Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal (Huddersfield Diversion and Cooper Bridge Branch) Act of 1846

The Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal (Huddersfield Diversion and Cooper Bridge Branch) Act of 1846 was summarised as:

An Act for enabling the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal Company to divert their Main Line of Railway in Huddersfield, and to make a Branch therefrom, near Cooper Bridge, in the Township of Huddersfield.

The following is a transcription of a historic article and may contain occasional errors.

10 Victoria. — Sess. 1846.

AN ACT For enabling the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal Company to divert their Main Line of Railway in Huddersfield, and to make a Branch therefrom, near Cooper Bridge, in the Township of Huddersfield.

[Royal Assent, 27 July 1846.]

Whereas an Act was passed in the last Session of Parliament, intituled, “An Act for making a Railway from the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway, at Stalybridge, to the Manchester and Leeds Railway, at Kirkheaton, with a Branch therefrom, and for consolidating into One Undertaking the said proposed Railway and the Huddersfield Canal Navigation;"

And whereas it is expedient that the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal Company, incorporated by the said Act, should be authorized to make the Deviation hereinafter mentioned, from the line of the said Railway as authorized by the said Act; and also to make a Branch Railway from and out of their main line of Railway, as at present authorized, to the Manchester and Leeds Railway, in the town, ship and parish of Huddersfield.

And whereas it is also expedient that some of the powers and provisions of the said recited Act should be amended and enlarged; But the purposes aforesaid cannot be effected without the Authority of Parliament;

May it therefore please Your MAJESTY,

That it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted, by The QUEEN’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, THAT all the provisions contained in the said recited Act, so far as the same are or may be applicable and now in force, and except such of them as are by this Act repealed, altered or otherwise provided for, shall extend to this Act, and to the several purposes thereof, and to the several matters and things hereby authorized to be done, as fully and effectually as if the said provisions were re-enacted in this Act in reference to such purposes, matters and things; and the said recited Act and this Act shall be construed and read together, as forming one Act.

And be it Enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Company to raise the sum of Thirty-one thousand pounds by the creation of new shares or stock, in addition to the sum of money they are authorized to raise by their former Act, or may be authorized to raise by any Act to be passed during the present Session of Parliament, upon such terms and in such manner as may be or may have been agreed upon at any general meeting or meetings of the Company, specially convened for the purpose; and the new shares or stock created by virtue of this Act shall be considered part of the general capital of the Company.

And be it Enacted, That it shall be lawful for the directors of the said Company, from and after the passing of this Act, and from thenceforth until the Railway and Branches by the said recited Act and this Act authorized to be made, shall be completed and opened to the public, to pay interest at any rate not exceeding Five pounds per centum per annum, on all sums already called up, or hereafter to be called up in respect of the shares created and to be created by virtue of the said recited Act and this Act, and also in respect of the shares by the said recited Act described as “Paid-up shares,” from the respective days on which the same shall have been paid, such interest to accrue and be paid at such times and places as the directors for the time being shall appoint tor that purpose: Provided always, That no interest shall accrue to the proprietor of any share upon which any call shall be in arrear in respect of any such share or any other share to be holden by the same proprietor during the period while such call shall remain unpaid.

And be it Enacted, That after shares for the whole of the capital in shares by this and the said recited Act limited or authorized to be raised shall have been taken, and One-half of such capital shall have been paid up, it shall be lawful for the Company to borrow on mortgage such sums of money as shall from time to time be authorized to be borrowed by order of a general meeting of the Company, not exceeding in the whole, in addition to the sum authorized to be borrowed by the said recited Act, and in addition to any further sum which they may be authorized to borrow by any Act to be passed during the present Session of Parliament, the sum of Ten thousand three hundred and Thirty-three pounds, and to secure the re-payment of the sum so to be borrowed, with interest, by mortgage of the Undertaking, as by the said Companies Clauses Consolidation Act provided, and subject to the several provisions therein contained with respect to the borrowing of money on mortgage.

Provided always, and be it Enacted, That all mortgages or bonds granted by the Company before the passing of this Act, and which shall be in force at the time of the passing of this Act, shall, during the continuance thereof, have priority over any mortgages or bonds to be created by virtue of this Act.

And be it Enacted, That every mortgage, bond or other security for money, and every transfer of any share, stock, mortgage, bond or other security for money to be granted or made by virtue of the said recited Act or this Act, shall be by deed duly stamped, wherein the consideration for the same shall be truly stated, any thing herein or in the said recited Act contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

AND whereas plans and sections showing the proposed alteration in the line and levels of the said Railway, and also showing the line and levels of the said Branch Railway by this Act authorized to be made, together with a book of reference to the said plans, containing the names of the reputed owners and lessees, and of the occupiers of the lands which may be required to be taken for the purposes of the same works respectively, have been deposited with the Clerk of the Peace for the West Riding of the county of York; BE it Enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Company to make and maintain the alteration hereinafter mentioned in the line of the said Railway, as authorized by the said recited Act, and as delineated on the plans therein referred to; and also the Branch Railway hereinafter mentioned, with all proper works and conveniences connected therewith . respectively, in the line or course, and upon the lands delineated on the said plans, and described in the books of reference deposited as hereinbefore mentioned, and to enter upon, take and use such of the lands as shall be necessary for such purposes.

And be it Enacted, That the proposed alteration in the line of the said Railway, as authorized by the said recited Act, shall commence at or near a certain field numbered 2, and shall terminate at or near a certain other field, numbered 80 on the said plans, all in the township and parish of Huddersfield, in the West Riding of the county of York; and the said Company are hereby authorized to abandon so much of the said Railway as at present authorized, as by reason of the said alteration will be rendered unnecessary.

And be it Enacted, That the line of the said Branch Railway shall commence by a junction with the proposed main line of the said Huddersfield and Manchester Railway, as authorized by the said recited Act, at or near Colne Bridge, in the township and parish of Huddersfield, in the West Riding of the county of York, and shall terminate by a junction with the Manchester and Leeds Railway, at or near Bradley Wood, in the same township and parish.

And be it Enacted, That the Branch Railway hereby authorized shall communicate with the Manchester and Leeds Railway at the point where, according to the Plan deposited as in this Act mentioned, such appears to communicate therewith or within the limits of deviation shown on the said Plan, and at no other point (without the previous consent, in writing, of the Manchester and Leeds Railway Company, under their common seal), and that all communications between the said Branch Railway and the said Manchester and Leeds Railway shall be effected in a substantial and workmanlike manner by means of connexion rails and points, laid to the entire satisfaction of the engineer for the time being of the said Manchester, and Leeds Railway Company.

And be it Enacted, That the expense of the communications hereby authorized with the Manchester and Leeds Railway, and of all necessary openings in the rails thereof, and of all other works which may from time to time be requisite for effecting, altering, amending, repairing and maintaining such rails and points, and of regulating and adjusting the same, shall be borne and paid by the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal Company; and that all such communications, openings and works shall not only be in the first instance made and done, but shall also from time to time be altered, amended, repaired and maintained, to the entire satisfaction of the engineer for the time being of the Manchester and Leeds Railway Company, and in such manner and form and by such ways and means only as shall not in anywise prejudice or injure the said Manchester and Leeds Railway, or impede, obstruct or interfere with the free, uninterrupted and safe pas sage along the same.

And be it Enacted, That, notwithstanding any thing in this Act contained to the contrary, it shall not be lawful for the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal Company, or for any other person or persons for the purposes of or in execution of this Act, in any manner, either permanently or temporarily, (without the. consent in writing of the Manchester and Leeds Railway Company), to enter upon, take or use any of the land or property of the said Manchester and Leeds Railway Company, (other than such as upon the said plans is shown, as intended to be, and as must necessarily be taken for the construction of the said Branch Railway only), or in any manner to alter, vary or interfere with the said Manchester and Leeds Railway, or any of the Works appertaining thereto, save only for the purpose of effecting the junction hereby authorized in manner aforesaid, and not otherwise.

And be it Enacted, That nothing in this Act contained shall extend, or be deemed or construed to extend, to prejudice, diminish, alter or take away of the rights, privileges, powers, franchises or authorities of or vested in or belonging to the Manchester and Leeds Railway Company; but all their rights, privileges, powers, franchises and authorities under their several Acts of Parliament, or otherwise, are hereby expressly saved and reserved, not only as against and with respect to the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal Company, but also as against and with respect to all other companies and persons whomsoever.

AND whereas the Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway, now in course of formation, is intended to join the said Huddersfield and Manchester line at or near Paddock, within about half a mile of the proposed station of the said last-mentioned Railway at Huddersfield: And whereas previous to the passing of the said recited Act, an agreement was entered into between the Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway Company and the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal Company, whereby the said companies mutually agreed that the use by the Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway Company of that portion of the line of the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal Company, between the point of junction at Paddock and the proposed station at Huddersfield (including the Huddersfield Tunnel), and also of the station of the said last-mentioned Company at Huddersfield, should be settled on such fair and equitable terms as a committee of Three of the directors of the said Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway Company and a committee of Three of the directors of the said Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal Company should agree upon ; and in default of such agreement, then as an umpire to be mutually chosen should decide: And whereas it is expedient that such agreement should be confirmed and carried into effect; BE it therefore Enacted, That the directors of each of them the said Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway Company and Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal Company, shall within Six calendar months next after the passing of this Act, nominate Three members of their own body for the purposes hereinafter mentioned ; and that such Six persons shall be considered and act as arbitrators for settling the fair and equitable terms not inconsistent with the provisions of the Act for incorporating the Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway Company, upon which the said Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway Company shall use the aforesaid portion of Railway, and the aforesaid station; and the provisions in the Railways Clauses Consolidation Act contained, with respect to the settlement of disputes by arbitration, including those with respect to the appointment, powers and duties of an umpire, shall be and are hereby extended to the settlement of the aforesaid question, and shall take effect in the same manner as if the Three persons to be nominated by each of the aforesaid Companies were one' individual arbitrator appointed by the same Company.

And be it Enacted, That the quantity of land to be taken by the Company for extraordinary purposes shall not exceed Twenty acres, in addition to the lands which the Company are authorized by the said recited Act to take for such purposes.

And be it Enacted, That the powers of the Company for the compulsory purchase of lands for the purposes of this Act, shall not be exercised after the expiration of Three years from the passing of this Act.

And be it Enacted, That the said Deviation Branch Railway and Works hereby authorized shall be completed within Five years from the passing of this Act, and on the expiration of such period, the powers by this or the said former Act granted to the Company for executing the same, shall cease to be exercised, except as to so much of the same respectively as shall then be completed.

And whereas an Act was passed in the second year of the reign of Her present Majesty, intituled, "An Act to provide for the Conveyance of the Mails by Railway;" and another Act was passed in the fourth year of the reign of Her said Majesty, intituled, "An Act for regulating Railways;" and another Act was passed in the sixth year of the reign of Her said Majesty, intituled, "An Act for the better Regulation of Railways, and for the Conveyance of Troops;" and another Act was passed in the eighth year of the reign of Her said Majesty, intituled, “An Act to attach certain Conditions to the Construction of future Railways authorized or to be authorized by any Act of the present or succeeding Sessions of Parliament, and for other Purposes in relation to Railways;" BE it Enacted, That nothing in this Act contained shall be held to exempt the said Deviation Branch Railway and Works, or the said Company, from the provisions of the said several Acts respectively, but that such provisions shall be in force in respect to the said Deviation Branch Railway and Works, and Company, so far as the same are applicable.

Provided always, and be it Enacted, That nothing herein contained shall be deemed to exempt the Railways by this or the recited Act authorized to be made from the provisions of any general Act relating to such Acts, or of any general Act relating to Railways, which may hereafter pass during the present or any future Session of Parliament, or from any future revision and alteration under the authority of Parliament of the maximum rates of fares and charges authorized by the said recited Act.

And be it Enacted, That all the costs, charges and expenses of and attending the passing of this Act, or incidental thereto, shall be paid by the said Company, pari passu with the costs, charges, and expenses of any other Act of Parliament passed in the present session, to which they may be liable, out of the first monies that shall come to their hands, and in preference to any other payment whatsoever.

And be it Enacted, That in citing this Act in other Acts of Parliament and in legal instruments and other proceedings, it shall be sufficient to refer to and describe it by the Title of “The Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal (Huddersfield Diversion and Cooper Bridge Branch) Act, 1846.”

And be it Enacted, That this Act shall be a Public Act, and shall be judicially taken notice of as such.