 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2022) |
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An act to prevent occasional freemen from voting at elections of members to serve in parliament for cities and boroughs. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 3 Geo. 3. c. 15 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 31 March 1763 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | |
| Repealed by | Representation of the People Act 1918 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The Freemen (Admission) Act 1763[1] (3 Geo. 3. c. 15), sometimes called the Freeman (Admission) Act 1763,[2] was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The Act withheld the right to vote in Parliamentary elections, in those boroughs where honorary freemen could vote, from any freemen admitted to the freedom within twelve months of the first day of the election; it did not affect the rights of ordinary freemen, admitted by the custom of the borough in question.
The Act was passed in response to a number of instances of large numbers of non-resident honorary freemen being created to sway the results of elections, often after the writ for an election had been issued. At an election for Durham City in 1761, 215 new freemen, mostly non-resident, had been created after the issue of the writ and had proved decisive in a total poll of around 1,500. After the result was overturned on petition a bill was introduced to check this abuse, and the Act was consequently known colloquially as the Durham Act.
- ^ a b The 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 Interpretation Act 1978.
- ^ This expression appears in the revised text of the Fourth Schedule to the Ballot Act 1872 included in the third edition of The Statutes Revised (1950, vol 9, p 45), where it is described as "title or abbreviated title". The expression "Freeman (Admission) Act 1763" does not appear in the original text of that Schedule. Section 3 of the Statute Law Revision Act 1893 authorises the substitution of short titles for titles in such revised editions.