Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham Roads (Tolls) Act 1725

Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham Roads (Tolls) Act 1725
Act of Parliament
	Parliament of Great Britain
Long title	An Act for repairing the Roads, in the Parishes of Kensington, Chelsea, and Fulham, and other Parishes therein mentioned, in the County of Middlesex.
Citation	12 Geo. 1. c. 37
Territorial extent	England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent	24 May 1725
Expired	31 May 1747
Repealed	31 January 2013
Other legislation
Amended by	Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham Roads (Toll Continuance) Act 1740; St. George Hanover Square Improvement Act 1813; St. George Hanover Square Improvement Act 1826;
Repealed by	Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2013
Relates to	Fulham Roads Act 1730; Fulham Roads Act 1749; Streets (London) Act 1766;
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham Roads (Tolls) Act 1725 was a public act of the Parliament of Great Britain authorising the charging of tolls at turnpikes along specified roads in the parishes of Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham in the county of Middlesex.

The toll granted by the act took place on 1 June 1726 for a term of 21 years, with authority to charge tolls to expire no later than 31 May 1747.^[1] The toll was extended for 21 years by the Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham Roads (Toll Continuance) Act 1740.^[2]

The act became obsolete in 1747 and was repealed by the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2013 which had been recommended by the Law Commission.^[3]

Background

Prior to the late 19th century, Britain lacked a national framework for highway maintenance. The responsibility for road upkeep primarily fell on the local population through two main systems:^[3]

Statute labour: for much of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, every able-bodied man to contribute six days of unpaid labour annually to repair local roads.
Turnpikes: introduced in 1663, toll-gates placed across roads, requiring travellers to pay a fee for passage, with the collected revenue was then used for road repair and maintenance.

Several roads in the parishes of Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham had become poorly maintained, requiring repair:^[1]

From Counters Bridge in Kensington to the Stones End near Piccadilly
From Fulham ferry to Knightsbridge
From Chelsea ferry to the Stones End at James Street, Westminster
From the town of Kensington to Chelsea Church
From the junction of North End and the Hammersmith Road to Wansdown Green
From Hyde Park Corner to the lower road from Chelsea to Westminster

Provisions

The act provided:^[1]

Appointment of Trustees to carry out the Act
Authorised the Trustees to erect turnpike gates to the east of Hyde Park (near Hay-Hill); to the east of William Green's Brewhouse (leading to Chelsea); and between Kensington and Chelsea.
For settling of tolls depending on the type of vehicle.
Penalties for non-payment of tolls or for assisting its evasion by means of a diversion road.
Exemptions from liability for tolls.
Trustees’ power to appoint officers including receivers, collectors and surveyors; penalty for any receiver failing to account for toll moneys received.
Surveyors authorised to take steps to collect from neighbouring land any building materials necessary to repair the roads and to remove obstructions from the roadways; surveyors authorised to widen roads, make pavements and lay drains and pay compensation to adjoining owners.
Trustees authorised to borrow money on the security of the tolls; only one toll to be paid per road despite the number of turnpikes to be passed on that road; anti-avoidance provisions; exemptions from tolls.
Continuance of any existing liability to repair the roads; position as to liability for statute labour; recovery of penalties imposed under this Act
The tolls imposed by this Act to continue for 21 years from 1 June 1726 (unless the roads were sufficiently repaired before then).
Appointment of replacement Trustees; first meeting of Trustees to be on or before 26 May 1726.
Provision for the watering of the road from Piccadilly to Hyde Park Gate to settle the dust in dry weather.
Civil procedure issues and status of this Act.

Repeal

Under the terms of the Act, the authority to charge tolls was to expire no later than 31 May 1747.^[3] The 19th Statute Law Repeals Report of the Law Commission recommend repealing the act:^[3]

"Since the repair of the roads pursuant to the Act was dependent upon the receipt of those tolls, it follows that the Act as a whole has served no useful purpose for at least 260 years."

The act was repealed by the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2013 which received royal assent on 31 January 2013.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Danby, Pickering (1765). The Statutes at Large, from the Ninth Year of King George I to the Second Year of King George II. Vol. 17. London. p. 367. ISBN 9780331878042. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
^ Danby, Pickering (1765). The Statutes at Large, from the Third Year of King George II to the Twentieth Year of King George II. Vol. 18. London. p. 417. ISBN 9781171198277. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Statute law repeals. 19.2012 (PDF). Scottish Law Commission / The Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission. London: TSO. 2012. p. 184. ISBN 9780101833028.
^ "Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2013", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 2013 c. 2

[:0-1] Danby, Pickering (1765). The Statutes at Large, from the Ninth Year of King George I to the Second Year of King George II. Vol. 17. London. p. 367. ISBN 9780331878042. Retrieved 23 August 2024.

[2] Danby, Pickering (1765). The Statutes at Large, from the Third Year of King George II to the Twentieth Year of King George II. Vol. 18. London. p. 417. ISBN 9781171198277. Retrieved 23 August 2024.

[:12-3] Statute law repeals. 19.2012 (PDF). Scottish Law Commission / The Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission. London: TSO. 2012. p. 184. ISBN 9780101833028.

[4] "Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2013", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 2013 c. 2

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