The Bank Holidays Act 1871 established public holidays (known as
bank holiday
A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held ...
s) in addition to those customarily recognised in the United Kingdom.
The Act designated four bank holidays in
England,
Wales and
Ireland (
Easter Monday;
Whit Monday
Whit Monday or Pentecost Monday, also known as Monday of the Holy Spirit, is the holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost, a moveable feast in the Christian liturgical calendar. It is moveable because it is determined by the date of Easter. In ...
; First Monday in August; 26 December if a weekday) and five in
Scotland (
New Year's Day, or the next day if a Sunday;
Good Friday; First Monday in May; First Monday in August; and Christmas Day, or the next day if a Sunday).
In England, Wales and Ireland, Good Friday and Christmas Day were considered traditional days of rest (as were Sundays) and therefore it was felt unnecessary to include them in the Act; especially as the Act extended the existing law relating to those days to the new bank holidays.
The Act was repealed in 1971 and superseded by the
Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971
In the United Kingdom, public holidays are days on which most businesses and non-essential services are closed. Many retail businesses (especially the larger ones) do open on some of the public holidays. There are restrictions on trading on Sund ...
, which remains in force.
References
External links
Text of the Act, as originally enacted*
{{UK legislation
1871 in economics
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1871
Working time
Banking legislation in the United Kingdom
Public holidays in the United Kingdom
Repealed United Kingdom Acts of Parliament