ABSTRACT
The rather dubious group of corporate entities that constituted the bulk of the early registrations under the limited liability legislation were occasionally complemented by the flotation of a ‘genuine’ concern. In assessing the real expectations of Lowe and other contemporaries in respect to the possibility of small enterprises incorporating with limited liability it is important to note certain significant differences between the 1855 and the 1856 legislation that reveal prevailing attitudes. The 1855 Limited Liability Act restricted its application to enterprises of 25 or more members, contained a provision which required enterprises to furnish publicly an annual balance sheet and set a minimum share value of ten pounds. The potential advantages of limited liability legislation for small traders was particularly great at a time when such traders were being sorely pressed by the financial effects of the Crimean War, whilst still liable to the rigours of imprisonment for debt if they failed to pay their creditors.
