The Seditious Meetings Act 1817 (57 Geo. III c. 19) was an Act of the

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of the

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which made it illegal to hold a meeting of more than 50 people.

Content

The provisions of the Act were similar to those of previous Seditious Meetings Acts, such as that of 1795, although more severe constraints were added.Howell, George
''Labour legislation, labour movements, and labour leaders
New York: E.P Dutton & Co., 1902. p. 32 The law forbade all meetings of more than 50 people called "for the purpose...of deliberating upon any grievance, in church or state," unless the meeting had been summoned by an authorised official, or sufficient notice was provided by its organizers. In the latter case, the organizers were required at least five days prior to the meeting to either publicly advertise in a newspaper the time, place and purpose the event, or submit a notice to a

clerk of the peace A clerk of the peace held an office in England and Wales whose responsibility was the records of the quarter sessions and the framing of presentments and indictments. They had legal training, so that they could advise justices of the peace. Hist ...

. The advertisement or notice needed to be signed by seven local persons, and a copy was to be forwarded to a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission (letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

. Under the Act, justices of the peace,

sheriffs A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

and other officials were authorised to attend any meetings held within their jurisdictions. In the event that the meeting was found to be unlawful, they could order its participants to disperse. Anyone who ignored such an order was to be found guilty of a felony without

benefit of clergy In English law, the benefit of clergy (Law Latin: ''privilegium clericale'') was originally a provision by which clergymen accused of a crime could claim that they were outside the jurisdiction of the secular courts and be tried instead in an eccl ...

and put to death. Special restrictions were placed on meetings of more than 50 people in any public place in the City or Liberties of Westminster or

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

County which was within one mile of the gates or

Westminster Hall The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...

. These were outright banned whenever Parliament or other state bodies were in session, unless the meeting was held at St. Paul's Covent Garden, or if the meeting was convened for the election of Members of Parliament. The Act also established regulations for places where lectures or debates were held, requiring these to be licensed and allowing officials to inspect them. Universities and certain other institutions, however, were excluded from these provisions. The legislation also suppressed secret societies and clubs, banning any such organization whose members were required to take an oath not authorized by law. It explicitly targeted the Spencean Philanthropists, outlawing them and any other society that advocated the " confiscation and division of the land." These restrictions did not extend to the

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and

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

, who were granted exceptions under the Act. The regulations on assemblies and licensing requirements for public meetings took effect in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and the surrounding regions the day after its passage, and in the rest of the country after seven days.57 Geo. III c. 19 § XXII
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Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, however, was completely exempted from the terms of the Act.

Significance and repeal

The Act was passed by

Lord Liverpool Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. He held many important cabinet offices such as Foreign Secre ...

's government in March 1817. Parliament had become concerned with a perceived rise in

radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics * Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe an ...

activities by groups such as the Hampden Clubs and the Spencean Philanthropists, and several recent incidents, such as the Spa Fields riots of December 1816, an attack on the

Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...

in January 1817, and the march of the

Blanketeers The Blanketeers or Blanket March was a demonstration organised in Manchester in March 1817. The intention was for the participants, who were mainly Lancashire weavers, to march to London and petition the Prince Regent over the desperate state ...

that March, prompted the enactment of the Act. Due to a sunset clause, sections 1 through 22 of the Act (which dealt with seditious meetings in general and licensing requirements for places for public debates) automatically expired on 24 July 1818, although they were temporarily revived in altered form by the Seditious Meetings Act 1819. Section 23, which banned public meetings within a mile of the gates of

, was largely suspended by the 1819 Act, but was reinstated after the latter's expiration in 1824; it was eventually fully repealed by the

Public Order Act 1986 The Public Order Act 1986 (c 64) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates a number of public order offences. They replace similar common law offences and parts of the Public Order Act 1936. It implements recommendations

.Public Order Act 1986 Part 1, Section 9(2)(c)
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Content

Significance and repeal

References

See also