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10
Sunday Trading Acts.
The joint Vestry of the parishes of St. Giles and Bloomsbury,
having felt it their duty to carry out the provisions of these Acts, in
consequence of the nuisance and disquietude caused in various parts
of the parishes by Sunday Trading, especially in Broad Street, St.
Andrew Street, Little and Great Earl Streets, Dudley Street, Drury
Lane and Crown Street, applied in the month of July, 1873, to this
Board (in whom the power was vested) to enforce the law relating to
the same; and the Board having resolved to comply with the application,
appointed a Committee to take proceedings to suppress Sunday
Trading. The joint Vestry had caused notices to be extensively
circulated in the localities above mentioned, requesting the shopkeepers
to keep their shops closed after 10.30 a.m. on Sundays. Of
these persons a large proportion complied with the notice, but the
remainder absolutely declined. The result was that 179 prosecutions
were instituted against the offenders, and 168 convicted, in fines,
varying from 1s. to 5s.—-the latter sum being the fine imposed by the
Statute of Charles for suppressing Sunday Trading.
The paucity and inequality of the fines, and the small sums imposed
by the magistrates for expenses, and also the considerable
time occupied in hearing the summonses, which were very numerous,
induced several of the Vestries and District Boards of the Metropolis
to meet and discuss the course to be pursued. After several meetings
held at the Vestry Hall of St. James's, Westminster, they determined
to memorialise the Home Secretary, to obtain an amendment of the
law; and on the 7th of May last, having previously presented a
memorial, a Deputation from the following parishes attended him,
viz.:—St. Pancras; St. George, Hanover Square; Paddington;
Shoreditch; Chelsea; St. James, Westminster; Kensington; St.
Luke, Old Street; St. George's-in-the-East; St. Giles and
Bloomsbury; St. Clement Danes; St. Martin's-in-the-Fields; St.
Ann's, Soho; St. Paul's, Covent Garden; Bermondsey; St.
Saviour's; St. Mary-le-Strand and Lambeth; and represented to
the Home Secretary the causes and grounds of their complaint, and
suggested the remedies for the removal thereof. The Home Secretary,
in answer to the Deputation, stated he thought the complaint
was of the administration of the law, and promised to see the magistrates
on the subject.
The Board hope that the application to the Home Secretary will
have a beneficial result, and that Sunday Trading throughout London
will be suppressed.
Nuisances.
There have been several cases of prosecution and convictions
under the Nuisances Removal Acts.
The Medical Officer's Report, hereunto annexed, will supply
further information under this head.