The Profane Swearing Act 1694 ( 6 & 7 Will. & Mar. c. 11) was an Act of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...

in effect from 24 June 1695 and repealed in 1746. It established a system of fines payable for "suppressing prophane Cursing and Swearing". The preamble recited the provisions of the

Profane Swearing Act 1623 Profane may refer to: * Profane (religion), a thing which is not sacred * Profanity, foul language * ''Profane'' (film), a 2011 film * Profanity (instant messaging client) Profanity is a text mode instant messaging interface that supports the XM ...

, noting that it had not been effective at suppressing "those detestable sins" due to various perceived deficiencies in the Act. The Act provided that any person who profanely swore or cursed in the presence of a justice of the peace, or a town mayor, and was convicted on the oath of one witness or by their own confession, was to pay a fine. The fines were established at 1''s'' for a servant, labourer, common soldier or seaman, and 2''s'' for any other person; a second offence was to be fined at double the rate, and a third or later offence at treble. The monies thus received were to be used for the poor relief of that parish. Should an offender not pay the fine or give security, they were to be set in the stocks for an hour (or for two hours, for multiple offences); if under sixteen, they were to be whipped by the parish constable. Any justice or magistrate who avoided carrying out their duties under the Act were to be fined 5''l'', half going to the informant. All convictions were to take place within ten days of the offence, and be recorded in a special book kept for the purpose. The Act was to be read four times a year in all parish churches and public chapels, with the parson or curate liable to a fine of 20''s'' if this duty was neglected. The Act was repealed by section 15 of the

Profane Oaths Act 1745 The Profane Oaths Act 1745The citation of this Act by this short title was authorised by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretatio ...

, which restated its general provisions, increase the fines for gentlemen and higher ranks, and provided for stricter enforcement.

References

*''Statutes of the Realm'', vol. 6. 1819
Electronic edition at british-history.ac.uk
*''Chronological table of the statutes''; HMSO, London. 1993. {{Profanity 1694 in law 1694 in England Acts of the Parliament of England Repealed English legislation Profanity