Fire of London Disputes Act 1666
The Fire of London Disputes Act 1666 was an Act of the Parliament of England (18 & 19 Cha. II c. 7) with the long title "An Act for erecting a Judicature for Determination of Differences touching Houses burned or demolished by reason of the late Fire which happened in London." [1] Following the Great Fire of London, Parliament established a court to settle all differences arising between landlords and tenants of burnt buildings, overseen by judges of the King's Bench, Court of Common Pleas and Court of Exchequer.[2]
The 22 judges who served under the act included the following.
- Sir John Archer
- Sir Robert Atkyns
- Sir Orlando Bridgman
- Sir William Ellys
- Sir Heneage Finch
- Sir Matthew Hale
- Sir Timothy Littleton
- Sir William Morton
- Sir Francis North
- Sir Richard Rainsford
- Sir Christopher Turnor
- Sir Edward Turnour
- Sir Thomas Twisden
- Sir Thomas Tyrrell
- Sir John Vaughan
- Sir William Wilde
- Sir Hugh Wyndham
- Sir Wadham Wyndham
Portraits of the judges by John Michael Wright were put up in the Guildhall by the city in gratitude for their services.[3] These paintings, completed in 1670, hung in London's Guildhall until it was bombed during World War II; today only two (those of Sir Matthew Hale and Sir Hugh Wyndham) remain in the Guildhall Art Gallery[4] the remainder having been destroyed or dispersed.
The act was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1948.
References
- ↑ 'Charles II, 1666: An Act for erecting a Judicature for Determination of Differences touching Houses burned or demolished by reason of the late Fire which happened in London.', Statutes of the Realm: volume 5: 1628-80 (1819), pp. 601-03. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47389. Date accessed: 7 March 2007.
- ↑ 'Book 1, Ch. 15: From the Fire to the death of Charles II', A New History of London: Including Westminster and Southwark (1773), pp. 230-55. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=46732. Date accessed: 7 March 2007.
- ↑ 'Book 2, Ch. 15: Cheap Ward', A New History of London: Including Westminster and Southwark (1773), pp. 587-593. Date accessed: 4 April 2011
- ↑ "Fire Judges". Libraries, archives, museums and galleries: Guildhall Art Gallery. City of London. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
The Fire of London occurred in the year 1666 where it burned the whole of London. The fire started in a local bakery by the River Thames.