Plans of schemes and sealed duplicates for public undertakings involving capital...

Q/RUm

Plans of schemes and sealed duplicates for public undertakings involving capital investment from private sources requiring the assent of Parliament.

1791-1888

The unpublished petitions, minutes of evidence before Parliamentary committees, plans and reference books, subscription lists and contracts for the provision of capital will be found in the House of Lords Record Office, though most of the pre-1834 records of this nature were destroyed in the fire at the Houses of Parliament. The Acts relating to those schemes after 1801 which passed Parliament will normally be found in Local and Personal Acts, a set of which is available in the Records Office.

By authority of standing orders of the House of Commons, 1792, confirmed by the Act of 7 William IV & 1 Victoria c. 83 (1837) copies of the plans of public undertakings were required to be deposited with the Clerk of the Peace of the appropriate counties, and it is this series which is the subject of this catalogue. A standing order of the House of Lords, 1843, required also the deposit of a sealed duplicate (stored at the Littledean repository). Since 1889 plans have been deposited in the custody of the Clerk of the County Council.

In fact, the earliest of the plans in this series (Q/RUm/1) relates to an Act passed 31 George III c. 89 (1790-1791), and is signed by the Speaker. Strictly speaking, it is therefore wrongly classified, although it has apparently always been kept with the deposited plans.

The plans relate to schemes for canals (from 1792), horse or tram-railroads (from 1801), docks (from 1802), rivers (from 1805), turnpike roads (from 1808), water supply (from 1810), town improvement (from 1824), Severn ferries and bridges (from 1825), steam railways (from 1830), gas schemes (from 1863) and tramways (from 1871). The great majority from 1810 to 1825 relate to turnpike roads, and from 1830 to 1875 are of railways; those of early lines in the Forest of Dean and south Gloucestershire mining areas are of especial interest. The plans are in manuscript and vary greatly in style with the growing professionalism of surveyors in the 19th century. In most cases only property immediately adjoining the line of road or railway is shown, but from about 1846 the great majority of railway plans have attached the relevant Ordnance Survey 1 inch to 1 mile sheet with the route of the proposed line superimposed. Nearly all the plans are accompanied by books of reference giving details of the ownership, occupation, use and area of land affected by the schemes.

Many of the railway schemes were never carried out, so the plans cover parts of Gloucestershire where no railway was subsequently built.

English