1843 – 1908

Ordinances in the period 1843 – 1908

The Falkland Island National Archives is a useful source of information when looking for Ordinances from this period.
Of particular note are the hand written books and ledgers dating from 1843 that contain the earliest Ordinances known to have been enacted. They are the only source of laws for the period 1843-1853.

When looking for laws from this period the three publications of consolidated laws are useful:

  • ‘The Laws and Ordinances of the Falkland Islands from the settlement of the colony to the year 1884’;
  • ‘A Revised Edition of the Ordinances of the Colony of the Falkland Islands in force on 31st December 1913’ printed in 1915; and
  • ‘The Laws of the Colony of the Falkland Islands and its Dependencies etc. in force on 31st December 1950’ printed in 1951 and coming into effect on 12th March 1953.

Necessarily these consolidations do not contain all the Ordinances passed in this period.

Some Ordinances were printed in the Falkland Islands Gazette in this period. The Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance 1900 required this to be done after that Ordinance came into force. The Gazettes published from 1891 onwards are available on this website. Those available before that date can be found at the Falkland Island National Archives.

These tables are also useful:

The Chronological Table of Ordinances (to 31/12/1950) also contains notation indicating whether Ordinances from this earlier period were considered to apply in the Dependencies as viewed by those producing this consolidation.

It is more than likely that in this period all Ordinances passed in the Falkland Islands were considered to apply to the Dependencies given:

  • The enactment clause referring, in most cases to the Dependencies;
  • The absence of any statement, either positive or negative indicating whether those Ordinances were considered to apply in the Dependencies or not;
  • The effect of the relevant interpretation provisions such as s62 Administration of Justice Ordinance 1853 which provided:

    That in this or any Ordinance unless there is anything in the subject or context repugnant to such construction… the words “Falkland Islands” shall be understood to mean “the Falkland Islands and the Dependencies thereof…”

Before determining whether any particular Ordinance applied in the Dependencies please read and research at least all of the following: