Could somebody please link me to an online text of this and or the other recent and important weights and measures acts? I am especially interested in looking at the text of the act that established the Imperial system as well as the '63 act.

Bryan,

I'm afraid that on-line publications of W&M legislation only go back as far as 1988.

The rest are available via HMSO but in printed form only.

Bugger. Oh well, I thought there might be some online source anyway (as in other important historical documents- I would say the original act establishing the Imperial system would qualify as historically important).


Anyway, how do I go oabout reading it then?

Go to your public library and ask for a copy of the Act. If you are in a small town, you might refer you to a larger town. If you can get to your COunty library, they will certainly have a copy.

BTW, current legislation can usually be found in "Stones Justices Manual" which is in most libraries, but since the 1963 Act has been revoked by the 1985 Act, it will not appear in Stones.

Cheers, I shall try that. what was the name of the act establishing Imperial btw?

This is 2004! Any revisions to the WMA since 1963 make the 1963 version invalid! What part of concept of revision don't you understand?

Just because something may have once been valid does not make it valid for an eternity. Any law can be changed or amended any many are. The same holds true for WMA laws.

huh? I assume this is Eric as the above post is inflammatory and quite absurd.
I understand perfectly well your point, I however wish to look in more detail at those specific acts. What is wrong with you?

<<This is 2004! Any revisions to the WMA since 1963 make the 1963 version invalid! What part of concept of revision don't you understand?>>

Thus it should be illegal to be interested in events of the past!

History must now be banned in schools!

Who was Churchill anyway?

Bryan Parry wrote

<<
Cheers, I shall try that. what was the name of the act establishing Imperial btw?
>>

There was no one single Act that established the Imperial System. Like, the rest of English Law it evolved over the ages.

Thus it should be illegal to be interested in events of the past!

History must now be banned in schools!

Who was Churchill anyway?


To have an interest in things of the past is ok. But to try to use an old law as means to break a present one is wrong. To argue that in 1963 imperial units were legal, thus they also are today would be incorrect. This is the hidden adgenda of such research.

Which is precisely why pounds and ounces are legal - the Act outlawing them was passed in 1972 while the one that makes them lawful was in 1985.

<<<This is the hidden adgenda of such research>>>

Perhaps Bryan is a renegade spy!

Quick Robiskpy! Phone the cops!

"To argue that in 1963 imperial units were legal, thus they also are today would be incorrect. This is the hidden adgenda of such research."

I never said this was so. So... seriously now....

I am curious as to the specifics of the metrication and restandardisation of the units. It is purely historical research to sate my interests.


Also, Martin, as I gather it, a couple of acts created Imperial, but it did not "evolve" over time- the ten pound gallon, for instance, a key part of Imperial, WAS BROUGHT IN BY STATUTE! This was a complete break with the historical 8-lb gallons.

"Which is precisely why pounds and ounces are legal - the Act outlawing them was passed in 1972 while the one that makes them lawful was in 1985."

That old chestnut. Again !

A concept rejected by every court in the land and now rejected by the hated Europeans as well.

I'm no legal expert, but based on the court verdicts it would appear that your statement isn't one of fact.

Huh? Following acts stand, when they speak of issues a previous one did. So, if act1960 says x is this, and act1965 says x is the other, x is the other.

Bryan wrote

<<
Also, Martin, as I gather it, a couple of acts created Imperial, but it did not "evolve" over time- the ten pound gallon, for instance, a key part of Imperial, WAS BROUGHT IN BY STATUTE! This was a complete break with the historical 8-lb gallons.
>>

Granted - many measurements were brought in by statue, but in a piece-meal fashion. Various measurements have changed over the ages - for example, Henry VIII brought in the Statute Mile (5280 ft) in place of the London Mile (5000 ft). Furthermore, colonies that were acquired from other European nations by conquest often had dual systems of measure - The Cape Colony was one such example.

Hmm, maybe, but this is why Iwant to look at the statutes of the relevant period closely. I understand English was restandardised significantly.