Licence shall be granted as aforesaid, the Master of such Ship

Before Licence

or Vessel shall also make Oath that the same has been registered Oath before as a British Ship, naming the Port where and the Time when such Licence be Registry was made, and all the Particulars contained in the Cer- granted. tificate thereof, to the best of his Knowledge and Belief, and shall also give such Bond, and with the same Condition as is before mentioned: Provided also, that before any such Licence shall be granted, such Ship or Vessel shall be surveyed in like Manner as granted, Ship if a Registry de novo were about to be made thereof; and the Cer- to be surveyed; tificate of such Survey shall be preserved by the Collector and Registry may Comptroller of the Port to which such Ship or Vessel shall be- be made after long; and in virtue thereof it shall be lawful for the said Com- Departure of Ship; missioners, and they are hereby required to permit such Ship or Vessel to be registered after her Departure, whenever the Owner or Owners shall personally attend to take and subscribe the Oath required by this Act before Registry be made, and shall also comply with all other Requisites of this Act, except so far as relates to the Bond to be given by the Master of such Ship or Vessel; which Certificate of Registry the said Commissioners and Certificate shall and may transmit to the Collector and Comptroller of any transmitted to other Port, to be by them given to the Master of such Ship be exchanged or Vessel, upon his giving such Bond, and delivering up the Licence which had been granted for the then present Use of such Ship or Vessel.

for Licence.

XXVII. And. Whereas it is not proper that any Person under any Pretence whatever should detain the Certificate of Registry of any Ship or Vessel, or hold the same for any Purpose other than the lawful Use and Navigation of the Ship or Vessel for which it was granted; Be it therefore enacted, That in case the Detaining CerMaster of any Ship or Vessel, or any other Person, who shall have tificate of Rereceived or obtained by any Means or for any Purpose whatever gistry. the Certificate of the Registry thereof (whether such Master or other Person shall be a Part Owner or not), shall wilfully detain and refuse to deliver up the same to the proper Officers of His Majesty's Customs, for the Purposes of such Ship or Vessel, as Occasion shall require, it may and shall be lawful to and for any Proceedings Owner or Owners of such Ship or Vessel, the Certificate of Re- by Owners; gistry of which shall be detained and refused to be delivered up as aforesaid, to make Complaint on Oath against the Master of the Ship or Vessel, or other Person, who shall so detain and refuse to deliver up the same, of such Detainer and Refusal, to any Justice of the Peace residing near to the Place where such Detainer and Refusal shall be, in Great Britain or Ireland, or to any Member of the Supreme Court of Justice, or any Justice of the Peace in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey or Man, or in any Colony, Plantation, Island or Territory to His Majesty belonging in Asia, Africa or America, or Malta, Gibraltar or Heligoland, where such Detainer and Refusal shall be in any of the Places last mentioned; and on such Complaint the said Justice or other Magis- by Magistrates. trate shall and is hereby required, by Warrant under his Hand and Seal, to cause such Master or other Person to be brought before him to be examined touching such Detainer and Refusal; and if it shall appear to the said Justice or other Magistrate, on Examination of the Master or other Person, or otherwise, that

the

Penalty.

Justice to certify Detainer, and Ship to be registered de

novo.

If Person detaining Certificate have absconded, Ship may be registered as in case of lost Certificate.

Ship altered in certain Manner to be registered

de novo.

or deemed not registered.

Vessels condemned as Prize, or for

Breach of Laws against Slave Trade, Certi

ficate of Con

the said Certificate of Registry is not lost or mislaid, but is wilfully detained by the said Master or other Person, such Master or other Person shall be thereof convicted, and shall forfeit and pay the Sum of One hundred Pounds, and on failure of Payment thereof he shall be committed to the Common Gaol, there to remain without Bail or Mainprize for such Time as the said Justice or other Magistrate shall in his Discretion deem proper, not being less than Three Months nor more than Twelve Months; and the said Justice or other Magistrate shall and he is hereby required to certify the aforesaid Detainer, Refusal and Conviction, to the Person or Persons who granted such Certificate of Registry for such Ship or Vessel, who shall, on the Terms and Conditions of Law being complied with, make Registry of such Ship or Vessel de novo, and grant a Certificate thereof conformably to Law, notifying on the Back of such Certificate the Ground upon which the Ship or Vessel was so registered de novo; and if such Master or other Person who shall have detained and refused to deliver up such Certificate of Registry as aforesaid, or shall be verily believed to have detained the same, shall have absconded, so that the said Warrant of the Justice or other Magistrate cannot be executed upon him, and Proof thereof shall be made to the Satisfaction of the Commissioners of His Majesty's Customs, it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners to permit such Ship or Vessel to be registered de novo, or otherwise, in their Discretion, to grant a Licence for the present Use of such Ship or Vessel, in like Manner as is hereinbefore provided in the Case wherein the Certificate of Registry is lost or mislaid.

XXVIII. And be it further enacted, That if any Ship or Vessel, after she shall have been registered pursuant to the Directions of this Act, shall in any Manner whatever be altered, so as not to correspond with all the Particulars contained in the Certificate of her Registry, in such Case such Ship or Vessel shall be registered de novo, in manner hereinbefore required, as soon as she returns to the Port to which she belongs, or to any other Port which shall be in the same Part of the United Kingdom, or in the same Colony, Plantation, Island or Territory, as the said Port shall be in, on failure whereof such Ship or Vessel shall to all Intents and Purposes be considered and deemed and taken to be a Ship or Vessel not duly registered.

XXIX. And be it further enacted, That the Owner or Owners of all such Ships and Vessels as shall be taken by any of His Majesty's Ships or Vessels of War, or by any private or other Ship or Vessel, and condemned as lawful Prize in any Court of Admiralty, or of such Ships or Vessels as shall be condemned in any competent Court as forfeited for Breach of the Laws for demnation to be the Prevention of the Slave Trade, shall, upon registering such produced. Ship or Vessel, before he or they shall obtain such Certificate as aforesaid, produce to the Collector and Comptroller of His Majesty's Customs a Certificate of the Condemnation of such Ship or Vessel, under the Hand and Seal of the Judge of the Court in which such Ship or Vessel shall have been condemned (which Certificate such Judge is hereby authorized and required to grant), and also a true and exact Account in Writing of all the Particulars contained in the Certificate hereinbefore set forth, to

be

be made and subscribed by One or more skilful Person or Persons,
to be appointed by the Court then and there to survey such Ship
or Vessel, and shall also make Oath before the Collector and Oath of
Comptroller, that such Ship or Vessel is the same Vessel which is Identity.
mentioned in the Certificate of the Judge aforesaid.

XXX. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That no Prize Vessels
Ship or Vessel which shall be taken and condemned as Prize or not to be re-
Forfeiture as aforesaid, shall be registered in the Islands of Guern- gistered at
sey, Jersey or the Isle of Man, although belonging to His Majesty's Guernsey, &c.
Subjects residing in those Islands, or in some one or other of them ;

but the same shall be registered either at Southampton, Weymouth, Where to be Exeter, Plymouth, Falmouth, Liverpool or Whitehaven, by the Col- registered. lector and Comptroller at such Ports respectively, who are hereby authorized and required to register such Ship or Vessel, and to grant a Certificate thereof in the Form and under the Regulations and Restrictions in this Act contained.

XXXI. And be it further enacted, That when and so often as Transfers of the Property in any Ship or Vessel, or any Part thereof, belong. Interest by Bill ing to any of His Majesty's Subjects, shall after Registry thereof of Sale. be sold to any other or others of His Majesty's Subjects, the same shall be transferred by Bill of Sale, or other Instrument in Writing,

containing a Recital of the Certificate of Registry of such Ship or Reciting CerVessel, or the principal Contents thereof, otherwise such Transfer tificate. shall not be valid or effectual for any Purpose whatever, either in Law or in Equity: Provided always, that no Bill of Sale shall be Not void by deemed void by reason of any Error in such Recital, or by the Error of ReRecital of any former Certificate of Registry instead of the exist- cital, &c. ing Certificate, provided the Identity of the Ship or Vessel therein intended be effectually proved thereby.

Sixty-four

Parts or Shares.

Oath upon First Registry to state Number of Shares held.

XXXII. And be it further enacted, That the Property in every Property in Ship or Vessel, of which there are more than One Owner, shall Ships to be dibe taken and considered to be divided in Sixty four Parts or Shares, vided into and the Proportion held by each Owner shall be described in the Registry as being a certain Number of Sixty fourth Parts or Shares; and that no Person shall be entitled to be registered as an Owner of any Ship or Vessel in respect of any Proportion of such Ship or Vessel, which shall not be an integral Sixty fourth Part or Share of the same; and upon the First Registry of any Ship or Vessel, the Owner or Owners who shall take and subscribe the Oath required by this Act, before Registry be made, shall also declare upon Oath the Number of such Parts or Shares then held by each Owner, and the same shall be so registered accordingly: Provided always, that if it shall at any Time happen that the Property of any Owner or Owners in any Ship or Vessel cannot be reduced, by Division, into any Number of Integral Sixty fourth Parts or Shares, it shall and may be lawful for the Owner or Owners of such fractional Parts as shall be over and above such Number of integral Sixty fourth Parts or Shares into which such Property in any Ship or Vessel can be reduced by Division, to transfer the same one to another or jointly, to any new Owner, by Memorandum upon their respective Bills of Sale, or by fresh Bill of Sale, without such Transfer being liable to any Stamp Duty: Provided also, that the Right of such Owner or Owners to such fractional Parts shall not be affected by reason of the

same

Smaller Portions conveyed without Stamp Duty.

Partners may hold Ships or

Shares without

distinguishing proportionate

Interest of each
Owner.

Only Thirty

two Persons to be Owners of

any Ship at one Time.

Proviso for

same not having been registered: Provided also, that it shall be lawful for any Number of such Owners, named and described in such Registry, being Partners in any House or Copartnership actually carrying on Trade in any Part of His Majesty's Dominions to hold any Ship or Vessel, or any Share or Shares of any Ship or Vessel, in the Name of such House or Copartnership, as joint Owners thereof, without distinguishing the proportionate Interest of each of such Owners, and that such Ship or Vessel, or the Share or Shares thereof so held in Copartnership, shall be deemed and taken to be Partnership Property to all Intents and Purposes, and shall be governed by the same Rules, both in Law and Equity, as relate to and govern all other Partnership Property in any other Goods, Chattels and Effects whatsoever. XXXIII. And be it further enacted, That no greater Number than Thirty two Persons shall be entitled to be legal Owners at one and the same Time of any Ship or Vessel, as Tenants in Common, or to be registered as such: Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall affect the equitable Title of Minors, equitable Title Heirs, Legatees, Creditors or others, exceeding that Number, duly represented by or holding from any of the Persons within the said Number, registered as legal Owners of any Share or Shares of such Ship or Vessel: Provided also, that if it shall be proved to the Satisfaction of the Commissioners of His Majesty's Customs, that any Number of Persons have associated themselves as a Joint Stock Company, for the Purpose of owning any Ship or Vessel, or any Number of Ships or Vessels, as the joint Property of such Company, and that such Company have duly elected or appointed any Number, not less than Three of the Members of the same, to be Trustees of the Property in such Ship or Vessel, or Ships or Vessels so owned by such Company, it shall be lawful for such Trustees, or any Three of them, with the Permission of such Commissioners, to take the Oath required by this Act, before Registry be made, except that instead of stating therein the Names and Descriptions of the other Owners, they shall state the Name and Description of the Company to which such Ship or Vessel, or Ships or Vessels, shall in such Manner belong.

of Heirs, &c.

Joint Stock
Companies.

Trustees may apply to have Registry made.

Shares to be registered on Registry de

novo under this Act.

XXXIV. And be it further enacted, That whenever any Ship or Vessel which had been registered before the said Thirty first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and twenty three, and shall not have have been registered de novo since that Day, and before the Commencement of this Act shall be registered de novo, the Number of such Shares held by each Owner shall be registered as far as the same be practicable, and to that Intent the Owner or Owners who shall take and subscribe the Oath required by this Act before Registry be made, shall produce the Bills of Sale or other Titles of themselves and of the other Owners, in order that the Number of such Shares held by each of them may be ascertained and registered accordingly; and if the Registry of such Ship or Vessel then in force shall be the First Registry, and the Shares of any of the Owners shall remain the same as they were at the Time of such Registry, and the Owner or Owners, or any One of them who shall attend to take and subscribe the Oath required by this Act before Registry be

made,

stating them.

made, shall be the same as was or were the Owner or Owners or One of them, who took and subscribed such Oath before such First Registry was made, such original Owner or Owners instead of producing the Bills of Sale, shall declare upon Oath, to the best of his or their Knowledge and Belief, the Number of such Shares held by him or them, or by any other original Owner or Owners, whose proportionate Property in such Ship or Vessel shall have remained unchanged: Provided always, that if at the Time If Shares of of such Registry de novo such Owner or Owners shall make Owners cannot Oath that he and they, and each of them, are unable to produce be ascertained, the Bill or Bills of Sale, or to give any certain Account or Proof made without Registry of the Share or Shares of the other previous Owners, or some or any one of them, it shall be lawful for the Collector and Comptroller to register such Ship or Vessel without requiring the Share or Shares of such Owner or Owners to be declared and specified. XXXV. Provided also, and be it further enacted, That from and after the Commencement of this Act, or from and after the First Arrival and Entry of any Ship or Vessel, after such Com. mencement, at the Port to which she belongs, or at any other Port which shall be in the same Part of the United Kingdom or in the same Colony, Plantation, Island or Territory as the said Port shall be in, no Certificate of Registry shall be in force, except such as shall be granted under the Authority of this Act, or which shall have been granted under the Authority of an Act passed in the Fourth Year of the Reign of His present Ma- 4 G.4. c.41. jesty, intituled An Act for the registering of Vessels, and in which the Share or Shares hereinbefore described held by each Owner

Shares must be registered within a certain

Time;

shall be set forth, unless it shall be certified thereon by the Col- unless Commislector and Comptroller of the Port to which such Ship or Vessel sioners give belong, that farther Time has been granted by the Commissioners further Time. of His Majesty's Customs for ascertaining and registering the Number or Numbers of such Shares as cannot then be ascertained.

XXXVI. And be it further enacted, That upon the First Re- No Stamp gistry in compliance with this Act, of any Ship or Vessel which Duty on First had been before registered, no Stamp Duty shall be charged upon Registry. the Bond therein required to be given; and if the Certificate of such former Registry then delivered up to be cancelled shall have a Mediterranean Pass attached thereto, no Stamp Duty shall be charged on account of the new Mediterranean Pass which shall be obtained in lieu of the one so delivered up and cancelled.

XXXVII. And be it further enacted, That no Bill of Sale or other Instrument in Writing, shall be valid and effectual to pass the Property in any Ship or Vessel or in any Share thereof, or for any other Purpose, until such Bill of Sale or other Instrument in Writing shall have been produced to the Collector and Comptroller of the Port at which such Ship or Vessel is registered, or to the Collector and Comptroller of any other Port at which she is about to be registered de novo, as the Case may be, nor until such Collector and Comptroller respectively shall have entered in the Book of Registry or in the Book of intended Registry of such Ship or Vessel, as the Case may be, (and which they are respectively hereby required to do upon the Production of the Bill of Sale or other Instrument for that Purpose,) the 6 GEO. IV. Name,

3 F

Bills of Sale

not effectual until produced to Officers of Customs, and entered in Book

of Registry or of intended Registry.