Act of Parliament | |
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Long title | An Act for establishing the Use of an Hydrometer, called Sikes's Hydrometer, in ascertaining the Strength of Spirits, instead of Clarke's Hydrometer. |
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Citation | 56 Geo. 3. c. 140 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 2 July 1816 |
Other legislation | |
Repealed by | Spirits (Strength Ascertainment) Act 1818 |
Status: Repealed |
Bartholomew Sikes (died 1803) [1] was an officer in the employ of HM Excise who in the late 18th century perfected a device by which the alcoholic content of a liquid can be measured. [2]
In 1802 he presented his invention to a board of inquiry together with nine other competitors who included Mary Dicas of Liverpool whose hydrometer was the approved instrument by the American excise. Sikes' device was chosen over the other nine. [3]
The success of the device caused his name to be immortalised in an Act of Parliament: Sikes' Hydrometer Act 1816 (56 Geo. 3. c. 140). From 1816 until 1980 the hydrometer was the standard used in the UK to measure the alcohol proof of spirits, and from 1846 in Canadian law. [4]
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within the African-American community in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to African Americans, at a time when "rocking, jazz based music ... [with a] heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of a piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, one or more saxophones, and sometimes background vocalists. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American history and experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy, as well as triumphs and failures in terms of societal racism, oppression, relationships, economics, and aspirations.
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His or Her Majesty's Excise refers to 'inland' duties levied on articles at the time of their manufacture. Excise duty was first raised in England in 1643. Like HM Customs, the Excise was administered by a Board of Commissioners who were accountable to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. While 'HM Revenue of Excise' was a phrase used in early legislation to refer to this form of duty, the body tasked with its collection and general administration was usually known as the Excise Office.
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