The Act 43 Geo 3 c 56, sometimes called the Passenger Vessels Act 1803 or the Passenger Act 1803, 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 suprem ...

, passed in 1803. It was the first of many laws intended to regulate the transportation of immigrants and to protect

emigrants Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

on board ships from exploitation by transportation companies (such as exorbitant rates and consequent subjection to poor sanitary conditions). The Passenger Act required improved conditions relating to hygiene, food and comfort for passengers travelling to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

. However, this law was not always followed by transportation providers and the spread of

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable di ...

s such as

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

continued. This Act was established under humanitarian pretences, but the more practical and desired effect was to raise the cost of passage to prevent as many as possible from leaving. Landlords who feared the emigration of their tenants lobbied extensively for this piece of legislation, and where one could previously travel to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

for £3–4,Approximately £200 in 2001 pounds, according to the price indices in House of Commons Research Paper 02/44, , 11 July 2002 the price for the same passage was in some cases raised to £10 or more (). The ability to move abroad was subsequently limited to a small class of people until it was repealed in 1826.

Notes and references

* * United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1803 Repealed United Kingdom Acts of Parliament Maritime history of the United Kingdom History of immigration to the United Kingdom British emigrants {{UK-statute-stub