Fiftieth Ordinance.
An ordinance of the Cape Government in 1828, by which Hottentots and other free natives were relieved from all the restrictions of the pass law, and put upon a political equality with the whites. This was very distasteful to the Dutch settlers.
Fifty-one, Committee of.
A committee of merchants and gentry in New York, formed in 1774. They were in favour of a General Congress, but opposed to the non-intercourse policy advocated by some other colonies, and especially in Massachusetts.
Fighting Prelate.
Henry Spencer, Bishop of Norwich, who led the troops against Wat Tyler in 1381, was so called.
Financial Relations Committee.
A committee appointed in 1895 to report on the financial relations between England and Ireland. In the following year, a majority report was issued in which it was stated that the Act of Union had laid too heavy a financial burden on Ireland; that the increase in the Irish contribution sanctioned in 1853 and in 1860 was unjustifiable; and that Ireland’s tax revenue was one-eleventh, whereas it should only be one-twentieth of that of England.
Fines, Statute of.
A statute passed in the 4th year of Henry VII, re-enacted almost verbatim from a statute of Richard III, the object of which was to prevent the multiplication in the courts of suits for the recovery of lands. The method adopted was to fix at five years the period of occupation giving prescriptive rights.