22 & 23 Car. II. [Part VI. No. XXVI. appointed by the justice before whom such offender shall be convicted, and over and above pay down presently unto the overseers, for the use of the poor of the parish where such offence shall be committed, such sum of money not exceeding ten shillings, as the said justice shall think meet: And if such offender or offenders do not make recompence or satisfaction to the said party or partics injured and also pay the said sum to the poor in manner and form aforesaid, then the said justice shall commit the said offender or offenders to the house of correction for such time as the said justice shall think fit, not exceeding one month. c. 25. Imprisonment. No Person shall kill or set Snares for Hares, &c. The Penalty. No Person shall fish in the Pond of any Person without his Consent, with Nets or other Engines. See 2 Bur. 682. VI. And whereas divers idle and disorderly persons have of late time 'taken up in practice to take and kill hares and conies with snares harepipes and other engines in or near woods warrens or other places;' It is hereby further enacted and declared by the authority aforesaid, That if any person or persons from and after the first day of May which shall be in the year of our Lord God one thousand six hundred and seventy-one shall be found or apprehended setting or using any snares hare-pipes or other like engines and shall be thereof convicted in manner following; the person or persons so offending shall be liable to the penalties in the immediate foregoing clause of this Act in manner as aforesaid. VII. And whereas divers idle disorderly and mean persons do from time to time betake themselves to the stealing taking and killing of fish "out of ponds pools motes stews and other several waters and rivers, to the great damage of the owners thereof:' Be it therefore further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person or persons from and after the first day of May which shall be in the year of our Lord God one thousand six hundred seventy and one, shall at any time use any castingnet thief-net drag-net tramel shove-net or other net whatsoever, or any angle hair noose troll or spear, or shall lay any wears pots nets fish-hooks or other engines, or shall take any fish by any means or device whatsoever, in any river stew pond mote or other water as aforesaid, or shall be aiding or assisting thereunto without the licence or consent of the lord or owner of the said water (11.) and be thereof or of any other the offence or offences mentioned in this Act (12.) convict by confession of the offender or by oath of one sufficient witness within one month after the offence committed, before any justice of the peace of such county riding division or place wherein such offence as aforesaid shall be committed, which oath the said justice of peace is hereby empowered to administer: every such offender or offenders in stealing taking or killing fish shall for every such offence give to the party or parties injured, such recompence or satisfaction for his or their damages and within such time as the said justice shall appoint not exceeding treble damages; and over and above pay down presently unto the overseers for the use of the poor where the Said offence shall be committed such sum of money not exceeding ten To be levied by shillings as the said justice shall think meet: And in default of payment Distress. as aforesaid, the same to be levied by distress and sale of the offender's goods by warrant under the hand and seal of such justice before whom the offender shall be convicted, rendering the overplus if any be; and for want of distress the offender or offenders shall be committed to the house of correction for such time as the justice shall think fit not exceed ing one month; unless the party offending shall enter into bond with one competent surety or sureties to the party injured, not exceeding the sum of ten pounds, never to offend in like manner. The Penalty. Justice of the Peace may cut the Nets, &c. VIII. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for every justice of peace before whom such offender as aforesaid shall be Convict, to take cut in pieces and destroy all and every such angles spears hairs nooses trolls wears pots fish-hooks nets or other engines whatsoever wherewith such offender as aforesaid shall be taken or apprehended. IX. Provided always and be it further enacted by the authority aforegrieved may appeal to the Quarter Sessions. The Party (11.) A Conviction quashed (amongst other defects) for not stating the taking to be without the consent of the owner. Rex v. Mallinson, 2 Bar. 679. (12.) There is nothing in the subsequent part of the Clause to give effect to these words. 22 & 23 Car. II. c. 25. said, That if any person or persons shall find him or themselves ag- No. XXVI. grieved by any judgment which shall happen to be given by any justice of the peace by virtue of this Act, it shall and may be lawful for such person or persons so aggrieved to appeal unto the justices of peace in their general or quarter sessions which shall happen to be held next after such judgment given, who or the greater number of them are hereby authorised and empowered to give such relief and make such order therein as shall be agreeable to the tenor of this Act; and such judgment order or determination as by the said justices shall be made upon the said appeal shall be final to all intents and purposes whatsoever, if no title to any land royalty or fishery be therein concerned. X. Provided always and be it further enacted, That neither this Act A Saving of all nor any thing therein contained shall extend or be construed to extend to Royalties and the taking away or abridging of any royalty or prerogative royal of his Prerogatives to Majesty, nor to abridge change or alter any part of the forest laws of this his Majesty and realm, but all and every such laws rights powers royalties and prerogatives royal shall remain and be in as full and ample force and virtue as the same ought to have been in if this Act had not been made; any thing herein-before contained to the contrary notwithstanding. [ No. XXVII. ] 3 William & Mary, c. 10. A. D. 1691. -An Act for the more effectual Discovery and Punishment of Deer Stealers. [ No. XXVIII. ] 4 & 5 William & Mary, e. 23.—An Act for the more easy Discovery and Conviction of such as shall destroy the Game of this Kingdom, Forest Laws. WHEREAS divers good and necessary laws have been heretofore 4 & 5 Will. ✯ made for the better preservation of the Game, notwithstanding Mary, c. 23. which laws, or for want of the due execution thereof, the game of this kingdom hath been very much destroyed by many idle persons, who afterwards betake themselves to robberies burglaries or other like ' offences and neglect their lawful employments;' For remedy whereof, and the more effectual preservation of the game, II. Be it enacted by the King's and Queen's most excellent Majesties, Laws against by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal destroying and Commons in this present Parliament assembled, and by the autho- Game to be exrity of the same, That all and every law and statute now in force for the ecuted. better preservation of the game and every article and thing in them contained, and not herein and hereby altered or repealed, shall be duly put in execution according to the tenor of the said laws and under the penalties therein contained to be raised levied and disposed of as in and by the said laws are directed. III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That for the Constable by more easy conviction of such offenders as by the said laws are prohibited, Warrant may every constable headborough and tythingman being thereunto authorised search suspectby warrant of one or more justices of the peace under his or their hands ed Houses. and seals shall and may have full power and authority and is hereby required to enter into and search (in such manner and with such power as in and by an Act for the more effectual discovery and punishment of deer-stealers, made in the third and fourth years of their present Majes- 3 & 4 Will, & ties reign, is provided in case of venison or skin of any deer or toyls) Mary, c. 10. the house or houses outhouses or other places belonging to such houses or suspected persons not qualined as aforesaid: And in case any hare If Hare, &c. be partridge pheasant pigeon fish fowl or other game, (1.) shall (upon such found, and Owner cannot give good Account, he shall be convicted. Burn, v. 1. 485. (1.) Rabbits killed in a private Warren are not Game within this Act. 1 Ld. Raym. 151. No. 4 & 5 Will. & M. c. 23. Penalty upon search or otherwise) be found, the offender shall be carried before some XXVIII. justice of peace of the same county riding or division; and if such person do not give a good account how he came by such hare partridge pheasant pigeon fish fowl or other game, such as shall satisfy the said justice, or else shall not in some convenient time to be set by the said justice produce the party of whom he bought the same, or some other credible person to depose upon oath such sale thereof, that then such person not giving such good account, nor producing any such witness as aforesaid, shall be convicted by the said justice of such offence, and upon such conviction shall forfeit for every hare partridge pheasant pigeon fish fowl or other game any sum not under five shillings and not exceeding the sum of twenty shillings, to be ascertained by the said justice; one moiety thereof to be paid to the informer, and the other moiety to the poor of the parish where the offence was committed; the same to be levied by distress and sale of the offender's goods by warrant under the hand and seal of the justice before whom the offender shall be convicted, rendering the overplus if any be; and for want of distress the offender or offenders shall be committed to the house of correction for any time not exceeding one month and not less than ten days, there to be whipt and kept to hard labour; and in case any person or persons not qualified by the laws of this realm so to do, shall have keep or use any bows greyhounds setting-dogs ferrets coney-dogs hayes lurchers nets tunnels lowbels hare-pipes snares or any other instruments for destruction of fish fowl or other ganie, and shall be thereof convicted upon such evidence as aforesaid, the person or persons so convicted shall forfeit and be subject to the same pains and penalties as are hereby directed to be inflicted upon the person or persons who shall be found to have any hare partridge pheasant pigeon fish fowl or other game as aforesaid; and if any person or persons so produced or charged with the said offence shall not before the same justice give such evidence of his innocence as aforesaid, he shall be convicted thereof in the same manner as the person or persons first charged therewith is hereby directed to be, and so from person to person until the first offender shall be discovered. Person having Greyhounds, &c. how convicted and punished. Game-keepers may oppose Persons in the 21 Ed. 1. st. 2. 22 & 23 Car. 2. c. 25. IV. And to the end all keepers and game-keepers mentioned in and duly authorised according to the Act made in the reign of the late King Charles the Second may be indemnified in the execution of the said office, Be it enacted, That all lords of manors or other royalties or any person or persons authorised by them as game-keepers, shall and may within their respective manors or royalties oppose and resist such offender in the night-time in the same manner, and be equally indemnified for so doing as if such fact had been committed within any ancient chase park or warren inclosed whatsoever. Persons not Owners of FishV. And whereas divers idle disorderly and mean persons have and eries, may not 'keep nets angles leaps piches and other engines for the taking and kill- i keep Nets, &c. ing of fish out of the ponds waters rivers and other fisheries to the damage of the owners thereof;' Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no person or persons whatsoever shall and may at any time or times from and after the five-and-twentieth day of March, which shall be in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred ninety-three, have or keep any net angle leap piche or other engine for the taking of fish, other than the makers and sellers thereof for their better conveniency in the sale of the same, and other than the owner and occupier of any river or fishery for the time being; and moreover that it shall and may be lawful not only for the owner or occupier of any river or fishery, and also for all and every other person and persons by him or them for that purpose appointed, to seize detain and keep to his and their own use and uses all and every net angle leap piche and other engine which he or they shall find used or laid or in the custody or possession of any person or persons whatsoever, fishing in any river or fishery whatsoever without the consent of the owner or occupier thereof, but also for any person or persons whatsoever (being thereunto authorised by warrant under the hand and seal of any justice of the peace of the same county division Owner of seize Nets, &c. used in his Fishery, &c. Burn, v. 1. 495. No. XXVIII. 4 & 5 borough town corporate or any other place) in the day-time to search the houses outhouses or other places of any person or persons hereby prohibited to have or keep the same, as shall be suspected to have or keep in his or their custody or possession any net angle leap piche or other engine aforesaid, and the same and every or any of them to seize Will. & M. detain and keep to his and their own use and uses or otherwise to cut in pieces or destroy, as things by this Act prohibited to be kept by persons of their degree. c. 23. See 4 Ann. c. 21. 9 Ann. c. 26. 1 Geo. 1. st. 2. c. 18. 5 Geo. 1. c. 18. 23 Geo 2. c. 26. s. 7. 26 Geo. 2. c. 9. 30 Geo. 2. c. 21 and 30. And 33 Geo. 2. c. 27. VI. Provided always, That this Act or any thing therein contained Fishermen, &c. shall not extend or be construed to extend to abridge any fisherman or his lawfully authoapprentice or apprentices, lawfully authorised to fish in navigable rivers rized, excepted. or waters with lawful nets and engines; but that every of them shall and may (according to the laws and orders made and to be made and settled for the good order rule and government of such navigable rivers an waters) use the trade of fishing, as they lawfully might have done before the making of this Act; any thing in this Act contained to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding. VII. And whereas divers offenders duly convicted do commonly pro- No Certiorari, cure writs of certiorari to remove such convictions into superior courts except Security at Westminster in hopes thereby to discourage and weary out such per- be given to pay sons injured by great delays expences and incertainties;' Be it there- Costs. fore enacted, That no certiorari shall be allowed to remove any conviction made or other proceeding of for or concerning any matter or thing in this Act, unless the party or parties against whom such conviction shall be made shall before the allowance of such certiorari become bound to the person or persons prosecuting in the sum of fifty pounds, with such sufficient sureties as the justice or justices of the peace before whom such offender was convicted shall think fit, with condition to pay unto the said prosecutors (within one month after such conviction confirmed or procedendo granted) their full costs and charges to be ascertained upon their oaths; and that in default thereof it shall be lawful for the said justice and justices and others to proceed to the due execution of such conviction_in such manner as if no certiorari had been awarded. VIII. Provided, That where any offender shall be punished by force Not to be puof this Act he shall not be prosecuted nor incur the penalty of any other nished twice for law or statute for the same offence. same Offence. IX. Provided always, That if any action bill plaint or suit shall at any time after the said five-and-twentieth day of March be commenced or brought against any person or persons whatsoever for or by reason of any matter or thing which he or they shall do in pursuance of this Act, it shall and may be lawful to and for the person or persons so sued or pro- General Issue. secuted to plead the general issue and give this Act or any other special matter in evidence; and if the verdict shall pass with the defendant or defendants in such action or the plaintiff or plaintiffs become ncnsuit or suffer any discontinuance thereof, that in any such case such defendant or defendants shall have his or their treble costs which he or they shall have Treble Costs. sustained in defence of such action or suit for which the said defendant or defendants shall have the like remedy as in other cases where costs by the laws of this realm are given to the defendants. X. And whereas great mischiefs do ensue by inferior tradesmen, (2.) Tradesmen, &c ' apprentices and other dissolute persons (3.) neglecting their trades and liable to Costs for coming on another Man's Ground, to hunt, &c. See 2 Wils. 70. (2.) In Buxton v. Mingay, 2 Wils. 70. the Court were equally divided, whether a Surgeon and Apothecary, not qualified to kill Game, was an inferior Tradesman within this Statute. (3.) The Huntsman of a Gentleman of Fortune, hunting with his Master's Hounds and by his orders, but not in his presence, is not a dissolute person within this clause. Pallant v. Roll, 2 Bl. Rep. 900. A qualified person cannot be deemed an inferior Tradesman. Rex v. George, 6 Mod. 40. In Wickham v. Walter, Barnes, 125. the Jury decided that the Defendant (a Clothier and Alehouse-keeper) was an inferior Tradesman, and the Court awarded costs accordingly. It is not necessary to allege that a person stated to be an inferior Tradesman was also a dissolute person. R. v. Clipp, 2 Str. 711. No? XXVIII. 4 & 5 Will. & M. c. 23. Penalty upon burning Ling, &c. upon Heaths. All Laws for the Game to continue in Force, &c. 'employments, who follow hunting fishing and other game to the ruin of themselves and damage of their neighbours;' For remedy whereof be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any such person as aforesaid shall presume to hunt hawk fish or fowl, (unless in company with the master of such apprentice duly qualified by law,) such person or persons shall be subject to the penalties of this Act, and shall or may be sued and prosecuted for their wilful trespass in such their coming on any person's land, and if found guilty thereof the plaintiff shall not only recover his damages thereby sustained but his full costs of suit; any former law to the contrary notwithstanding. XI. Provided always and be it enacted, That for the better preserving the red and black game of grouse commonly called heath-cocks or heathpolts, no person whatsoever on any mountains hills heaths moors forests chaces or other wastes shall presume to burn, between the second day of February and twenty-fourth of June, any grig ling heath furze goss or fern, upon pain that the offender or offenders shall be committed to the house of correction for any time not exceeding one month and not less than ten days, there to be whipt and kept to hard labour. [ No. XXIX. ] 5 Anne, c. 14. A. D. 1706.-An Act for the better Preservation of the Game. 5 Anne, c. 14. WHEREAS several laws have been already enacted for the better preservation of the Game, and by experience been found not Preservation of 'sufficient to prevent destroying the Game by reason of the multitude of higlars and other chapmen, which give great encouragement to idle loose persons to neglect their lawful employments to follow and destroy the same;' For remedy whereof and the more effectual preservation of Made perpetual the game, Be it enacted by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and by 9 Ann, c. 25. with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and which contains Commons in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of other Regula the same, That all and every of the laws now in being for the better preservation of the game shall continue remain and be in the same force, not hereby repealed and altered. tions. Higlar, Carrier, &c. not to have any Hare, or buy or sell Hare, &c. on Penalty of 51. See 3 Bur. 1720. II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any higlar chapman carrier innkeeper victualler or alehouse-keeper shall from and after the first day of May one thousand seven hundred and seven have in his or their custody or possession any hare pheasant partridge moor heath-game or grouse, or shall buy sell or offer to sell (1.) any hare pheasant partridge moor heath-game or grouse, every such higlar chapman innkeeper victualler alehouse-keeper or carrier (unless such game in the hands of such carrier be sent up by person or persons qualified to kill 1 J. c. 27. s. 4. the game) shall upon every such offence be carried before some justice of the peace for the county riding city or town corporate or liberties where the said offence is committed; and upon view or upon the oath of one or more credible witnesses shall be convicted of the same, shall forfeit for every hare pheasant partridge moor heath-game or grouse the sum of five pounds, one half to the informer and the other half to the poor of the To be levied by parish where the offence was committed; the same to be levied by distress and sale of the offender's goods by warrant under the hand and seal of the justice or justices of the peace before whom such offender or offenders shall be convicted, rendering the overplus (if any be) the charge of distraining being first deducted; and for want of distress the offender or offenders be committed to the house of correction for the first offence for the space of three months without bail or mainprize, and for every such other offence for the space of four months; provided that such conviction (2.) be made within three months after such offence committed; and that if any certiorari shall be allowed to remove any conviction made Distress, &c. (Q. No?) (1.) As to what shall be deemed an Offering to Sale, see 28 Geo. II. c. 12. (post.) sec. 1. and the case of Warneford v. Kendall, 10 E. 19. (2.) The Conviction cannot be after the three months, although the delay was occasioned by the Hearing being adjourned at the request of the Defendant. Rex v. Tolley, 3 E. 467. |