Colliers and Salters (Scotland) Act 1775
Encyclopedia
The Colliers and Salters (Scotland) Act 1775 is an Act
of the Parliament of Great Britain
(15 Geo III c. 28) which changed the working conditions of miners in Scotland.
A 1606 Act "Anent Coalyers and Salters" had placed Scottish "coalyers, coal-bearers and salters" in a condition of permanent bondage to their employer. Any such worker who absented from that employer and sought to work elsewhere was to be punished as a thief The Act also included provision whereby vagabond
s could be placed unwillingly into the same compulsory labour.
Erskine May
notes that these workers were thereafter treated "a distinct class, not entitled to the same liberties as their fellow-subjects".
The 1775 Act noted that the Scottish coal workers existed in "a state of slavery or bondage" and sought to address this. The main focus of the legislation was to remove the condition of servitude on new entrants to these industries, thus opening them to greater expansion. Although the Act noted "the reproach of allowing such a State of Servitude to exist in a Free Country", it sought not to do "any injury to the present Masters", so created only gradual conditions whereby those already in servitude in the mines could seek to be liberated from it.
As Erskine May noted, "these poor ignorant slaves, generally in debt to their masters, were rarely in a condition to press their claims to freedom" so the later conditions were largely ineffective. It took a further Act, the Colliers (Scotland) Act 1799 (c.56), to liberate the remaining mine workers from the conditions created by the 1606 Act.
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
of the Parliament of Great Britain
Parliament of Great Britain
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland...
(15 Geo III c. 28) which changed the working conditions of miners in Scotland.
A 1606 Act "Anent Coalyers and Salters" had placed Scottish "coalyers, coal-bearers and salters" in a condition of permanent bondage to their employer. Any such worker who absented from that employer and sought to work elsewhere was to be punished as a thief The Act also included provision whereby vagabond
Vagabond (person)
A vagabond is a drifter and an itinerant wanderer who roams wherever they please, following the whim of the moment. Vagabonds may lack residence, a job, and even citizenship....
s could be placed unwillingly into the same compulsory labour.
Erskine May
Erskine May, 1st Baron Farnborough
Sir Erskine May, 1st Baron Farnborough, KCB, PC, DCL was a British constitutional theorist. This derived from his career at the House of Commons.-Biography:...
notes that these workers were thereafter treated "a distinct class, not entitled to the same liberties as their fellow-subjects".
The 1775 Act noted that the Scottish coal workers existed in "a state of slavery or bondage" and sought to address this. The main focus of the legislation was to remove the condition of servitude on new entrants to these industries, thus opening them to greater expansion. Although the Act noted "the reproach of allowing such a State of Servitude to exist in a Free Country", it sought not to do "any injury to the present Masters", so created only gradual conditions whereby those already in servitude in the mines could seek to be liberated from it.
As Erskine May noted, "these poor ignorant slaves, generally in debt to their masters, were rarely in a condition to press their claims to freedom" so the later conditions were largely ineffective. It took a further Act, the Colliers (Scotland) Act 1799 (c.56), to liberate the remaining mine workers from the conditions created by the 1606 Act.