Acts of Parliament

Cornwall Family History Society Free Content

Explore the significant Acts of Parliament related to Cornwall’s history and genealogy. The Cornwall Family History Society provides a detailed overview of these legislative documents.

Advances Towards Equality

Some of the major events affecting the lives of our female forebears

1844 The 1844 Poor Law Amendment Act and the 1845 Bastardy Act empowers mothers to apply to Petty Session Courts for maintenance money from the father of their illegitimate child.
1857 The Matrimonial Causes Act makes it possible to petition for a divorce in civil courts, so the process is newly accessible to middle-class women.
1860 Florence NIGHTINGALE establishes the world’s first secular Nursing School at St Thomas’s Hospital, London, making the profession more respectable for women.
1868 The first British women are admitted to the University of London to gain a university education following a nationwide campaign to improve women’s access to further education.
1876 The 1876 Medical Act allows women to be licensed to practice medicine for the first time, and register with the General Medical Council of Britain.
1882 The 1882 Married Women’s Property Act finally gives wives full legal control over their property and money that they earn.
1895 London born Lilian LINDSAY qualifies as Britain’s first female dentist.  She studied in Edinburgh as English dental schools would not admit female students.
1903 Emmeline PANKHURST set up the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) as a militant organisation campaigning for women’s suffrage.
1917 The Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) and Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps are formed as branches of the Armed Forces.
1928 The 1928 Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act extends voting rights to women on the same terms as men, so women over the age of 21 appear in electoral registers for the first time.

Civil Registration Timeline

1517 Martin LUTHER puts forward proposals to reform the Roman Catholic Church, sparking the Reformation.
1533 John CALVIN flees France for Switzerland leaving many followers in his native land.
1562 The Wars of Religion begin in France in 1572, the massacre of St Bartholomew on 24th August in Paris is followed over the next three months by some 10,000 Huguenots being killed across the country.  As a result, there is a spike in refuges during this period.
1598 Henri IV’s Edict of Nantes end the French Wars of Religion and gives Protestants in France a degree of legal toleration. Some refugees head home from England.
1660 Louis XIV begins to limit the rights of protestants in France and a small but steady stream of Huguenots leave for more sympathetic states.
1681 The start of the Dragonnades in France triggers the major emigration.
1685 Louis XIV’s revocation of the Edict of Nantes in France leads to a further flood of refugees.
1750 The last of the religious refugees leave France.

Huguenot History

1517 Martin LUTHER puts forward proposals to reform the Roman Catholic Church, sparking the Reformation.
1533 John CALVIN flees France for Switzerland leaving many followers in his native land.
1562 The Wars of Religion begin in France in 1572, the massacre of St Bartholomew on 24th August in Paris is followed over the next three months by some 10,000 Huguenots being killed across the country.  As a result, there is a spike in refuges during this period.
1598 Henri IV’s Edict of Nantes end the French Wars of Religion and gives Protestants in France a degree of legal toleration. Some refugees head home from England.
1660 Louis XIV begins to limit the rights of protestants in France and a small but steady stream of Huguenots leave for more sympathetic states.
1681 The start of the Dragonnades in France triggers the major emigration.
1685 Louis XIV’s revocation of the Edict of Nantes in France leads to a further flood of refugees.
1750 The last of the religious refugees leave France.

Miscellaneous Acts

1706 The monarch had worn the crowns of England and Scotland since 1603 when James VI of Scotland also became James I of England.  The countries had maintained separate parliaments and commercial systems, with England having been incorporated with Wales since the time of Henry VIII. Each country had its own Act of Union: England in 1706 and Scotland in 1707 which put into effect the treaty of union.
1737 The 1737 Theatre Licensing Act restricted the use of dialogue in performance to two theatres, Covent Garden and Drury Lane.
1807 Abolition of the Slave Trade Act.
1811 The Regency Act was finally passed on 5th February 1811. It was rushed through to give time for the prince regent to approve finance bills that were necessary for military expenditure.
1830 The Beer House Act was passed, loosening regulations around the production and sale of beer.
1832 The 1832 Registration of the People Act (better known as the Reform Act) was introduced as a system of voter registration in England and Wales. The separate 1832 Scottish Reform Act and 1832 Presentation of the people (Ireland) Act introduced similar legislation in those countries.
1833 Slavery Abolition Act.
1839 The County Policy Act of August 1839 enabled Justice of the peace in England and Wales to found county police forces.
1843 The 1843 Theatre Regulation Act abolished its 1737 counterpart removing the monopoly and the Harlequinades were given linguistic freedom.
1845 From 1808 local authorities in England and Wales were encouraged to build county Lunatic Asylums for pauper patients.  The 1845 Lunatic Asylums and Pauper Lunatics Act made these asylums compulsory.
1857 Under the 1857 Lunacy (Scotland) Act new asylums were run as part of the poor law and were thus built and administered by parishes.
1859 The half century old Volunteer Act, which was originally used to increase the number of soldiers available during the Napoleonic wars, was used to create a Volunteer Force.
1870 Forster’s Elementary Education Act (1870) marked the beginning of state funding for schools with the creation of local school boards.
1871 The 1871 Bank Holiday Act gave many workers more leisure time.
1878 A single register is permitted (and later made mandatory) for each constituency with those women recorded entitled to vote at municipal but not parliamentary election.
1905 Parliament passed the Aliens Act of 1905 to calm the populace’s fears and the 1911 census was the first to ask the nationality of respondents.
 

School Attendance Milestones

1870 The Elementary Education Act set out the framework to offer schooling for all children between the ages of 5 and13. A similar Act in Scotland in 1872 enforces compulsory attendance.
1876 Lord Sandon’s Education Act makes parents responsible for ensuring that their children attend elementary school.
1878 The Factory and Workshop Act forbids children under the age of 10 from factory work. Workers aged 10-13 must attend school halftime.
1880 The Elementary Education Act (Mundella Act) makes schooling compulsory for those aged 5-10 in England and Wales. School Attendance Officers are empowered to take action if children do not attend.
1891 Another Elementary Education Act abolishes fees for elementary schools and makes them free for the first time.
1893 The Elementary Education (School Attendance) Act increases the school leaving age to 11. Six years later another Act increases it again to 12.
1911 Children walk out of a school in Llanelli in protest over corporal punishment. This leads to pupils briefly going on strike across the UK including Shoreditch.
1918 An Education Act drawn up by the President of the Board of Education, Herbert FISHER, makes the school leaving age 14.
1944 Richard BUTLER’s Education Act creates a Ministry of Education. The leaving age becomes 15, and the system of elementary, secondary, and further education is formalised. A similar Act for Scotland follows in 1945.
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