C A P. XIII. An Act for the better ascertaining the Lengths and Breadths of Woollen Cloth made in the County of York.
4 Ed.. 4. c. 1.; 7 Ed. 4. c. 2 & 3.; 2 R. 3. c. 8.; 3. H. 7. c. 11.; 3 H. 8. c. 7.; 5 H. 8. c. 2.; 6 H. 8. c. 8 & 9. 'WHEREAS divers Abuses and Deceits have of late Years been used in the Manufacture of Wol- en Cloths in the County of York, with respect to the Breadth, Length, and Over-strretching and Straining of the same, which tends to the great debasing and undervaluing of the said Manufacture, both at Home and in Foreign Parts where the said, Cloths are vended:' For Remedy whereof, be it en- acted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, Breadth and Length of Broad Cloth to be made in Yorkshire, after 24 June 1709. For length and Breadth of Yorkshire Cloth, see 1 Geo. 1. stat. 2. c. 15. §. 15. That from and after the four and twentieth Day of June, which shall be in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred nine, every Broad Cloth made in the said County of York, whether the fame be called an End or Half Cloth, or a Long or. Whole Cloth, being well scoured and fully mill'd, shall at the least, be five Quarters and an Half by the Standard Yard Wand in Breadth within the Lifts, in the Water, being fully wet; and every such Cloth called an End or Half Cloth, shall not exceed in Length three and twenty Yards, being fully wet; and every such Cloth called a Long or Whole Cloth, shall not exceed forty-six Yards in Length, being fully wet and that all Sorts of Yorkshire Cloths called Whole-thick-kerseys, and Whole-thick-plains, shall not be made under seventeen Yards and an Half in Length, and not less than three Quarters and an Half in Breadth by the Standard Yard Wand, when fully wet.
Punishment of clothiers exposing Cloth, otherwise made, to sale. II. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid. That if any Clothier or other Person shall. after the said four and twentieth Day of June in the said Year one thousand seven hundred and nine, make, offer, or expose to Sale any of the aforesaid Cloths which shall be made after the said four and twentieth Day of June, and not made according to the said respective Breadths and Lengths, every such Person so offending, being thereof convicted by the Oath of any Overeeer or Searcher of Cloth, For Manufacture of Cloth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, see 1 Geo. 1. c. 24.; 7 Geo. 2. c. 25.; 31 Geo. 2. c. 28. appointed or to be appointed within the several and respective Parishes or Townships in the said County of York, by any former Law now in Force, or by the Oath of one or more other credible Witnesses before any Justice of Peace within the said County, or of any Corporation within the same (provided such Justice be not a Merchant or Trader in Wollen Manufacture) which Oath the said Justices respectively are hereby impowered to administer, shall for every Inch the said respective Cloths shall be less than the said respec- tive Breadths, and for every Yard the said Broad Cloths called a Long or Whole Cloth, shall exceed the said Length of six and forty Yards, and for every Yard the said Broad Cloth called an End or Half Cloth shall exceed the said Length of three and twenty Yards, and for every Half Yard the said Whole-thick- kerseys or Whole-thick-plains shall be less in Length than seventeen Yards and a Half, as aforesaid, for- feit respectively the Sum of twenty Shillings.
Owners, &c. of fulling Mills to fix a seal of Lead, mentioning in Figures the lengthand Breadth of Cloth. III. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the Owner or Occupier of every Ful- ling Mill in the said County of York, where any of the said respective Cloths shall be milled or fulled, shall fix or cause to be fixed at each End of every such Cloth, before it is carried from the Mill, a Seal of Lead, riveted and swtampt with his Name, mentioning in Figures the exact Number of Yards and Inches that the said Cloth Contains in Length and Breadth, when wet, scoured, and milled, for which he shall be paid, by the owner of the said Cloth, the Sum of one Penny, and no more.
Fullers refusing or negelecting, and Persons defrauding, &c. the said Seal or stretching the Cloth more than is directed by this Act, to forefeit the sum of 20.s. IV. And be it further enacted. That if the Owner or Occupier of any such Mill shall at any Time re- fuse or neglect to fix such Seal, as aforesaid, to any such Cloth, or if any Person shall afterwards take off, deface, counterfeit, or alter the Figures of any such Seal, before the Cloth is exported or sold to the Re- tailer, or if any Person whatsoever shall, after the said four and twentieth Day of June, stretch or strain any Piece of the said Woollen Cloths more than one Inch in every Quarter of a Yard in the Breadth, or any Piece of the said Broad. Cloths more than one Yard in every twenty Yards in Length, or any Piece of the said Whole-thick-kerseys and Whole-thick-plains more than Half a Yard in every seventeen Yards and an Half in Length, when the said respective Cloths are wet, scoured, and milled, as aforesaid; or if any Owner or Occupier of any such Fulling Mill, as aforesaid, shall, after the said twenty-fourth Day of June, mill or full, or cause to be milled or fulled in any one Stock at the same Time, any more than One whole Broad Cloth, or two half Broad Cloths; then, and in every such Case, every such Person that shall so neglect or offend, and be thereof convicted in Manner aforesaid, shall for every such Neglect or Offence forfeit the Sum of twenty Shillings.
One Half of the forfeiture to the Informer, the other to the Poor. Offender not paying the Forfeiture in 7 Days after conviction, the Justice to issue the warrant, to levy it by Distress, &c. and if no Distress, the offender to be committed to the House of Correction, &c. V. And be it further enacted. That all such Forfeitures as shall happen by reason of this Act, shall be Offender not the one Half thereof to the Informer, and the other Half to the Poor of the Township or Place where the Offence shall be committed; and that if any Offender shall, by the Space of seven Days next after he shall be convicted, refuse or neglect to pay any Forfeitfure by him incurred by reason of this Act, then, ad not before, it shall and may be lawful for the Justice or Justices of the peace before whom such Convic- tion shall be made, and such Justice or Justices of the peace are hereby required, to issue out one or more Warrants under his or their Hands and Seals, to the Constables of the Town or Place where such Offen- der doth inhabit or can be found, within the Limits of their respective Jurisdictions, to levy the same by Distress and Sale of the Offender's Goods, returning the Overplus (if any be) to the Offender; and where no sufficient Distress can be found, to commit the Offender to the House of Correction, or Gaol of the County or Corporation, to be kept to hard Labour for such Time as the Justice of the Peace before whom such Conviction shall be made, shall direct, not exceeding one Month for any one Offence.
