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Act of Parliament - 1751-2 - licensing

"Licensed pursuant to Act of Parliament of the Twenty fifth of King George the Second."

This is a form of words that we have found at three 19th century places of entertainment, two physically and one online (at the 1816 English Opera House).  We've made some assumptions: that the Act permits licensed premises to sell liquor and/or provide entertainment to the public; that the Act stipulated that this form of wording had to be displayed at the premises so licensed; that "Twenty fifth of King George" means "Twenty fifth year of King George" which would mean 1752-3.

Both of the inscriptions that we have seen ourselves show a ghost inscription below that looks like it had (almost) the same wording. Perhaps the law changed and the mandatory inscription was changed slightly so they all had to get the sign-writers back up their ladders.

Wikipedia's page 25 Geo.II lists Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain, 1750–1759 and has over 60 classified as "25 Geo. 2". There it's explained that the "25" refers to the year of the reign during which the relevant parliamentary session was held.  We have not searched the 60 trying to identify the particular Act but if you'd like to do that and send us your findings....

This image shows the paperwork for an Act from approximately the same period.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Act of Parliament - 1751-2 - licensing

Commemorated ati

Battersea Town Hall - Grand Hall entrance

Intriguingly, the panels are 'palimpsests' or overwritten texts. We can make ...

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Lopping Hall - licensed

Initially we thought this inscription referred to the 1878 Epping Forest Act ...

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Grodzinski's bakery

Grodzinski's bakery

In 1890 (previously thought to have been 1888) Harris and Judith Grodzinski arrived in the East End from what is now Belarus.  Starting in a street stall they then set up a bakery at 31 Fieldgate S...

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2i's coffee bar

2i's coffee bar

Birthplace of British rock 'n roll and the popular music industry. Mickie Most started as a singing waiter here. Owen Adams provides a huge amount of information.

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Finlays

Finlays

From Finlays we learn that: James Finlay (d. 1790) began his career in Glasgow in the family textile business selling cotton goods. He moved into embroidered muslins and also manufacture. His son K...

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Julian Metcalfe

Julian Metcalfe

Co-founder of Pret a Manger with Sinclair Beecham, who he met at the Polytechnic of Central London.  Also founded the itsu chain of Asian-inspired restaurants.

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1 memorial
Mangrove Restaurant

Mangrove Restaurant

At 8 All Saints Road, Notting Hill.  Created and owned for 24 years by Crichlow.  It was a centre for political and social activism within the African and Caribbean culture.  Visitors included: Jim...

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1 memorial