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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

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Lopping Hall - licensed

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Pasqua Rosee's Head

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1 memorial
Samuel Palmer

Samuel Palmer

1857 joined his brother, George, in the family biscuit firm, Huntley and Palmers, based in Reading. Ran the London office and lived with his family in Hampstead in a house close to the site of the ...

Person, Commerce, Food & Drink, Industry

1 memorial
Gordon Victor Young

Gordon Victor Young

Businessman in the fish industry. "Who knew Billingsgate Market well and built up the family business, W. Young & Son." The quote is on the plaque but we can't trace it, or indeed, find out any...

Person, Commerce, Food & Drink, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Eyre Arms Tavern

Eyre Arms Tavern

St John’s Wood was once part of the Great Forest of Middlesex. Until the end of the eighteenth century (when plans for residential development first appeared) it remained in agricultural use. By 17...

Building, Commerce, Community / Clubs, Food & Drink

1 memorial
Windsor Castle pub

Windsor Castle pub

Restored in 1990. Described by Time Out as "this absurd pub, apparently popular with every minor celebrity you can think of". August 2016: Londonist informs that the pub is about to close and has ...

Building, Commerce, Food & Drink

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Transport for London / London Transport

Transport for London / London Transport

This organisation has been a bit of a political football, often having its name changed, as follows: 1902 - 1933 Underground Electric Railways Company of London 1933 - 1948 London Passenger Transpo...

Group, Industry, Transport

50 memorials
West Hackney Almshouses / Cooke's Rents

West Hackney Almshouses / Cooke's Rents

Mainly from British History Online we've learnt the following: In 1740 Thomas Cooke, a director of the Bank of England, built almshouses, Cooke’s Rents, for 8 poor families with small children, and...

Building, Property, Social Welfare

1 memorial
first public supply of gas in the world

first public supply of gas in the world

Royal Charter granted in 1812 to Gas Light and Coke Company for street lighting in London. Londonist published a lovely piece about the lamp lights of Victorian London still burning across the city.

Event, Engineering

1 memorial
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

The borough was formed in 1965 by the merging of the separate former boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea. It was originally planned to call it just Kensington, but Chelsea was added after local prot...

Group, Politics & Administration

31 memorials
Waterloo churches / Commissioners' churches

Waterloo churches / Commissioners' churches

Following the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo a Commission was set up to build churches as a means of giving thanks and commemorating the victory. The churches are also known as Milli...

Concept, Property, Religion

1 memorial