Turnpike Acts (3 results)

Hard back binding in contemporary half brown calf covers, worn gilt title lettering to the spine 'Turnpike Acts', marble paper covered sides. 8vo. 8½'' x 5½''. Turnpike trusts were bodies set up by individual acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal roads in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries. At the peak, in the 1830s, over 1,000 trusts administered around 30,000 miles of turnpike road in England and Wales, taking tolls at almost 8,000 toll-gates and side-bars. Turnpikes declined with the coming of the railways and then the Local Government Act 1888 gave responsibility for maintaining main roads to county councils and county borough councils. The term "turnpike" originates from the similarity of the gate used to control access to the road, to the barriers once used to defend against attack by cavalry. The turnpike consisted of a row of pikes or bars, each sharpened at one end, and attached to horizontal members which were secured at one end to an upright pole or axle, which could be rotated to open or close the gate. Contains (iv), 233-279; 1-(liii)-1; 5; 80 pp. General age toning to the text block edges, rubbing to the cover corners and spine ends, dust mark soiling to the rear paste down and end paper. Member of the P.B.F.A. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good Indeed. None (illustrator). First edition. A vanishingly scarce report examining the state of turnpike roads and highways in England and Wales, a monumental report providing a glimpse into the state of roads in the early nineteenth century. The first edition. Vanishingly scarce work. Ordered by the House of Commons, this report was presented in 1821 by a select committee appointed to consider the current acts regarding turnpike roads and highways in England and Wales. With the report itself, a list of witnesses, minutes of evidence and an appendix. Notably, the report discusses the efficacy of different types of wheels, considering 3 inch, 4 inch and six inch variations, recommending the usage of wheels with 6 inch width or higher.A similar report regarding the state of turnpike roads in Ireland was published a decade later. Rebound in blue wraps. Externally, very smart, with light wear only. Internally, firmly bound with bright, clean pages. Numbered ink notation to the first few pages. Very Good Indeed. book.

104pp, [14]. [Bound with:] Anno regni georgii III. regis Magnae Britanniae, Franciae, & Hiberniae, decimo Quarto. At the Parliament begun at Westminster, the Tenth Day of May, Anno Domini 1768. London. Printed by Charles Eyre and William Strahan, 1776. 19pp, [1]. With half-title. [And:] Anno regni georgii III. regis Magnae Britanniae, Franciae, & Hiberniae, decimo sexto. At the Parliament begun and holden at Westminster, the Twenty-ninth Day of November, Anno Domini 1774. London. Printed by Charles Eyre and William Strahan, 1776. [2], 23-29pp, [1]. 8vo. Contemporary marbled paper boards, contrasting red morocco lettering-piece, recently rebacked in calf. Boards rubbed, spine sunned. Armorial bookplate with the motto 'Data Fata Sequutus' to FEP, very occasional inked annotations, lightly spotted. Three Georgian acts relating to the establishment of, and amendments to the regulations concerning, turnpike roads in Britain - those highways on which tollgates were placed to charge road-users in order to defray maintenance expenses. The collection of these tolls was overseen by numerous 'turnpike trusts', each established by an individual act of parliament. Universally despised, and frequently corrupt, the turnpike system was eventually rendered obsolete by the rise of the railways.