1837: 1 Victoria c.3: Slavery Compensation Act

1837: 1 Victoria c.3: An Act to carry into further Execution the Provisions of an Act for completing the full Payment of Compensation to Owners of Slaves upon the Abolition of Slavery.

[23d December 1837.]

WHEREAS by an Act passed in the Sixth and Seventh Years of the Reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth,

[6 & 7 W. 4. c. 82.]

intituled An Act to carry into further Execution an Act for compensating Owners of Slaves upon the Abolition of Slavery, and for completing the full Payment of such Compensation, it was enacted, that for making Provision for the Payment of Compensation awarded in the Colonies of the Cape of Good Hope, the Mauritius, and the Virgin Islands, or any Portion thereof, either in Money or in Three Pounds Ten Shillings Reduced Annuities, there should be written in and placed to the Credit of the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt in the Books of the Bank of England, by the Accountant General of the Governor and Company of the said Bank, in a new and separate Account, under the Title of “The Slave Compensation Account,” the Sum of Three millions four hundred and thirty-seven thousand two hundred and seventy Pounds Eleven Shillings and Ten-pence of Capital of Reduced Annuities, bearing Interest after the Rate of Three Pounds Ten Shillings per Centum per Annum; and it was further enacted, that upon Application for the Payment of any Sum which should thereafter be awarded to any Person or Persons, Owners of Slaves in the said Colonies of the Cape of Good Hope, or the Mauritius, or the Virgin Islands, for Compensation, the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt should, at the Option and under the Direction of any Three or more of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, pay the same in Money out of the “West India Compensation Account,” or transfer or cause to be transferred from the said Account, intituled “The Slave Compensation Account,” to the Person entitled to such Slave Compensation, in satisfaction thereof, a proportionate Amount of the said Reduced Three Pounds Ten Shillings per Centum per Annum Annuities, to be ascertained in the Manner therein provided; and it was also enacted, that the Amount of any Claims for Slave Compensation in the Colonies of the Cape of Good Hope and the Mauritius, and also in other Colonies which might become the Subject of counter Claim or Litigation before the Commissioners of Arbitration, or in the Courts of the said Colonies, or in any Court of Appeal, might be transferred in the said Reduced Three Pounds Ten Shillings per Centum per Annum Annuities, into the Name of the Accountant General of the Court of Chancery at the Bank of England: And whereas, in consequence of the Payment of certain Claims relating to the Island of Mauritius having been made in Money previously to the passing of the said Act, the whole Amount of the Reduced Three Pounds Ten Shillings per Centum per Annum Annuities thereby created will not be required for the Purpose therein provided for; and it is expedient that Power should be further given to discharge and satisfy all such Claims for Compensation as still remain unpaid by the Transfer of a proportionate Amount of the said Reduced Three Pounds Ten Shillings per Centum per Annum Annuities: Be it therefore enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same,

[Empowering the Payment of Compensation remaining unpaid to Owners of Slaves.]

That it shall and may be lawful for the said Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, at the Option and under the Direction of any Three or more of the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, upon Application being made to them for the Payment of any Sum which shall have been awarded or may hereafter be awarded to any Person or Persons, Owners of Slaves in any other Colonies as well as in the said Colonies of the Cape of Good Hope, the Mauritius, and the Virgin Islands, either to pay the same in Money out of the “West India Compensation Account,” or to transfer or cause to be transferred to the Person or Persons entitled to such Slave Compensation a proportionate Amount of the said Reduced Three Pounds Ten Shillings per Centum per Annum Annuities, in satisfaction of the Sum awarded, in the Manner already provided for by the said Act in respect of Compensation to Owners of Slaves in the Colonies of the Cape of Good Hope, the Mauritius, or the Virgin Islands.

[Powers and Provisions of certain Acts of W. 4., as far as applicable, to apply to this Act.]

II. And be it enacted, That the Powers and Provisions contained in the said recited Act of the Sixth and Seventh Years of the Reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, or in an Act of the Third and Fourth Years of the Reign of His said late Majesty, intituled An Act for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies, for promoting the Industry of the manumitted Slaves, and for compensating the Persons hitherto entitled to the Services of such Slaves, or in an Act of the Fifth and Sixth Years of the Reign of His said late Majesty, intituled An Act to carry into farther Execution the Provisions of an Act passed in the Third and Fourth Years of His present Majesty, for compensating Owners of Slaves upon the Abolition of Slavery, or in an Act of the Sixth Year of the Reign of His said late Majesty, intituled An Act for carrying into farther Execution Two Acts of His present Majesty relating to the Compensation for Slaves upon the Abolition of Slavery, and for facilitating the Distribution and Payment of such Compensation, shall, so far as the same may be applicable, apply to this Act, in the same Manner as if they had been severally re-enacted herein.

[Act may be altered, &c. this Session.]

III. And be it enacted, That this Act may be amended, altered, or repealed by any Act to be passed in the present Session of Parliament this Session.

Source: A Collection of the Public General Statutes, 1837.

Further reading: Wikipedia.