Sub-fonds P. - Acts of Parliament,

The Bute estate solicitor maintained a library of Acts of Parliament relevant to the interests of the estate. This library was originally held in file cases, numbered 1-93, arranged in alphabetical order by subject:. Aberdare, Aberdare Railway, Aberdeen, Abertillery, Alexandra (Newport and South Wales) Docks, Ayr, ... Taf Fechan Water Supply Board, Taff Vale Railway, Trades Unions, Tredegar, Treferig Railway, Truck, Turnpike Trusts, ... These Acts relate mainly to south Wales. There are also a number of Acts of a general administrative nature, and a number that relate to Scotland, England and Ireland. The latter may relate to other interests, of either a landed or an investment nature, of the Bute estate; alternatively, they may have been used as exemplars when drafting Bills for private Acts, or have strayed into the Bute collection from other Acts of interest to the estate solicitors. The Acts have now been rearranged in chronological order within broad subject groups: Central Administrative Acts (P 1); Road and Bridge Acts (P 2); Canal Acts (P 3); Dock, Port, Harbour and Pier Acts (P 4); Railway Acts (P 5); Public Works and Public Utilities Acts (P 6); Administration of Justice Acts (P 7); Commons Inclosure Acts (P 8); Personal Acts (P 9); and Ecclesiastical Acts (P 10). Unless an Act relates to a specific project or projects, it will be found amongst the Central Administrative Acts, even if it deals exclusively with the subject matter of one of the other classes. Therefore, an Act for consolidating in One Act certain Provisions usually inserted in Acts authorizing the making of Railways, 1845, and An Act to amend the Law with respect to the Hours of Labour of Railway Servants, 1893, will both be found amongst the Central Administrative Acts, rather than amongst the Railway Acts. The Acts of some companies will be found under two or more headings. For example, the Acts of the Barry Dock and Railways Company will be found split between the Dock Acts and Railway Acts, according to the nature of the Act. A small number of Acts were found in other parts of the archive and have been added to this library.