Militia Act 1802^[a]

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act for amending the Laws relating to the Militia in England, and for augmenting the Militia.
Citation	42 Geo. 3. c. 90
Introduced by	Charles Philip Yorke MP (Commons)
Territorial extent	England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent	26 June 1802
Commencement	26 June 1802[b]
Repealed	20 April 1980
Other legislation
Amends	See § Repealed acts
Repeals/revokes	See § Repealed acts
Amended by	Militia (No. 2) Act 1811 Highway Act 1835 Militia Act 1853 Militia Law Amendment Act 1854 Militia (Ballot) Act 1860 Statute Law Revision Act 1872 Statute Law Revision Act 1873 Statute Law Revision Act 1874 Statute Law Revision Act 1888 Territorial Army and Militia Act 1921
Repealed by	Reserve Forces Act 1980
Relates to	Militia Act 1786 Militia (Scotland) Act 1802 Militia (Ireland) Act 1802
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Militia Act 1802 (42 Geo. 3. c. 90) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom affecting the Militia, a locally raised force for home defence. It applied to England and Wales, with Scotland covered by the Militia (Scotland) Act 1802 (42 Geo. 3. c. 91), and Ireland by the Militia (Ireland) Act 1802 (43 Geo. 3. c. 2). Subsidiary acts dealt with the City of London, the Cinque Ports, and the Stannaries, which had special legal requirements.

Following the restoration of Charles II in 1660, Parliament passed several acts empowering the lord-lieutenant of each county to appoint officers and raise men for the English Militia. In 1662, the City of London Militia Act 1662 (14 Cha. 2. c. 3) was passed, which codified the power of [lord-]lieutenants of places in England and Wales to raise the militia.

Following the formation of Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, the English Militia was transformed into the British Militia. The militia's usefulness as a military force, never great, declined thereafter, until by the middle of the 18th century it required a major overhaul. This was achieved by the Militia Acts 1757–1762, passed as a response to the threat of a French invasion during the Seven Years' War.^[1] In 1796, the Militia Act 1786 (26 Geo. 3. c. 107) was passed, which consolidated the law regulating the British Militia.

Following the formation of the United Kingdom in 1801, parliament brought forward bills to consolidate acts relating to each of the English, Scottish and Irish militias.

Leave to bring in the English Militia Bill to the was granted to the Secretary at War, Charles Philip Yorke MP, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Henry Addington MP, Robert Steele MP and George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton, MP, on 13 April 1802. The bill had its first reading in the House of Commons on 13 April 1802, presented by the Secretary at War, Charles Philip Yorke MP MP.^[2] The bill had its second reading in the House of Commons on 14 April 1802 and was committed to a committee of the whole house,^[2] which met and reported on 15 April 1802, with amendments.^[2] The amended bill was re-committed to a committee of the whole house on 17 May 1802, which met on 17 May 1802 and reported on 18 May 1802, with amendments.^[2] The amended bill had its third reading in the House of Commons on 20 May 1802 and passed, with amendments.^[2]

The amended bill had its first reading in the House of Lords on 21 May 1802.^[3] The bill had its second reading in the House of Lords on 26 May 1802 and was committed to a committee of the whole house,^[3] which met on 31 May 1802 and reported on 3 June 1802, with amendments.^[3] The amended bill had its third reading in the House of Lords on 9 June 1802 and passed, without amendments.^[3]

The amended bill was considered to by the House of Commons on 14 June 1802, and was committed to a select committee, consisting of 14 members of parliament.^[2]

The committee met on 15 June 1802 and reported on 17 June 1802, agreeing to some amendments, but disagreeing with others.^[2] The House of Commons requested a conference with the Lords, which was appointed and met for the first time on 18 June 1802.^[2][3]

A further conference was appointed on 22 June 1802.^[2][3]

The conference met again on 22 June 1802, during which the Lords insisted on an amendment "calculated to prevent the Fraud and Imposition to which the Mode of Proof of the Fact of a Person being a Quaker, hitherto required by Law, and prescribed by the Bill, has been found liable", which was accepted by the Commons.^[2]

The bill was granted royal assent on 26 June 1802.^[3]

The act brought together a number of the Militia Acts which had been passed during the French Revolutionary Wars (1794-1802), repealing them but broadly re-enacting their content. It provided for an "Old Militia" with a total strength of 51,489 in England and Wales (including the City of London, Cinque Ports, and Stannaries), and allowed for a "Supplementary Militia" of half as many again which could be raised with Parliamentary approval.^[4]

Each county's Lord Lieutenant would set the amount of militiamen to be raised from the various areas of their country (for example, dividing it by hundreds), and parish constables would draw up lists of all eligible men between 18 and 45. Men were divided into five classes:

1. Under 30, no children
2. Over 30, no children
3. All men, no living children under 14
4. All men, one child under 14
5. All other men

Men were to be drawn from the classes in order - if a quota could be filled only from the first and second classes, the third, fourth and fifth were untouched. A class could be taken in its entirety if it was below the absolute quota, but if larger than the number required, a ballot was to be used. Any man who was taken into service through this process was known as a "principal", and was sworn in to serve as a private soldier for a term of five years, after which they were exempt until a fresh ballot was made, or could volunteer for further service. Instead of serving themselves, they could arrange to provide a "personal substitute" who was willing to serve in their stead; this could be a volunteer already on the local ballot, or someone from elsewhere in the county (or a neighbouring county), and it was expected that they would receive a bounty of a few pounds to encourage them to volunteer. Parishes could also arrange to provide parochial substitutes in lieu of their quota of men, and were allowed to levy a parish rate in order to pay bounties to these substitutes. Finally, any balloted man could pay a fine of £10 and avoid service, though he would be liable to be balloted again after five years. The fines were used to hire substitutes and any surplus would go to regimental funds.^[4]

A wide range of men were exempt - most obviously, officers and men of the Army, Navy and Marines, but also peers, clergymen, teachers, university students, constables, sailors, apprentices, or men working in royal arsenals or dockyards. A poor man (defined as one with assets of less than £100) with more than one legitimate child was exempt, as was any poor man physically unfit for service, or any man at all less than 5'4" tall. A man worth more than £100 but unfit for service was still liable to pay his fine or provide a substitute. Quakers were not allowed to avoid service through paying a fine, but were required to find a substitute in lieu of service; if they did not do so, the county was empowered to hire one on his behalf and if necessary seize his property to pay for it.^[4]

Any men who died or were discharged as unfit would produce a second ballot of the county (in practice, probably of his local parish) to find a replacement. Should the county fail to provide enough men, it would be fined £10 per head of the annual deficit; this money was to be raised locally and could be used to hire substitutes, but if this failed to achieve the desired result, it was paid to the Treasury.^[4]

Section 1 of the act repealed 11 enactments, listed in that section.^[5]

Section 1 of the act also provided that the militia raised under the Militia Act 1786 (26 Geo. 3. c. 107) would be subject to all the provisions and regulations under the act, that commissions, service etc. would continue as under previous acts, and that future deficiencies in the number of private militiamen would be supplied under the act.^[5]

The Militia (Scotland) Act 1802 (42 Geo. 3. c. 91) was passed simultaneously with this act, and the Militia (Ireland) Act 1802 (43 Geo. 3. c. 2) was passed in the next session.

The whole act, except so much of section 18 as prescribes the appointment of clerks to general meetings, was repealed by section 4(1) of, and the second schedule to, the Territorial Army and Militia Act 1921 (11 & 12 Geo. 5 c. 37).

The whole act was repealed by section 157 of, and the tenth schedule to, the Reserve Forces Act 1980.^[6]