HL Deb 10 February 1813 vol 24 c418
The Earl of Derby

presented three Petitions against the renewal of the East India Company's Charter, from the merchants and ship-owners of Liverpool, the trustees of the Liverpool docks, and the corporation of Liverpool.—His lordship also presented a Petition to the same effect from the inhabitants of Manchester and Salford, signed on their behalf by the boroughreeves and constables. The Lord Chancellor observed, that the Petition could not be received as the Petition of the inhabitants, the signatures of the boroughreeves and constables not being a corporate act. The Petition might, however, stand as the Petition of those who had signed it. The earl of Derby would not contest the point with the noble and learned lord, but agreed that the Petition should stand as the Petition of those who signed it. The inhabitants who had unanimously agreed to this Petition, would be enabled, if they thought it expedient, to petition again in another form.—Petitions against the Catholic Claims were presented by the bishop of Bath and Wells, from the archdeacons and clergy of the diocese of Bath and Wells, and by the earl of Uxbridge from the gentry, clergy, and freeholders of the county of Auglesca.