Tewkesbury Bye Laws of 1852

A recent acquisition at the museum [2021] is a copy of the bye laws and regulations of Tewkesbury Borough Council and Board of Health, printed in 1852.These make interesting reading, and the first eight are reproduced below. These rules seem to cover every aspect of life in the town; there are penalties for all manner of misdemeanours, many of which would be considered trivial today.

I. - THAT the fine to be paid for not accepting, or vacating by absence or otherwise, unless with the consent of three-fourths of the council, the office of Mayor of the said Borough, by every Alderman or Councillor who is elected to that office, shall be Thirty Pounds; that the fine to be paid for not accepting, or vacating by absence or otherwise, unless with such consent as aforesaid, the office of Alderman of the said Borough, but every person duly qualified who shall be elected to that office, shall be Fifteen Pounds; and that the fine to be paid for not accepting, or vacating by absence or otherwise, unless with such consent as aforesaid, the office of Councillor, Auditor, or Assessor of the said Borough, by every person duly qualified who shall be elected to either of the last-mentioned offices, shall be Ten Pounds.

II. - That if any person that shall suffer any ferocious dog to be at large unmuzzled within the said Borough, or if after public notice given by the Mayor, or two Justices of the Peace, directing dogs to be confined on suspicion of canine madness, any person who shall suffer any dog to go at large within the said Borough, every person so offending shall for every such offence forfeit and pay for the first offence the sum of Two shillings and Sixpence; for the second offence the sum of Five shillings; and for the third and every subsequent offence, any sum not exceeding Forty shillings.

III. - That every person who shall offer for sale within the said Borough any unsound, putrid, or unwholesome meat, fish, or other provisions, unfit for the food of man, shall for every such offence forfeit and pay, for the first offence, the sum of Ten Shillings; for the second offence, any sum not exceeding Forty Shillings; and for the third and every subsequent offence, any sum not exceeding Five Pounds.

IV. - That if any person, riding any horse or beast, or driving any sort of carriage, shall ride or drive the same furiously, so as to endanger the life or limb of any person or passenger; or if any person shall lead or drive any vicious beast through, or suffer the same to remain in, any of the public streets or thoroughfares of the said Borough, without the same being fettered in such a manner as to prevent danger to the life or limb of any person; every person, in either of the cases aforesaid, upon being convicted of such offence before any two Justices of the Peace, shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding Five Pounds.

V. - That every person who shall wilfully and wantonly disturb any inhabitant of the said Borough, by pulling or ringing any doorbell or knocking at any door, without reasonable cause, shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding Five Shillings.

VI. - That every person who in any of the public streets or thoroughfares of the said borough (except in a place lawfully appointed for that purpose,) shall, to the annoyance of the inhabitants of passengers, show any caravan containing any animal, or any other show or public entertainment, or show or expose any Stallion or Stone Horse, shall, for every such offense, forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding Forty Shillings.

VII. - that every common prostitute or nightwalker, loitering or being in any of the public streets or thoroughfares of the said Borough for the purpose of prostitution, or being there for the purpose of solicitation, to the annoyance of the inhabitants or passengers, shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding Ten Shillings.

VIII. - That every person who, in any street or public place in the said Borough, shall wilfully and indecently expose his person, or who shall behave in any public situation in the said Borough so as to expose his person, shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding Ten Shillings.