An Act to revive and continue an Act, intituled, An Act for the better regulating of small Vessels; and preventing Escapes of Debtors from this Island; and also to extend the same, to prevent more effectually the Escapes of fugitive Slaves from the said Island, and other Mischiefs likely to ensue.

Whereas an Act, intituled, An Act for the better regulating of small Vessels; and preventing Escapes of Debtors from this Island, made and passed and published in the Year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-two, for and during the Term of one Year from the Date of the Publication thereof, and from thence to the then next Meeting of the Council and Assembly; and which said Act hath been afterwards continued and revived, at various Times, by divers Acts, but did at length expire, on the Meeting of the Council and Assembly which next followed the twenty-first Day of January, which was in the Year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety, and hath never since been continued or revived, although the same hath been always found very beneficial to the Commerce of this Island;

We, therefore, Your Majesty’s most dutiful, loyal, and obedient Subjects, the Governor-in-Chief of all Your Majesty’s Leeward Caribbee Islands in America, and the Council and Assembly of this Your Majesty’s Island of Antigua, do most humbly pray Your Most Excellent Majesty, that it may be enacted and ordained; and be it, and it is hereby enacted and ordained by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Act, and all other the Acts for reviving and continuing the same, and all and every Matter, Clause, and Thing therein contained, shall stand revived, and shall continue in full force and effect, from the Day of the Publication hereof, for and during the Term herein-after mentioned.

II. And whereas many great Inconveniencies have, already, arisen, and may, shortly hereafter, be increased to a very alarming Degree; by the easy Manner in which fugitive Slaves may be inticed and carried away from their Owners, and stolen Goods and Live Stock be also clandestinely conveyed from hence; through the very unguarded Manner in which many small Boats and Vessels are now kept, and sometimes conducted and owned by disorderly and ill-disposed Persons; be it therefore enacted and ordained by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every Person or Persons within this Island, claiming Property to any Boats or Vessels not having Decks, or not being of the Burthen of fifteen Tons or upwards, so as not to have been registered, or be comprised within and deemed subject to the Provisions and Regulations, made and entered into by a certain Act of the British Parliament, passed in the twenty-sixth Year of His present Majesty’s Reign, intituled, An Act far the further Increase and Encouragement of Shipping and Navigation, shall, within one Calendar Month from the Day of the Publication hereof, paint or cause to be painted, in white or yellow Letters, of a Length not less than two inches, on a black Ground, in some conspicuous Part of the Stern, the Name of the Owner of such Boat or Vessel:—Provided the same shall not belong to any trading Ship or Vessel already registered, pursuant to the herein recited Act of Parliament, or to any. other Droughers:—but that in case that any Boat or small Vessel shall belong to such trading Ship or Vessel so registered, or Drougher, that then, in lieu of the Name of the Owner, the Name of such trading Ship or Vessel so registered, or Drougher, shall be painted on such Boat or small Vessel, in the Manner herein-before mentioned.

III. And be it further enacted, That if any Person or Persons, within this Island, not being possessed of a Freehold of, twenty Pounds yearly Value, or upwards,—or not being possessed of a Leasehold Term of Years of a Sugar Plantation,—or not being a Merchant or Merchants resident, and Importers of Goods and Commodities from other Places,—shall own or claim Property to any Boat, Petiagua, or Canoe, or any other Kind of Vessel, by any other Name or Description whatsoever, and not comprized within the Class of Vessels required by the said Act of Parliament to be registered,—that such Person or Persons shall, within one Calendar Month after the Publication hereof, give-in and lodge, at the Secretary’s Office of this Island, a full Description of his, her, or their Boat or small Vessel, containing the true Dimensions thereof; and shall also, within the said Month, paint or cause to be painted, in white or yellow Letters, on a black Ground of two Inches or more in Length, in the Stern thereof, the Name of the Owner or Owners thereof.

IV. And be it further enacted, That when such Person or Persons, owning or claiming any such last-mentioned Boats or small Vessels, and not being possessed of a Freehold of twenty Pounds yearly Value, or of any of the said Qualifications hereby specified, shall have lodged the Description aforesaid, of his, her, or their Boat or small Vessel, in the said Secretary’s Office, and shall have painted the Name or Names, in the Manner before required, on such Boat or small Vessel, he, she, or they shall also, within the said Month, apply to any two Justices, in the Commission of the Peace within this Island, for a Certificate under their Hands and Seals, setting-forth that such Owner or Owners is or are of a good Charac­ter and Behaviour, and worthy of being entrusted with the Care and Conduct of a Boat or small Vessel, and free from any Suspicion of violating any of the Laws extant in this Island by means of being so entrusted. And such Certificate, together with the De­scription so lodged, as before mentioned, in the said Secretary’s Office, shall be registered in a Book to be there kept for that Purpose; and for each Registering, together with a Certificate, Under the Hand of the said Secretary, or his lawful Deputy, of the same, to any Owner, who is hereby authorized to demand such Certificate, he the said Secretary may demand and receive four Shillings and six Pence, for his Trouble and Expense in providing the said Book.

V. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That any Person being a White, or Free Person, who shall, at any time after one Calendar Month from the Publication of this Act, discover any Boat or small Vessel herein-before described, and hereby directed to be painted with the Name of the Owner, or of the trading Vessel or Drougher to which it may belong, in any of the Ports, Harbours, Creeks, Havens, Roads, or Bays in the said Island, or at Sea within one League of the Coasts or Shores thereof, not having the Name of the Owner thereof, or of the trading Ship, Vessel, or Drougher to which it shall belong, painted in Manner and Form as herein-before particularly described and required; that, in such Case, any such Person or Persons shall and may, immediately, seize such Boat or small Vessel, and retain the same in his, her, or their own Custody; and shall, within eighteen Hours after such Seizure, lodge a Report or Information, upon Oath, with a Description of the Boat or Vessel, before any Justice of the Peace of the said Island.

VI. And be it further enacted, That such Justice before whom such Information shall be lodged, shall, and is hereby required and directed to issue, immediately, a Notice in Writing under his Hand, and to cause the same to be inserted in the printed Gazettes, or Newspapers, that may be soonest afterwards published : and which Notice shall contain the Substance of the Report, or Information, so lodged before him; and shall warn such Person or Persons, who can claim Property to such Boat or Vessel so seized, to appear before him at a Time appointed, within six Days from the Date of the said Notice, to establish his, her, or their Claim; and, in default of such Appearance, or in defect of Establishment of Claim within the said six Days, the said Justice shall, and is hereby required and directed to condemn the said Boat or Vessel, as an absolute Forfeiture, and to award the same, after being paid or satisfied the Expenses of advertising the said Notice, as the lawful Property of the Person or Persons lodging the said Information; and, he, she, or they are, in such Case, hereby declared to be fully vested with the true and lawful Property thereof.

VII. And be it further enacted, That if any Person or Persons shall appear, at the Time appointed by the said Justice, to lay-in his, her, or their Claim, and shall establish the same to the Satisfaction of the said Justice, and shall also prove, that he, she, or they is or are in the Possession of a Freehold or Leasehold, or is or are a Merchant or Merchants in the Manner and Degree already specified, in and by the foregoing third Section or Clause of this Act; or, not being in the Class of any of the said Qualifications or Specifications, in the said foregoing third Section or Clause, shall then produce the said Certificate of Registry under the Hand of the said Secretary, or his Deputy; then, and in such Case of Establishment of Claim, and such Proof of Qualification as aforesaid, or Production of Certificate of Registry, and not other-wise, the said Justice shall award and order the said Person or Per­sons, so appearing before him as a Claimant or Claimants, to pay immediately to the Person or Persons so lodging the Information, as a Penalty, the Sum of six Pounds twelve Shillings, current Gold and Silver Money, and the Expenses of advertising the Notice ; and on such Payment of said Penalty and Expenses of advertising, the said Justice shall, then, further award Restitution of the said Boat or Vessel so seized.

VIII. And be it further enacted, That if the said Justice of the Peace, before whom such Information of Seizure shall be lodged, shall receive Evidence, on Oath, contradictory to the Allegations contained in the said Information, respecting the Defect or Omission of proper Painting on the Stern, and should be of Opinion that the said Evidence is a full Refutation of the said Allegation; that in such Case, the said Justice may award Restitution of such Boat or Ves­sel to the Person or Persons establishing his, her, or their Claim, without entering into any Proof or further Examination of the Qualification of such Claimant or Claimants.

IX. Provided always, and it is hereby expressly declared by the Authority aforesaid, That nothing in this Act contained, shall be construed, deemed, and taken to extend to any Boats, or small Ves­sels, that may belong to Ships or Vessels touching at this Island, belonging to any of the Ports of Great Britain, Ireland, or any other of His Majesty’s Dominions, for the Purpose of landing Passengers, or taking in Refreshments, under a regular Permit, so had and ob­tained for that Purpose.

X. And be it further enacted, That if any Justice of the Peace, before whom any Information of Seizure shall be lodged as aforesaid, and who shall have issued a Notice as aforesaid, shall be, by means of Sickness or Absence from the Island, rendered incapable of attend­ing on the Day or Time specified in the said Notice; it shall and may be lawful for any other Justice of the Peace of the said Island, to sit, hear, and determine on the said Information, and to proceed thereon as herein-before directed, as effectually, to all Intents and Purposes, as the said Justice might or could have done, before whom the said Information was originally lodged.

XI. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That this Act shall continue and be in force, for and during the Term of three Years, from the Date of the Publication thereof, and from thence, to the next Meeting of the Council and Assembly of this Island. 

Dated at Saint Christopher's, the eighteenth Day of May, in the Year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three, and in the thirty-third Year of His Majesty’s Reign.

THOMAS FREEMAN, Speaker.

Passed the Assembly, this eighth Day of May, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three.

ANTHONY BROWN,

Clerk of the Assembly.

Passed the Council, this fourth Day of April, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three.

By Command,

WILLIAM MATHEWS,

Deputy Secretary.

WILLIAM (L.S.) WOODLEY.

ANTIGUA. Duly Published this twenty-third Day of May, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three.

ROBERT CLOGSTOUN, Dep. Pro. Marshal.