An act to empower the justices and vestry of the parish of St. Thomas in the East to allot negroes for making a road from the Sea to the Bath.

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WHEREAS it has been found impracticable to make a good road to the Bath of St. Thomas the Apostle from Cardiff's, at Port-Morant, in the parish of St. Thomas in the East, pursuant to the directions of an act entitled, An act for rendering the Bath in the parish of St. Thomas in the East more serviceable; and as an easy access to the Bath, by a good road, will greatly contribute to render the same more useful to the inhabitants of this island: We, your majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the governor, council, and assembly of this your majesty's island of Jamaica, humbly beseech your majesty that it may be enacted; Be it enacted by the governor, council, and assembly of this island, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the commissioners of the Bath, or any two of them, be obliged and required, within sixty days after the passing of this act, to apply to some magistrate in the said parish of St. Thomas in the East for a warrant to lay out the most convenient road from the Bath to the sea; and such magistrate, so applied to, is hereby obliged and required to issue such warrant, and to proceed in the laying out such road, after the manner prescribed for laying out roads by an act entitled, An act for the highways.

II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the justices and vestry of the said parish of St. Thomas in the East do, and they are hereby obliged and required, within thirty days after such road shall be laid out, (to,) make an allotment of negroes, carts, and labour, on all the inhabitants of the said parish, for the making and opening such road, under the direction and care of William Hicks, Peter Valette, and William Gordon, esquires, or either of them.

III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the inhabitants of the parish of St. Thomas in the East be, and they are hereby, authorized, empowered, obliged, and required, hereafter to amend and keep in repair the road so laid out as aforesaid; and that the justices and vestry of this said parish shall appoint waywardens of the said road, and make allotments of negroes, carts, and labour, and shall lay and levy rates and monies for the amendment of the same, on the same days and times that they are required to do the same for the other roads in the said parish.

IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said justices and vestry of the said parish, and surveyors and waywardens of the said road, shall do every other lawful act or acts, thing or things, and shall have like remedy and justification for their and every of their actions relating thereto, in the same manner as they could do, or might have, in any case relating to any of the roads in the same parish.

V. And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in case any magistrate, justice, or vestryman, shall neglect to do his or their duty, in any or either of the particulars herein before mentioned, he or they so offending shall, for every offence, forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds; to be recovered in the supreme court of judicature of this island, by action of debt, bill, plaint, or information; one half whereof to be to our sovereign lord the kind, his heirs and successors, to be applied to and for the making and repairing the road herein before mentioned, and the other moiety or half part to him, her, or them, that shall sue for the same.

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Source

The laws of Jamaica: comprehending all the Acts in force, passed between the thirty-second year of the reign of King Charles the Second, and the thirty-third year of the Reign of George the Third... Volume 1. Jamaica, printed by Alexander Aikman. (Pages: 369-370)

Date

1751-12-14

Location

Jamaica

Citation

"An act to empower the justices and vestry of the parish of St. Thomas in the East to allot negroes for making a road from the Sea to the Bath." Laws of Enslavement and Freedom in the Anglo-Atlantic World, accessed Nov 1, 2024, https://slaveryandfreedomlaws.lib.unb.ca/laws/311 Copy

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