Black Act

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Acts of Parliament of predecessor states to the United Kingdom
Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of England to 1601 Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of England to 1659 Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of England to 1699 Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of England to 1706 Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of Scotland Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of Ireland
Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom
1707–1719 \| 1720–1739 \| 1740–1759 \| 1760–1779 1780–1800 \| 1801–1819 \| 1820–1839 \| 1840–1859 1860–1879 \| 1880–1899 \| 1900–1919 \| 1920–1939 1940–1959 \| 1960–1979 \| 1980–1999 \| 2000–Present
Acts of the Scottish Parliament
Acts of the Northern Ireland Parliament
Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly
Orders in Council for Northern Ireland
United Kingdom Statutory Instruments
Church of England Measures

The Black Act (9 Geo. 1 c. 22), was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1723 during the reign King George I of Great Britain in response to the Waltham deer poachers and a group of bandits known as the 'Wokingham Blacks'. It made it a felony (that is, a hanging offence) to appear armed in a park or warren, or to hunt or steal deer, with the face blackened or disguised. The Act was later amended to deal with protestors outside the royal forests and chases, becoming a brutal adjunct to the Riot Act of 1715. The Black Act was repealed in 1827.

Subsequent acts inflicting heavy penalties for malicious injuries to livestock and machinery have also been called black acts.