by an Order in Writing, signed by the Majority of the said Committee, upon the Treasurer or Treasurers, to enable him or them to pay petty Expences, and such lesser Sums as shall be found necessary; and he or they shall account for the same to the Committee, who shall regularly examine and sign the said Accounts, as often as they shall see fit; and the said Treasurer’s Accounts shall be examined and compared with the Books or the said Committee every Half Year, and shall be made up, and the Balance settled and signed by the Committee, or any Five or more of them.
And be it enacted, That there shall be Two General Meetings of the Company of Proprietors held every Year, as near as may be half-yearly, at the Town of Stroud, or where it shall be otherwise appointed; at which Times the Books of the said Committee shall be produced, and also the Treasurer or Treasurers Accounts (the same being first passed by the Committee at their last Monthly Meeting) and the same Accounts shall be then free for the Inspection of the Company of Proprietors; and, upon the Death of any One of the Committee, or if he shall reside out of the County of Gloucester, or neglect to attend Meetings for Three Calendar Months, or resign his Office, Notice thereof shall be publickly given by the said Members of the Committee, and a Day fixed for a General Meeting of the Company of Proprietors to choose another Member of the Committee in his Stead.
And, for the most easy collecting the Rates and Duties in and by the said recited Act laid and directed to be paid, and by this Act continued, be it further enacted, That the Masters, Owners, and Managers, of every Boat, Keel, or other Vessel, passing upon the said Navigation, or on any Part thereof, shall give a just Account in Writing, signed by the Master, Owner, or Person having the Rule or Command of every such Boat or other Vessel, to the Collectors of the said Rates or Duties, at the Place or Places where they shall attend for that Purpose, of what Quantities of Goods shall be in or belong to each Boat or other Vessel, from whence brought, and where they intend to land the same; and in case they neglect or refuse to give an Account, or shall give a false Account, or shall deliver neither any Part of their Loading or Goods at any other Place or Places that what is or are mentioned in the Account, they shall forfeit and pay to the said Company of Proprietors the Sum of Forty Shillings for every Ton of such Goods as shall be in such Boat or Vessel respectively, of which such Account shall be refused to be given, or of which such false Account shall be given, or which shall be delivered out as aforesaid, as the Case shall happen to be, over and above the Rates and Duties they are obliged to pay for the same; and in case of Neglect, Refusal, or Denial of Payment, on Demand, of such Forfeiture or Forfeitures before-mentioned, or any Part thereof, to the said Company, then and in such Case the same shall be recovered and levied in such Manner, and by such Methods, as the said Rates and Duties by the said recited Act granted are therein directed and appointed to be recovered and levied.
And be it further enacted, That every Owner of, or Person having the Care and Management of, any Boat or Vessel passing on the said Navigation, shall cause the Name of the Owner thereof, and also of the Steersman, to be set in large Capital Letters on each of the Outersides of every such Boat or other Vessel, higher than the same shall sink into the Water when full laden; and every Owner, Master, or other Person having the Care and Management of any such Boat or other Vessel, who shall neglect to put his Name, and the Name of the Steersman, on any such Boat or Vessel, shall, for every such Offence, forfeit and pay to the said Company the Sum of Five Pounds, to be levied by Distress and Sale of the Offenders Goods and Chattels, returning the Overplus, if any be, after deducting the Charges of such Distress and Slae, to the Owner or Owners of such Goods and Chattels.
And, for the better ascertaining the Tonnage of Timber and other Goods to be charged with the Payment of such Rates, Tolls, and Duties, as aforesaid, it is hereby further enacted and declared, That Fifty Feet of round and Forty Feet of square Oak, Ash or Elm Timber, or Fifty Feet of Fir or Deal, Baulk, Beech, Poplar, or other Timber Wood, shall be deemed, rated, and estimated as and for One Tone Weight.
And be it further enacted, That if any Difference shall arise between any Collector of the said Rates and Duties and the Master or Person having Charge of any Boat or Vessel, or the Owner of any Goods, Wares, or Merchandizes, concerning the Weight and Quantity of the same, it shall and may be lawful for any such Collector to stop and detain any such Boat or Vessel, and to weigh the same, or gauge, or cause to be weighed, measured, or gauged, all such Goods, Wares, and Merchandizes, as shall be therein contained; and in case the same shall, upon such weighing, measuring, or gauging, be of greater Weight or Quantity than such Master, Owner, or Person having the Care of said Boat or Vessel affirmed the same to be, then the Master, Owner, or Person so offending, shall pay the Costs and Charges of such weighing, measuring, and gauging; all which said Costs and Charges, upon Refusal of Payment thereof upon Demand, shall and may be recovered and levied; but if such Goods, Wares, and Merchandizes, shall be of the same or less Weight or Quantity then the Master, Owner, or Person so declared the same to be, then the said Collector shall pay the Costs and Charges of such weighing, measuring, and gauging, and shall also pay, to such Master or Person, or to the Owner or Owners of such Goods, Wares, and Merchandizes, such Damages as shall appear to the said Commissioners, or any Five or more of them, on the Oath of One or more credible Witness or Witnesses, to have arisen from such Detention, and in Default of immediate Payment thereof by the Collector, the same shall be recovered from the Company of Proprietors of the said Navigation, by Action of Debt, in any of His Majesty’s Courts of Record.
And be it further enacted, That if any Goods whatsoever, which shall be no navigated, carried, or conveyed, shall remain upon any Wharf or Wharfs belonging to the said Company of Proprietors for above the Space of Twenty-four Hours, then in such Case the said Company shall be entitled to a receive such Allowance (over and above the Tonnage Rates in and by the said Act limited, and hereby continued) as shall be agreed upon between the said Company, or their Agent or Agents, and the Owner or Owners of such Goods, or, in case of Difference concerning the same, as shall be ascertained by the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them.
And be if further enacted, That no Boat of other Vessel of less Burthen than Twenty Tons shall pass through any of the Locks made or to be made by virtue of the said former Acts or this Act, (except at Time when the Water runs Waste over the Weir near such Lock, or for the Purpose of carrying Materials for repairing the said Navigation, or any of the Works hereby authorised to be made, or Vessels returning after having passed such Lock loaded, or Vessels going empty for loading) without the Consent of the said Company of Proprietors, or their principal Agent for the Time being, in Writing first had and obtained.
And be it further enacted, That if any Boat or Vessel shall be placed in any Part of the said Canals or Cuts, or in any Trench, Sluice, or Passage aforesaid, so as to wilfully obstruct the Navigation, and the Person having the Care of such Boat or Vessel shall not immediately, on Request made, remove the same, he shall, for every such Offence, forfeit a Sum not exceeding Ten Shillings, nor less than Five Shillings, and shall likewise forfeit a Sum not exceeding Two Shillings, nor less than One Shilling, for every Hour such Obstruction shall continue after such Request for Removal shall be made as aforesaid; and it shall be lawful for the Agents or Servants of the said Company of Proprietors, or any of them, to cause any such Boat or Vessel to be unloaded, if necessary, and to be removed in such Manner as shall be proper for preventing such Obstruction in the Navigation, and to seize and detain such Boat or Vessel, and the Loading thereof, or any Part of such Loading, until the Charges occasioned by such Removal are paid; and if any Boat or Vessel shall be sunk in either of the said Canals or Cuts, or any Trench, and the Owner or Owners, Person or Persons having Care of such Boat or Vessel, shall not, without Loss of Time, weigh, or draw the same up, it shall be lawful for the said Agents or Servants of the said Company, or any of them, to cause such Boat or Vessel to be weighed or drawn up, and to detain and keep the same for Payment of all the Expences necessarily occasioned relating thereto; and in Default of Payment of such Expences in Seven Days, it shall be lawful for the said Company, or their Servants or Agents, to sell and dispose of such Vessel or Vessels by Auction, or otherwise, as they shall see fit, and by and out of the Money arising from such Sale to pay and satisfy themselves all such Expences, returning to the Owner of such Vessel or Vessels, upon Demand, the Overplus of Money arising from such Sale.
And be it further enacted, That if any Person of Persons shall float any Timber upon the said Canals or Cuts, or shall load any Boat or Vessel with Timber, and suffer such Timber to be over the Sides of any such Boat or Vessel so laden, or shall overload any Boat or other Vessel, so as to obstruct the Passage of any other Boat or Vessel, and shall not immediately, upon Notice given to the Owner or Owners, Person or Persons having Care of such Boat or Vessel so obstructing the Passage as aforesaid, hale such Boat or other Vessel back into such Place or Places as shall be proper of made for Boats or other Vessels to pass each other, or shall load any Boat or Vessel higher than Eight Feet from the Surface of the Water, every such Owner or Owners, Person of Persons floating such Timber, or having Care of such Boat or Vessel so improperly loaded or overladen, shall forfeit, for every such Offence, the Sum of Ten Pounds; and every Person loading such Boat or Vessel above the said Heighth, shall forfeit and pay, for every such Offence, the Sum of Twenty Pounds to the said Company, to be laid out and employed towards maintaining the Works of the said Navigation, and to no other Use or Purpose whatsoever.
And be if further enacted, That if any Person of Persons shall throw any Ballast, Gravel, Stones, or Rubbish, into any Part of the said Navigation, or any Trenches or Watercourses to be made or maintained by virtue of the said former or this Act, every such Person shall, for every such Offence, forfeit a Sum not exceeding Five Pounds.
Provided always, and be it enacted, That no Boatman, or his Agent or Servants, passing with any Boat or other Vessel through any Lock to be made upon the said Navigation, shall suffer the Water to remain in the Lock longer then is necessary for his Boat or other Vessel to pass through any such Lock; and also for every such Boatman, or other Persons as aforesaid, in going down the said Navigation, shall shut close the Lower Gates of such Lock before he or they shall draw the Cloughs of the Upper Gates thereof; and after he or they shall have brought his or their Boat or other Vessel into the said Lock, shall shut close the Upper Gates before he or they shall draw the Cloughs of the Lower Gates thereof; and in going up the Navigation, shall, so soon as he or they shall have passed with his or their Boat or other Vessel out of the said Lock, shut close the Upper Gates of the said Lock, and afterwards draw the Cloughs of the Lower Gates, unless there shall be then a Boat or other Vessel in Sight of the said Lock coming down the said Canal or Cuts, in which Case the Lower Gates of the said Lock shall be left shut, and the Upper Gates shall be left open; and in all dry Seasons, when there shall be a Scarcity of Water in the said Navigation, the Vessel going up the same, if within Sight of, and at a Distance not exceeding Three hundred Yards below the Lock, shall pass through such Lock before the Vessel coming down, and then the next Vessel shall come down; and if there are more Vessels than One below and above any Lock at the same Time in such dry Season, within the Distance aforesaid (at which Distance a Post or Mark shall be set up or made for that Purpose) such Vessels shall go up and down at such Locks by Turns as aforesaid till all said Vessels going up or coming down shall have passed; by which Means One Lock full of Water may serve Two Vessels; and every Person offending in any of these Particulars, and being convicted thereof before any Justice of the Peace, upon the Oath of One or more credible Witness or Witnesses, as also the Master or other Person having Command of such Boat or Vessel, shall, for every such Offence, forfeit the Sum of Forty Shillings.
And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Mill-owners or Occupiers of any Mills, or any Lockmen, Bargemen, or other Person or Persons whomsoever, shall wilfully, maliciously, or wantonly, draw down, or by any Means waste any Water, to the Prejudice either of the Mills on the said River, or to the said intended Navigation, every Person or Persons offending in any of the Cases aforesaid shall, for every such Offence, forfeit and pay any Sum not exceeding Five Pounds, not less than Twenty Shillings, at the Direction of the Justices before whom any such Conviction shall be had; the same to be levied by Distress and Sale of the Offender’s Goods and Chattels, returning the Overplus, if any be, after deducting the Charges of such Distress and Sale, to the Owner or Owners of such Goods and Chattles.
Provided always, and it be further enacted, That if the said Company of Proprietors shall omit, for the Space of Fifteen Years, to set out, open, and make Navigable, the said Cuts or Canals, such Cuts or Canals shall never thereafter be set out, opened or made, without the previous Consent of the Owners and Persons interested in any Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments, or other Property, which the said Company shall think necessary to purchase, pull down, destroy, cut, dig, alter, remove, or otherwise make Use of, for setting out, opening, or making such Cuts or Canals respectively, nor without the Consent of the Mill-holders upon the said River Stroudwater, between Framiload and Wallbridge aforesaid.
Provided always, and be it further enacted, That if the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors or Assigns, shall be in Possession of any Lands or Grounds by virtue of this Act, for the Space of Fifteen Years, without making the intended Navigation through the same respectively, or If the said Navigation shall be made and completed, and afterwards discontinues or disused for the Space of Five Years, then, and in either of the said Cases, from and immediately after the Expiration of the said Fifteen Years without making, or Five Years after disusing, the said Navigation as aforesaid, the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors and Assigns, shall convey all their Rights, Property, and Interest, in or to such Lands of Grounds respectively, unto the several and respective Persons, Bodies Politick, Corporate, or Collegiate, or their Heirs, Successors, or Assigns, who were the Owners of Proprietors thereof immediately before the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors or Assigns, became feifed of the same, in case they or any of them shall think fit to become Purchasers thereof, and to pay such valuable Consideration for such Lands or Grounds to the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors or Assigns, as the said Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, shall adjudge reasonable; and in case any Difference shall happen in ascertaining thereof by the said Commissioners, then as any Jury, to be impannelled in the Manner herein-before directed, shall ascertain or award to be paid for the same, so that such Consideration to be ascertained by the Commissioners, or to be awarded by such Jury so to be impannelled as aforesaid, do not exceed the Sum or Sums or Money first paid by the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors or Assigns, for the Purchase of such Lands or Grounds; and in case the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors or Assigns, for the Purchase of such Lands or Grounds; and in case the said Company of Proprietors, their Successors or Assigns, upon the Payment or Tender of such valuable Consideration as aforesaid for such Lands or Grounds, shall refuse or neglect to convey the same as aforesaid, then and in such Case such Lands or Grounds, upon Tender of such valuable Consideration as aforesaid to the Company of Proprietors, their Successors or Assigns, shall revert to, and be thenceforth vested in the said several and respective Person or Persons, Bodies Politick, Corporate, or Collegiate, their Heirs, Successors, or Assigns.
And, for continuing a sufficient Number of Commissioners for putting in Execution the Powers of the said former Act and this Act, be it further enacted, That when any Commissioners hereby appointed, or to be elected in Manner herein-after mentioned, shall die or refuse to act, the surviving or remaining Commissioners, or any Seven or more of them, shall, and they are hereby impowered, from Time to Time, by Writing under their Hands and Seals, to elect and appoint, in the Place of every Commissioner so dying, or refusing to act, some other Person qualified as herein-after mentioned; and all such Commissioners so appointed shall, from the Time of their Appointment, have the like Authority in all Things relating to the Execution of this Act, a if they had been expressely named and appointed Commissioners by this Act.
And be it further enacted, That in case it shall happen that the surviving or remaining Commissioners shall at any Time neglect or refuse to nominate and appoint such new Commissioners as aforesaid, or that, for Want of a proper number of Commissioners in the Neighbourhood, it shall become difficult to procure a Meeting or Meetings for executing any of the Powers of this Act, and Complaint thereof shall be made by the said Company to the Justices of the Peace at their Quarter Sessions to be held for the said County of Gloucester, they the said Justices shall, and the are hereby authorised and impowered to hear such Complaint, and, upon the Want of Commissioners being made out to their Satisfaction, to nominate such fit and proper Persons resident within the said County, duly qualified as hereinafter is provided, to be Commissioners for the Purposes of this Act, as they shall think fit; and the Commissioners so nominated and appointed shall, from thenceforth, have the like Powers and Authorities as if appointed under the Authority hereby given to the surviving or remaining Commissioners.
Provided always, and be it further enacted, That no Person shall act as a Commissioner in any Case where he shall be in any ways interested or concerned in the Matter in Question, nor unless he shall be feifed, in his own Right, or in the Right of his Wife, and not as a Mortgagee, at the Time of such his acting, of an Estate of Freehold, or Leasehold, of Copyhold Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments, of the yearly Value of One hundred Pounds, or unless he be possessed of a personal Estate to the Amount of Value of Three thousand Pounds; and if any Person so being incapable, shall nevertheless presume to act as a Commissioner, every such Person shall, for every such Offence, forfeit the Sum of Fifty Pounds to any Person who will sue for the same, to be recovered, with full Costs of Suit, by Action at Law in any of His Majesty’s Courts of Record at Westminster, in which Action no Essoin, Protection, Privilege, or Wager of Law, or more than One Imparlance, shall be allowed; and such Person so prosecuted shall prove that he is qualified as above, or otherwise shall pay the said Sum of Fifty Pounds, without any other Proof or Evidence on the Part of the Prosecutor than that such Person hath acted as a Commissioner in the Execution of this Act.
Provided also, and it is hereby further enacted, That no Meeting whatsoever of the said Commissioners shall at any Time or Times be had for putting into Execution any of the Powers or Authorities vested in them by virtue of this Act, nor any Order, Direction, or Appointment, of the said Commissioners, or any of them, touching any of the Mattes or Things herein contained, shall be binding and effectual, unless previous Notice of every such intended Meeting shall be first given and inserted in some publick Newspaper circulated within the County of Glouceser, and in such other Manner as the said Company shall, at any General Meeting, direct or appoint, at least Ten Days before such intended Meeting of the said Commissioners; and that every Meeting of the said Commissioners, by virtue of this Act, shall be publick; and that the Majority of the said Commissioners then present at every such Meeting shall have Power and Authority to execute the Powers hereby vested in the said Commissioners, but not otherwise; and any Thing herein-before contained to the contrary notwithstanding.
Provided likewise, That no Person shall act as a Commissioner, otherwise than in administrating the following Oath, until he shall have taken and subscribed the Oath following, before any Seven or more of he said Commissioners, who are hereby authorised and impowered to administer the same; videlict,
I A.B do swear, That I will, without Favour or Affection, Hatred or Malice, truly and impartially, according to the best of my Skill and Knowlege, execute and perform the Powers and Authorities established by an Act, made in the Sixteenth Year of the Reign of His Majesty King George the Third, for making and maintaining the Stroudwater Navigation.
And be it further enacted, That no Summons, Order, Determination, Judgement, Warrant, Contract, Agreement, Bond, or other Writing whatsoever, under the Hands or Seals of any Justices of the Peace, or of the said Commissioners, or of any of them, or any other Person or Persons whomsoever, or any Transfer of any Share or Shares or other Writing whatsoever, or made in pursuance of the Powers given in and by the said former Act or this present Act, shall be charged or chargeable with any Stamp duty whatsoever; and that no Proceeding to be had or taken in pursuance of this Act shall be qualified or vacated for want of Form or removed by Coiliorare, or other writ or process whatsoever, into any of His Majesty’s Courts of Record at Westminster; any Law or Statute to the contrary notwithstanding.
And be it further enacted, That all fine and forfeitures inflicted by virtue of this Act, or which shall be inflicted by virtue of any Rule, Order, or Bye-law to be made in pursuance of this Act (of which Rule, Order, or Bye-Law, when produced all Justices are hereby required to take Notice) the levying and recovering of which are not hereby particularly directed shall be levied by Warrant, under the hands and seals of any two Justices of the Peace of the said County of Gloucester, which said Justices are hereby authorised to hear and examine Witnesses upon Oath and Affirmation and to determine the same and all respective Fines, Forfeitures, and Penalties by this Act imposed and inflicted or authorised to be imposed and inflicted (the application whereof is not hereinbefore particularly directed) shall be paid into the hands of the Treasurer of the Monies to be raised by virtue of the said former Act and this Act and shall be applied and disposed of for the Use of the said Navigation and to or for no other Use or Purpose whatsoever.
And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every Person and Persons who in any Examination to be taken by virtue of this Act shall wilfully give false Evidence upon Oaths before the Commissioners or any of them, or before any Justice or Justices of the Peace, shall and may be prosecuted for the same, and upon Conviction thereof shall be subject to such Punishments and Disqualifications as any Person or Persons can or may be subject to for wilful and corrupt Perjury by and of the Laws or Statutes of this Realm.
And be it further enacted, That where any Distress shall be made for any Sum or Sums of Money to be levied by virtue of this or the former Act, the Distress itself shall not be deemed unlawful, nor the Party or Parties making the same be deemed a Trespasser or Trespassers on account of any Defect or Want of Form in the Summons, Conviction, Warrant of Distress, or other proceeding relating thereto, nor shall the Party or Parties distraining be deemed a Trespasser or Trespasses, ab initio, in account of any Irregularity which shall be afterwards committed by the Party or Parties but the Person or Persons aggrieved by such Irregularity shall and may receive full satisfaction for the special damage in an action upon the case.
Providing always, That any Person or Persons thinking himself, herself, or themselves, aggrieved by any Order or Judgment made or given in pursuance of any Rule, Bye-law, or Order, or determination of any Justice or Justices of the Peace may within Three Calendar Months after such Order shall have been made or given complain to the Justices of the Peace at the General Quarter Sessions to be held in and for the said County of Gloucester, who shall in a summary way either hear and determine the said Complaint at such General Quarter Sessions, or, if they think proper, may adjourn the hearing thereof to the next General Quarter Sessions of the Peace to be heard in the said County, and if they see cause may mitigate any forfeiture or fine, and may order any Money to be returned that shall have been levied in pursuance of such Rule, Bye-law, Order, or Determination, and may also order that further Satisfaction to be made to the Party injured as they shall judge reasonable; and such Order or Determination of the said Justices at the said General Quarter Sessions shall be final and conclusive upon all the Parties, and shall not be removed by Certiorari, or other process into any of His Majesty’s Courts of Record at Westminster.
And be it further enacted, That if any Action, Suit, or Information, shall be brought or commenced against and Person or Persons for any Thing done in pursuance of the said recited Act or this Art, or either of them, or in the Execution of the Powers and Authorities, or the Orders and Directions, therein and hereinbefore given or granted, every such Suit or Information shall be brought or commenced within Six Calendar Months next after the fact committed, or, in case there shall be a continuation of Damages, then within Six Calendar Months next after the doing or committing such damages shall cease, and not afterwards, and shall be laid and brought in the same County of Gloucester, and not elsewhere, and the Defendant or Defendants in such Action or Suit shall and may plead the General Issue and give this and the said recited Act, and the Special Matter, in evidence at and Trial to be had thereupon, and that the same was done in Pursuance, and by the Authority, of this and the said recited Act, and if it shall appear to have been so done, or if any Action, Suit, or Information, shall be brought after the time so limited for bringing the same, or shall be brought in any other County or Place that as aforesaid, then and in such Case the Jury shall find for the Defendant or Defendants, or if the Plaintiff or Plaintiffs shall be nonsuited or suffer a discontinuance of his, her, or their Action, Suit, or Information, after the Defendant or Defendants shall have appeared, or if a Verdict shall Pass against the Plaintiff or Plaintiffs, or upon Demurer or otherwise Judgement shall be given against the Plaintiff or Plaintiffs, the Defendant or Defendants shall have Treble Costs and shall have such remedy for the same as any Defendant or Defendants hath or have for Costs of Suit in other cases by Law.
And be it further enacted, That this Act shall be allowed in all Courts whatsoever as a Publick Act and all Judges, Justices, and other Persons, are hereby required to take notice of it as such without specially pleading the same.
Finis

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