Concept   

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.

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

Commemorated ati

Lopping Hall - licensed

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

Read More

Other Subjects

The George Pub, Fleet Street

The George Pub, Fleet Street

Founded in 1723 as a coffee house, became Georges Hotel in 1830 and then a public house as it is today. Current building is late Victorian.

Building, Commerce, Food & Drink

1 memorial
Pope’s Head Tavern

Pope’s Head Tavern

From British History:  "...'Pope's Head', mentioned as early as the reign of Edward IV. Here, in the reign of Henry VI., wine was sold at a penny a pint, without charge for bread."

Place, Commerce, Food & Drink

1 memorial
Thomas Rule

Thomas Rule

Fishmonger and oyster bar proprietor active in 1798. Erstwhile founder and owner of Rules Restaurant.  This history page indicates that there is very little information available about Thomas and h...

Person, Food & Drink

2 memorials