Imperial replaced the Old English units in 1824 and nobody had any say in the matter. Imperial was imposed by legislation. Nobody was asked, for instance, whether the different gallons in use (at least three of them), among them the present US gallon, should be replaced by an Imperial Gallon of 10 lbs water under certain conditions. Lots and lots of other units were phased out. Ireland had to do away with all its old Irish units. The book The Weights and Measures of England by R.D,. Connor, London 1987, now out of print, contains all information. The use of weights and measures *in trade* was enforced by coercion, just as in metic countries and in countries going metric and it has always been that way. A BWMA in the first half of the 19th century would have opposed Imperial just as the real BWMA now opposes metric. One old unit was called the Butcher's stone of 8 lb avdp which had existed for centuries. It was also called the London stone. It was a 'customary' unit still used widely in 1834 and was banned again from 1835 Jan 1. In vain! 100 years later, in 1934 the Standards Department of the Board of Trade reported that it was still alive and kicking and ordered it phased out with the ultimate deadline of 1940-01-01. Machines and scales in the 8 lb unit had been produced, stamped and verified all the time since 1824, although they were illegal! New devices using the 8 lb unit would not be stamped at all. I read nothing about a Butcher's Stone Martyr! Old ones still used would be stamped up to the deadline. After that date only scales in the Imperial stone would be allowed and stamped. Connor stated that this was a situation fit to make the angels weep. (Connor, p. 335-336)
Han ----- Original Message ----- From: "Duncan Bath" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, 2002-01-27 17:50 Subject: [USMA:17672] Re: Fwd: Euro vs. Metrication (was: Thinning the list) When Britain adopted 'Imperial', was it as a result of consultation with the voting public? Duncan <snip>
