BLACK ACT (1723). An Act for the more effectual Punishing wicked and evil-disposed Persons going Armed in Disguise and doing Injuries and Violences to the Persons and Properties of His Majesty's Subjects, and for the more speedy bringing the Offenders to Justice. Also known as the WALTHAM BLACK ACT (1723).

CRIMINAL LAW. Great Britain. Parliament.

Published by London: John Baskett and the Assigns of Thomas Newcomb and Henry Hills, deceasd., 1723

About this Item

Folio (12.5 inches). 9 George I, Chapter 22. General title leaf + pages 605-614. Woodcut Royal coat of arms and decorative initial. Text in Black Letter. Neatly extracted from a bound volume and expertly mended. CONSIDERED THE MOST DRACONIAN LEGISLATION EVER ENACTED IN ENGLAND, DESIGNED TO PROVOKE TERROR IN LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS. The Black Act (or Waltham Black Act), 1723 was passed in response to the series of crime sprees committed by gangs of poachers in disguise, with their faces blacked (known as the Blacks), near Waltham, Hampshire. By this Act, persons hunting armed and disguised with a blacked face (or persons that are accessories to any of the noted activities), or hunting, wounding, killing or stealing deer, or robbing warrens, or stealing fish out of any river, or unlawfully hunting in His Majesty's forests, or breaking down the head of any fish pond, or killing of cattle, or cutting down trees, or settling fire to house, barn, field crops, or wood, or shooting at any person, or sending anonymous letters or letters signed with fictitious names demanding money, or rescuing such offenders and giving aid to them, or not surrendering to authorities, are guilty of felony and subject to the death penalty without benefit of clergy. IN TOTAL, THE BLACK ACT, 1723 SPECIFIED MORE THAN FIFTY NEW OFFENCES THAT WOULD BE PUNISHABLE BY DEATH. The 1723 Act was updated by the Black Act Amendment, 1754 (27 George II, Chapter 15) which expanded on the crime of sending threatening letters. (A copy of the 1754 Act is included here.) The legislation was made permanent in 1758. Some historians have claimed that the Blacks were closely associated with Jacobite activities, and that the Black Act, 1723 was designed to combat the Jacobean political threat. No other British law passed in the eighteenth century equaled the severity of the Black Act, 1723 and none appointed the punishment of death in so many cases. The Act remained in force until 1823, when it was repealed in its entirety. Seller Inventory # 253

Bibliographic Details

Title: BLACK ACT (1723). An Act for the more ...

Publisher: London: John Baskett and the Assigns of Thomas Newcomb and Henry Hills, deceasd.

Publication Date: 1723

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: Very Good

Edition: 1st Edition