Over a century before the Defence of the Realm Act introduced country-wide pub. opening hours, local bye-laws governed sales of alcohol on the Lord’s Day.
“The Town or Borough of STAMFORD, in the county of Lincoln } JAMES BATSON, Esq. MAYOR.
At a Meeting of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Justices of the Peace in & for the said Borough, at the Town-Hall there, on Saturday the 13th Day of this instant October,
It was ordered, That all publicans within the said town shall be prohibited from receiving or permitting guests to be or remain in their houses, on the Lord’s Day (except strangers travelling to or through the town), only between the hours of Five and Ten in the evening; and that they shall not be permitted to sell ale or other liquors out of their houses, except between the hours of Twelve and Two at noon, and Six and Nine in the evening.
And it is further ordered, That no tradesman or shopkeeper shall be allowed to keep open their shops, for the purpose of selling or exposing to sale any goods or articles whatsoever, after the hour of Ten o’clock in the morning on the Lord’s Day.
And it is further ordered, That the Chief Constable shall cause the foregoing orders to be advertised in the Lincoln, Rutland, and Stamford Mercury, for the information and government of all the publicans, tradesmen, and shopkeepers of the said borough.
THOMAS BOTT, Chief Constable.
Stamford, 14th October, 1804.”
Stamford Mercury, 2nd November, 1804.