The Beerhouse Act 1830 (11 Geo 4. and 1 Will 4. c. 64) was an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

, which liberalised the regulations governing the

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

and sale of

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

. It was modified by subsequent legislation and finally repealed in 1993. It was one of the Licensing Acts 1828 to 1886.

Background

The precursor to the Act was the Alehouse Act 1828 (9 Geo.4 c.61), that was enacted two years before, which established a general annual licensing meeting to be held in every city, town, division, county and riding, for the purposes of granting licences to inns, alehouses and victualling (i.e. provision of food) houses to sell exciseable

liquor Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or hard ...

s to be drunk on the premises.

The Act

The Act enabled any rate-payer to brew and sell beer on payment of a licence costing two

guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

s (£2.10 in decimal currency, not adjusted for inflation). The intention was to increase competition between brewers; lowering prices and encouraging people to drink beer instead of strong spirits. It resulted in the opening of thousands of new public houses and

breweries A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...

throughout the country, particularly in the rapidly expanding industrial centres of the north of England. According to the Act,

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

considered it was

Legacy

The Act's supporters hoped that by increasing competition in the brewing and sale of beer, and thus lowering its price, the population might be weaned off more alcoholic drinks such as

gin Gin () is a distilled alcoholic drink that derives its flavour from juniper berries (''Juniperus communis''). Gin originated as a medicinal liquor made by monks and alchemists across Europe, particularly in southern Italy, Flanders and the Ne ...

. But it proved to be controversial, removing as it did the monopoly of local magistrates to lucratively regulate local trade in alcohol, and not applying retrospectively to those who already ran public houses. It was also denounced as promoting

drunkenness Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main p ...

. The passage of the Act during the reign of King William IV led to many taverns and public houses being named in his honour; he remains "the most popular monarch among pub names". By 1841 licences under the new law had been issued to 45,500 commercial brewers. One factor in the Act was the dismantling of provisions for detailed recording of licences, which were restored by subsequent regulatory legislation: the Wine and Beerhouse Act 1869 and the Wine and Beerhouse Act Amendment Act 1870. The Act was often amended, notably in 1834 and 1840.

Repeal

The final remaining provisions of the Act were repealed on 11 November 1993, by the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1993 (1993 c. 50), s. 1(1), Sch. 1 Pt. XIII GroupI.

References

Citations

Notes

Bibliography

** *Mason, Nicholas. (2001) “‘The Sovereign People are in A Beastly State’: The Beer Act Of 1830 and Victorian Discourse on Working-Class Drunkenness.” ''Victorian Literature and Culture'' 29, no. 1 (2001): 109–27. * ** {{refend United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1830 Pubs in the United Kingdom Alcohol law in the United Kingdom