The Unlawful Games Act 1541 (33 Hen. 8. c. 9), sometimes referred to as the Suppression of Unlawful Games Act 1541,[3] was an Act of the Parliament of England, designed to prohibit "Several new devised Games" that caused "the Decay of Archery".[4] All Men under the Age of sixty Years "shall have Bows and Arrows for shooting". Men-Children between Seven "Years and Seventeen shall have a Bow and 2 Shafts". Men about Seventeen "Years of Age shall keep a Bow and 4 Arrows". The penalty for nonobservance was set at 6s.8d.
Archery, which had been the key to Henry V's victory at the 1415 Battle of Agincourt, had been required of the labourers, servants, artificers, or victuallers as early as 1388 (12 Ric. 2. c. 6) and 1409 (11 Hen. 4. c. 4), and again in An Act concerning shooting in Long Bows (3 Hen. 8. c. 3) and the Act for Maintenance of Archery (6 Hen. 8. c.2), among others.[5] In fact, the law of 1409 had as punishment six days' imprisonment; and reference is made herein to an act in the Parliament at Canterbury of Richard the Lionheart.
18th century dice players
Section 1 of the Gaming Act 1845 repealed much of the Unlawful Games Act 1541.
The Statute Law Revision Act 1948 repealed Sections 11 to 13, part of Section 8, and the preambulatory words "by reason therof Archerie ys sore decayed, and dayly is lyke to be more mynished..."[6] Archery could not compete with the nefarious pursuits of cricket, dicing, and carding.[7]
The Act forbade all sport on Christmas Day with the exception of archery practice, meaning that footballers who played on Christmas Day before 1960, when the Football League routinely scheduled fixtures for 25 December, had technically broken the law.[11]
^The Statutes: Revised Edition. Volume I. Eyre and Spottiswoode, Printers to the Queen. London. 1870. Page lxxiv.
April 05, 2024
unlawful, games, 1541, sometimes, referred, suppression, parliament, england, designed, prohibit, several, devised, games, that, caused, decay, archery, under, sixty, years, shall, have, bows, arrows, shooting, children, between, seven, years, seventeen, shall. The Unlawful Games Act 1541 33 Hen 8 c 9 sometimes referred to as the Suppression of Unlawful Games Act 1541 3 was an Act of the Parliament of England designed to prohibit Several new devised Games that caused the Decay of Archery 4 All Men under the Age of sixty Years shall have Bows and Arrows for shooting Men Children between Seven Years and Seventeen shall have a Bow and 2 Shafts Men about Seventeen Years of Age shall keep a Bow and 4 Arrows The penalty for nonobservance was set at 6s 8d Unlawful Games Act 1541 1 Act of ParliamentParliament of EnglandLong titleAn Acte for Mayntenance of Artyllarie and debarringe of unlawful Games 2 Citation33 Hen 8 c 9DatesRoyal assent1 April 1542Other legislationAmended byUnlawful Games Act 1728Gaming Act 1845Statute Law Revision Act 1948Repealed byBetting and Gaming Act 1960Relates to11 Hen 4 c 4Status RepealedArchery which had been the key to Henry V s victory at the 1415 Battle of Agincourt had been required of the labourers servants artificers or victuallers as early as 1388 12 Ric 2 c 6 and 1409 11 Hen 4 c 4 and again in An Act concerning shooting in Long Bows 3 Hen 8 c 3 and the Act for Maintenance of Archery 6 Hen 8 c 2 among others 5 In fact the law of 1409 had as punishment six days imprisonment and reference is made herein to an act in the Parliament at Canterbury of Richard the Lionheart 18th century dice playersSection 1 of the Gaming Act 1845 repealed much of the Unlawful Games Act 1541 The Statute Law Revision Act 1948 repealed Sections 11 to 13 part of Section 8 and the preambulatory words by reason therof Archerie ys sore decayed and dayly is lyke to be more mynished 6 Archery could not compete with the nefarious pursuits of cricket dicing and carding 7 The remainder of the whole Act was repealed by section 15 of and Part I of Schedule 6 to the Betting and Gaming Act 1960 8 amp 9 Eliz 2 c 60 8 9 10 The Act forbade all sport on Christmas Day with the exception of archery practice meaning that footballers who played on Christmas Day before 1960 when the Football League routinely scheduled fixtures for 25 December had technically broken the law 11 Section 5 editThis is section 7 in Ruffhead s Edition It was of a local character 12 See also editHistory of gambling in the United Kingdom List of acts of the Parliament of EnglandReferences editHalsbury s Statutes The Statutes Revised Edition Volume I Eyre and Spottiswoode Printers to the Queen London 1870 Pages lxxiv and 494 to 498 The citation of this Act by this short title was authorised by section 5 of and Schedule 2 to the Statute Law Revision Act 1948 Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19 2 of the Interpretation Act 1978 These words are printed against this Act in the second column of Schedule 2 to the Statute Law Revision Act 1948 which is headed Title 1950 48 Knight s Local Government and Magisterial Reports 177 180 and 681 1 1950 85 Weekly Notes xvi 2 duhaime org Crazy Laws English Style 1482 1541 9 Aug 2006 forbes com Britain s Archery Mandate Underhill 16 Jun 2010 utexas edu Statute Law Revision Act 1948 11 amp 12 Geo 6 c 62 Cecil R H 16 September 1948 Legal Cobwebs The Spectator p 12 lawcommission justice gov uk Legal Curiosities Fact or Fable March 2013 PDF Archived from the original PDF on 29 June 2015 Retrieved 17 August 2013 25 J Crim L 149 1961 The Betting and Gaming Act 1960 nationalarchives gov uk Discussions leading to Betting and Gaming Act 1960 see e g 11 Hen 4 c 4 12 Ric 2 c 6 and 7 Ric The Statutes Revised Edition Volume I Eyre and Spottiswoode Printers to the Queen London 1870 Page lxxiv Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Unlawful Games Act 1541 amp oldid 1184950384, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
