[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Port and City of London].

  • London (England). Port & City Council.
Date:
1978
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Port and City of London]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    CONSTITUTION AND JURISDICTION The governing body of the City of London, the Corporation of London, was originally constituted the Sanitary Authority of the Port of London by Section 20 of the Public Health Act, 1872. The cost of administration was met from the Corporation's private funds for close on fifty years, when it became rate (and grant) aided. By the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, the term Port Sanitary was changed to Port Health, and the Port Health district is further defined by the Act as the Port of London as estab lished for the purposes of the law relating to the Customs of the United Kingdom and by the Public Health Act, 1936 as the Port as established for the purposes of the enactments relating to the Customs. The Public Health (London) Act 1936 was repealed by the London Government Act 1963 but Section 89(1) of that Act defined the Port of London as the Port of that name established for the purposes of the enactments relating to customs or excise. In accordance with the provisions of the London Port Health Authority Order 1965 made under Section 41(1) of the London Government Act 1963 the Corporation of London shall have jurisdiction as Port Health Authority — (a) as respects functions, rights and liabilities of a local authority under the enactments mentioned in Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the Order over all waters within the Port and over such part of the district of any riparian authority as comprises the whole of any wharf and of the area within the gates of any wharf and of the area within the gates of any dock and the buildings thereon respectively, forming part of or abutting upon the Port; (b) as respects any other functions, rights and liabilities assigned to them, within the Port (The Port of London established for the purposes of the enactments relating to customs or excise). The limits of the Port of London for the purposes of the enactments relating to customs or excise were originally defined by a Treasury Minute dated 1st August 1883. They commence at high water mark in the River Thames at Teddington Lock, in the County of Surrey, and extend down both sides of the said River Thames to an imaginary straight line drawn from the Pilot mark at the entrance of Havengore Creek in the County of Essex, to the land's end at Warden Point, in the Isle of Sheppey, in the County of Kent, such point being the north-western limit of the Port of Faversham, and extend up and include both sides of the River Medway to an imaginary straight line drawn from the south-east point of land westward of Coal mouth Creek, thence across the said River Medway to the western-most point of the piece of land which forms the eastern side of Stangate Creek, or, in other words, the north-west point of Fleet Marsh and thence in a southerly direction to Iwade Church in the said County of Kent, and thence in a north-easterly direction to Elmley Chapel in the said Isle of Sheppey, a supposed direct line from Elmley Chapel to Iwade Church, being the western limit of the Port of Faversham, and the said Port of London includes the Islands of Havengore Creek aforesaid, called Potton and Rushley Islands, and so much of the said Creek and Water courses as extends from it to the town of Rochford, and also includes all other Islands, Rivers, Streams, Creeks, Waters, Watercourses, Channels, Harbours, Docks and places within the before-mentioned limits contained. Following upon the extension of the area of jurisdiction of the Port of London Authority by the Port of London Authority (Extension of Seaward Limit) Act 1964 the area of jurisdiction of the Corporation of London as Port Health Authority was similarly amended by Section 31 of the City of London (Various Powers) Act 1965 which added at the end of the definition of Port of London in Section 89(1) of the London Government Act 1963 the following words: together with all such waters between the seaward limit of the Port as so established and imaginary straight lines drawn from latitude 51° 37' 00 north, longitude 00° 57' 19 east (Foulness Point in the County of Essex) to latitude 51° 46' 05 north, longitude 01° 20' 32 east (Gunfleet Old Light house) and thence to latitude 51° 26' 36 north, longitude 01° 25' 30 east and thence to latitude 51° 24' 55 north, longitude 00° 54' 21 east (Warden Point in the County of Kent) as are for the time being within the territorial waters of Her Majesty's dominions. The Port of London Authority with which the Port Health Authority works in close co-operation was established as the administrative body of the Port of London including the docks and tideway of the River Thames, by Act of Parliament in 1909.