The Sun.
London, England, 1836-09-23 00:00:00

THE MARRIAGE ACT.

The following are the enactments of the Act entitled " An
Act for Marriages in England," which received the Royal
assent on the 17th of August, 1836
1. That after the Ist day of March, in the year 1837, notwithstand-
ing anything in this Act contained, all the rules prescribed by the Ru-
brick concerning the solemnising of marriages shall continue to be duly
observed by every person in holy orders of the Church of England, who
shall solemnise any marriage in England; provided always, that where
by any law' or canon in force before the passing of this Act it is pro-
vided that any marriage maybe solemnised after. publication of bans, such
marriage may be solemnised in like manner on production of the re-
gistrar's certificate, as hereinafter provided; provided also, that nothing
in this Act contained shall affect the right of the Archbishop of Canter-
bury and his successors, and his and their proper officers, to grant spe-
cial licenses to marry at any convenient time and place, or the right of
any surrogate or other person now having authority to grant licenses for

marriages.
2. That the Society of Friend., commonly called Quakers, and also
persons professing the Jewish religion, may continue to contract and
solemnize marriages according to the usages of the said society and of the
said persons respectively; and every such marriage is hereby declared
and confirmed good in law, provided that the parties to such marriage be
both of the said society, or both persons professing the Jewish religion
respectively, provided also that the notice to the registrar shall have
been given, and the registrar's certificate shall have issued in manner
hereinafter provided.
3. That the superintendent registrar of births and deaths of every
union, parish, or place, shall be, in right of his office, superintendent
registrar of marriage with such union, parish, or place, and that such
union, parish, or place shall be deemed the district of such superinten-
dent_registrar of marriages.
4. That in every case of marriage intended to be solemnized in Eng-
land after the said Ist day of March according to the rites of the Church
of England (unless by license, or by special license, or after publication
of bans), and in every case of marriage intended to be solemnized in
England after the said Ist day of March according to the usages of the
Quakers or Jews, or according to any form authorised by this Act, one of
the parties shall give notice under his or her hand, in the form of Schc.
dude A, to this Act annexed, or to the like effect, to the superintendent-
registrar of the district within which the parties shall have dwelt for
not less than seven days then next preceding ; or if the parties dwell in
the districts of different superintendent-registrars shall give the like no-
tice to the superintendent-registrar of each district, and shall state
therein the name and surname, and the profession or condition of each
of the parties intending marriage, the dwelling place of each of them,
and the time not being less than seven days during which each has
dwelt therein, and the church or other building in which the marriage
is to be solemnised ; provided that if either party shall have dwelt in the
place stated in the notice during more than one calendar month it may
be stated therein that he or she hash dwelt there onemonth and upwards.
5. That the superintendent-registrar shall file all such notices, and
keep them with the records of his office, and shall also forthwith enter a
true copy of all such notices fairly into a book, to be for that purpose
furnished to him by the registrar general, to be called " The Marriage
Notice Book," the cost of providing which be defrayed in like manner as
the cost of providing register-books of births and deaths ; and the mar-
riage notice-book shall be open at all reasonable times without fee to all
persons desirous of inspecting the same ; and for every such entry the
superintendent-registrar shall be entitled to have a fee of Is.
.6. That if such superintendent-registrar shall be clerk to the guardians
of any poor-law union, or of any parish or place comprising the district
for which such superintendent_registrar shall act, he shall read such no-
tices as hereinafter directed and if he shall not be such clerk then he
shall transmit to such clerk on the day previous to each weekly meeting
of such guardians all such notices of intended marriage as he shall have
received on or since the day previous to the weekly meeting immediately
preceding the same; and such clerk shall read such notices immediately
after the minutes of the proceedings of such guardians at theiralast meet-
ing shall have been read ; and such notices shall be so read three several
times in three successive weeks at the weekly meetings of such guar-
dians, unless in any case license for marriage shall be sooner granted, and
notice of such license being granted shall have been given to such clerk ;
provided also that if it shall happen that the board of guardians of any
such union, parish, or place, shall not so meet it shall be sufficient for the
purposes of this Act that such notice shall be read at any meeting of such
guardians which shall be held within 21 days from the day ofsuch notice
being entered.
7. That after the expiration of seven days, if the marriage is to be
solemnized by license, or of 21 days if the marriage is to be solemnised
without license, after the entry of such notices, thesuperintendent_regis.
trar, upon being requested so to do by, or on belief of the party by whom
the notice was given, shall issue under his hand a certificate in the form
of Schedule (B) to this Act annexed, provided that no lawful impedi-
ment be shown to the satisfaction of the superintendent_registrar why
such certificate should not issue, and provided that the issue of such
certificate shall not have been sooner forbidden -in manner hereafter
mentioned by any person or persons authorised in that behalf, as here-
inafter is provided : and every such certificate shall state the particulars
set forth in the notice, the day on which the notice was entered, and that
the full period of seven days or of 21 days (as the case may be) has
elapsed since the entry of such notice, and that the issue of such certi.
ficate has not been forbidden by any person or persons authorised in that
behalf; and for every such certificate the superintendent-registrar shall
be entitled to have a fee of Is.
8. That the registrar-general shall furnish to every superintendent-
registrar a sufficent number of forms of certificates, the cost of which
shall be accounted for by the superintendent-registrar to the registrar-
general; and in order to distinguish the certificates to be issued for mar-
riages by license from the certificates to be issued for marriages without
license, a watermark in the form of the word " license," in Roman
letters, shall be laid and manufactured in the substance of the paper in
which the certificates to be issued for marriage by license shall be
written or printed; and every certificate to be issued for marriage by
license shall be written with red ink, and every certificate to be issued
for marriage without license shall be printed with black ink, 1l such
other distinctive marks between the two kinds of certificates shall be
used from time to time as shall seem fit to the registrar.general.
9. That any person authorised in that behalf may forbid the issue of
the superintendent-registrar's certificate by writing at any time before
the issue of such certificate the word " forbidden" opposite to the entry
of the notice of such intended marriage in the marriage notice-book,
and by subscribing thereto his or her name and place of abode, and his
or her character, in respect of either of the parties, by reason of which
he or she is so authorised; and in case the issue of any such certificate
shall have been so forbidden the notice and all proceedings thereupon
shall be utterly void.
10. That after the said Ist day of March the like consent will be re-
quired to any marriage in England solemnised by license as would have
been required by law to marriages solemnised by license immediately
before the passing of this Act; and every person whose consent to a
marriage by license is required by law is hereby authorised to forbid the
issue of the superintendent registrar's certificate, whether the marriage
was intended to be by license or without license.
11. That after the said Ist day of March every superintendent-regis_
trar shall have authority to grant licenses for marriage in any building I
registered as hereinafter provided within any district under his superin-
tendence, or in his office, in the form of schedule (C) to this-Act an-
nexed, and for every such license shall be entitled to have of the party
requiring the same the sum of 3/. above the value of the stamps ne-
cessary on granting such license ; and every superintendent. registrar
shall four times in every year, on such days as shall be appointer' by the
registrar-general, make a return to the registrar-general of every license
granted by him since his last return, and of the particulars stated
concerning the parties; providing always that no superintendent-regis.
tray shall grant any such license until he shall have given security Ily
his bond in the sum of 1001. to the registrar.general for the due and
faithful execution of his office; provided also, that nothing herein
contained shall authorise any superintendent-registrar to grant any li-
cense for marriage in any church or chapel in which marriages may be
solemnised according to the rites of the Church of England, or in any
church or chapel belonging to the Church of England or licensed for the
celebration of divine worship according to the rites and ceremonies of the
Church of England, or any license for marriage in any registered build-
ing which shall not be within this district.
12. That before any license for marriage dial' be granted for any such
superintendent-registrar, one of the parties intending marriage shall ape
pear personally before such superintendent-registrar, and in case the
notice of such intended marriage shall not have been given to such su-
perintendant-registrar shall deliver to him the certificate of the superin-
tendent-registrar or superintendent-registrars to whom such notice shall
have been given, and such party shall make oath, or shall take his or her
solemn affirmation of declaration, instead of taking an oath, that he or
she bekeveth that there is not any impediment of kindred or alliance, or
other lawful hindrance, to the said marriage ; and that one of the said
parties bath for the space of fifteen days immediately before the day of
the grant such license had his or her usual place of abode within the dis-
trict within which such marriage is to be solemnised, and where either
of the parties not being a widower or widow shall be under the age of
21 years, that the consent of person or persons whose consent to such
marriage is required by law has been obtained thereto, or that there is
no person having authority to give such consent as the case may be ;
and all such licenses and declarations shall be respectively liable to the
same stamp duties as licenses for marriage granted by the ordinary of any
diocese, and affidavits made in order to procure the same.
13. That any person, on payment of five shillings, may enter a caveat
with the superintendent-registrar against the grant of a certificate or a
license for the marriage of any person named therein ; and if any caveat
be entered with the superintendent-registrar, such caveat being duly
signed by or on behalf of the person who enters the same, together with
his or her place of residence, and the ground of objection on which his
or her caveat is founded no certificate or license shall issue or be
granted until the superintendent_registrar shall have examined into the
matter of the caveat, and is satisfied that it is not to obstruct the grant
of the certificate or license for the said marriage, or until the caveat be
withdrawn by the party who entered the same; provided that, in cases
of doubt, it shall be lawful for the superintendent.registrer to refer the
matter of any such caveat to the registrar-general, who shall decide
upon the same; provided -likewise that in case of the superintendent-
registrar refusing the grant of the certificate or license the person apply.era
ing for the same shall have a right to appeal to
who shall thereupon either confirm the refusal or direct t ic granttheregistirar-gen 1,
of
the certificate or license.
14, That after the said lit day of Marsh, d by the superinten.
marring
after such notice
no ma
as aforesaid, unless by virtue of a license to be arerite
dent-registrar, shall be solemnized or registered in England,
until after
the expiration of 21 days after the entry of such notice as aforesaid; and
no marriage shall be solemnized by the license of any superintendent.
expiration of seven days after the
registrar or registered until after the es
aforesaid. had itthheinsuthperereincteanlednednatr_
the day of the entry of such notice as
15. That whenever a marriage shall notc
ynitieecreednsebwwhich cony have been
months after the notice shall have beendsaou
"eedings thereupon, shall be utterly
registrar, the notice and certificate,
ePar°tco solemnise them riage, nor shall
granted thereupon, and all other
shall proceuntil new notice shall arhave been given,
void; and no person
any registrar register the same,
and entry made, and certificate thereof given, at the time, and i n the
manner aforesaid.
editsht
reicptasr titehseschearl_l
then superintendent of
certificate or i
f different di I G. That the superintendent's
have given notice,
superintendent shall be delivered to the officio.' officiating mi.
tificate of each
be
nister,
if the marriage shall solemnised according to the rites of the
Church,
of England; and the said certificate or license shall be
delivered to the registering officer of the people called
Quakers for the
where the marriage is solemnised,
place
amording to the usages of the said people; or to the officer of a sync.
gogue by whom the marriage is registered, if the h Ina , same s a 11 b e so em-
nised according to the usages of persons professing the Jewish religion ;
and in all other cases shall be delivered to the registrar proeent at the
marriage, as hereinafter provided.
17. That it shall be lawful for the euperintendant-registrar of any
union, parish, or place, subject to the approval of the board of guardians
thereof, to appoint, by writing, tinder his hand, such person or persons
as be may think fit, With such qualifications as the registrar-general, by
any general rule, maY declare to be necessary, to be a registrar or re-
gistrars, fe
r the purpose of twine resent at marriages to be solemnised
by virtue of this Aet, at which
the presence of a registrar is made ncces
sary, and every , such registrar of marriages shall hold his office during
the pleasure of the superintendeut-regiatrar by whom he was appointed,
or of the registrar-general.
18. That any proprietor or trustee of a separate building, certified
'according to law as a place of religious worship, may apply to the super.
intendent-registrar of the district, in order that such building may be
registered for solemnising marriages therein, and in such case shall de-
liver to the superintendent-registrar a certificate, signed in duplicate by
twenty householders at the least, that such building has been used by
,Item during one year at the least as their usual place of public religious
worship, and that they are desirous that such place should be registered
as a aforesaid, each of which certificates shall be countersigned by the
proprietor or trustee by whom the same shall be delivered; and the su-
perintendent-registrar shall scud both certificates to the registrar-gene-
ral, who :shall reg'ster: such building accordingly in a book to be kept for

that purpose at the general register-office; and the registrar,
shall endorse on both certificates the date of the registry, and shy
one certificate with the other records of the general register-offic
shall return the other certificate to the superintendent-registrar, who
shall keep the same with the other record; of his office; and the super-
intendent.registral shall enter the date of the registry of such building
in a book to be furnished to him for that purpose by the registrar-gene-
rat, and shall give a certificate of ouch registry under his hard, on
parchment or vellum, to the proprietor or trustee by whom the certifi-
Wes are countersigned, and shall give pubic notice of the registry
thereof by advertisement in some newspaper circulating within the
county, and in the " London Gazette ;" and for every such entry, certi-
ficate and publication, the superintendent-tvgistrar shall receive at the
time of the delivery to him of the certificates the sum of 31.
19. That if at any time subsequent to the registry of any building for
solemnising marriages therein it shall be made to appear to the satisfac-
tion of the registrar-general that such building has been disused for the
public religious worship of the congregation on whose behalf it was re.
gistered as aforesaid the registrar-general shall cause the z".'gistry thereof
to be cancelled ; provided that if it shall be proved to the satisfaction of
the registrar general that the same congregation use instead thareof some
other building for the purpose of public religious worship the re:listrar-
general may substitute and register such new place of worship inztxad of
the disused building, although such new place of worship may not have
been used for that purpose during one year then next preceding; and

every application for cancelling the registry of any such building, or for

such substitution and registry of a substituted building, shall be made to
the registrar-general by or through the superintendent registrar of the
district ; and such cancel or substitution, when mad-, shall be made

known by the registrar-gcnoral to the superintendent-registrar, who shall
enter the fact and thr date thereof in the book provided for the registry
of such buildings, and shall certify and publish such cancel or substitu.
tion and registry, in manner hereinbefore provided in the case of the
original registry of the disused building ; and for every such substitu-
tion the superintendent-registrar shall receive, at the time of the delivery
of the certificate from the party requiring the substitution, the sum of
3/. ; and after such cancel or substitution shall have been made by the
registrar-general it shall not be lawful to solemnize any marriage in such
disused building, unless the same shall be again registered in the manner
hereinbefore provided.

20. That after the expiration of the said period of twenty-one days,
or of seven days if the marriage is by license, marriages may he solem.
nized in the registered building stated as aforesaid in the notice of suck
marriage, between and by the parties described in the notice and certifi.
cate, according to such form and ceremony as they may see fit to adopt :
Provided, nevertheless, that every such marriage shall be solemnized with
open doors, between the hours of eight and twetveo'clock in the forenoon,
in the presence of some registrar of the district in which such registered
building is situate, and of two or more credible witnesses ; provided also,
that in some part of the ceremony, and in presence of such registrar and
witnesses, each of the parties shall declare—
" I do solemnly declare that I know not of any lawful impediment
why I, A B, may not be joined in matrimony to C D.
And each of the parties shall say to the other, " I call upon these
persons here present so witness, that I, A B, do tare thee C D, to be my
lawful wedded wife (or husband)," provided also, that there be no lawful
impediment to the marriage ofsuch parties.
21. That any person who shall object to marry under the provisions of

_ .
this Act in any such registhred building may, after due notice and cer-
tificate issued as aforesaid, contract and solemnize marriage at the office,
and in the presence, of the superintendent-registrar, and some registrar
of the district, and in the presence of two witnesses, with open doors,
and between the hours aforesaid, making the declaration and using the
form of words hereinbefore provided in the case of marriage in any such
registered buildings.
• • ' " •

22. That the registrar shall be entitled for every marriage which shall
be solemnised under this Act in his presence to have from the parties
married the sum of 10s. if the marriage shall be by license, and other.
wise the sum of ss. •
23. And be it enacted, that the registrar shall forthwith register every
marriage solemnised in manner aforesaid in his presence in a mar-
riage register-book to be furnished to him for that purpose from time
to time by the registrar-general, according to the form provided for
the registration of marriages by an Act made in this present session
of Parliament, entitled " An Act for registering Births, Deaths, and
Marriages in England," the cost of which shall be defrayed in like
manner as the cost of providing register books of births and deaths;
and every entry of such marriage shall he signed by the person by
or before whom the marriage shall have been solemnised, if there shall
be any such person, and by the registrar, and also by the parties married,
and attested by two witnesses ; and every such entry shall be made in
order from the beginning to the end of the book.
24. That in every year, on such days as shall from time to time
be appointed by the registrar general, within one calendar month
next after the Ist day of April, the Ist day of July, the Ist day of
October, and the Ist day of January respectively, every register shall
make and deliver to the superintendent-register of his district a true
copy, certified by him under his hand, according to the form of sche-
dule CD) to this Act annexed, of all the entries of marriage in the regis-
ter book kept by him since the last delivery, and the superintendent-
registrar shall verify the same, and if found to be correct shall cer-
tify the same under his hand to be a true copy ; and if there shall
have been no marriage registered since the delivery of the last cer-

tifird copy, the registrar shall certify the fact, and such certificate
shall be delivered to the superintendent-registrar as aforesaid, and
countersigned by him; and the registrar shall keep safely the said re-
gister book until it shall be tilled, and shall then deliver it to the super-
intendent-registrar, to be kept by him with the records of his offics.

25. That after any marriage shall have been solemnised it shall not
be necessary in support of such marriage to give any proof of the actual
dwe.ling of either of the parties previous to the marriage within the
district wherein such marriage was solemnised for the titne required by
this Act, or of the consent of any person whose consent therennto is re_
quired by law ; nor shall any evidence be given to prove the contrary
in any suit touching the validity of such marriage.
26. And whereas it is expedient that provision should be made, under
proper restrictions, for relieving the inhabitants of populous districts re-
mote from the parish church, or from any chapel wherein marriages may
be lawfully celebrated according to the rites and ceremonies of the
Church of England, from the inconvenience to which they may be
thereby subjected in the solemnisation of their marriages; be it there-
fore enacted, that, with the consent under the band and seal of the patron
and incumbent respectively of the church of the parish or district in
which may be situated any public chapel with or without a chapelry
thereunto annexed, or any chapel duly licensed for the celebration of
Divine service according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of
England, or any chapel the Minister whereof is duly licensed to officiate
therein according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England,
or without such consent after two calendar months' notice in writing
given by the registrar of the diocese to such patron and incumbent
respectively, the Bishop of the diocese may, if he shall think
it necessary for the due accommodation and convenience of the in-
habitants, authorise by a license under his hand and teal the so_
lemnisation of marriages any such chapel for persons residing within
a district the limits whereof shall be specified in the Bishop's license,
and under such provisions as to the amount, appropriation, or apportion-
ment of the dues, and as to other particulars, as to the said ;3ishop
may seem fit, and as may be specified in the said license ; provided that
it shall be lawful for any patron or incumbent who shall refuse or with..
hold consent to the grant of any such license to deliver to the Bishop,
under his or her hand and seal, a statement of the reasons for which
such consent shall have been refused or withholden; and no such license
shall be granted by any Bishop until he shall have inquired into the
matter of such reasons; and every instrument of consent of the patron
and incumbent, or, if such consent be refused or withholden, a copy
of the notice under the hand of the registrar, and every statement of
reasons as alleged aforesaid by the patron or incumbent, with the
Bishop's adjudication thereupon under his hand and seal, shall be re-
gistered in the registry of the diocese ; and thenceforth, and until the
said license be revoked, marriages solemnised in such chapel shall be as
valid to all intents and purposes as if the same had been solemnised in
the parish church, or in any chapel where Marriages might heretofore
have been levity solemnised. . _

27. And be it enacted, that all fees, dues, and other emoluments on
account of the solemnization of marriages which belong to the incum.
bent or clerk respectively of any church or chapel in any parish or dis-
trict within which the solemnisation of marriages shall be authorised as
aforesaid shall respectively be received, until the avoidance of such
church or chapel next after the passing of this Act, for and on account
of such incumbent, and until the vacancy in the office of clerk next after
the passing of this Act, for and on account of such clerk, and be paid
over to them, except curb portion of the fees, dues, or other emoluments
as the said Bishop of the diocese, with the consent of the said incumbent
and clerk respectively, shall in such aforesaid license assign to the Mi-
nister and clerk respectively of the chapel in which the solemnisation of
marriages shall be authorised as aforesaid ; and that it shall be lawful for
the said Bishop in and by such license, without any such consent, to de-
clare that f om and after such next avoidance or vacancy respectively the
whole or such part of the fees, dues, and other emoluments on account
of the solemnisation of marrisiges in such last-mentioned chapel as shall
be specified in such license, shall be receivable, and the same shall thence..
forth be received by or for the Minister and clerk of such chapel respee-

tively.
28. That when the said Bishop shall authorise the solemnisation of
marriages in any such chapel as aforesaid, without the consent under the
hand and seal of the patron and incumbent respectively, it shall be lawful
for them, or either of them, to api;eal within one calendar month to the
Archbishop of the province, who shall hear the same in asummary man-
ner, and shall make such order, confirming, revoking, or varying the
license so given, as to him shall seem meet and expedient, which order
shall be registered in the registry of the diocese, and shal be conclusive
and binding
That
on all parties whatsoever.
29
hat there shall be placed in some conspicuous part in the inte-
rior of every chapel in respect of which such license shall be given as
aforesaid a notice in the words following :—" Marriages may be solem-
nised in this chapel."
30. That all provisions which shall from time to time be in force re-
lative to marriages, and to providing, keeping, and transmitting register-
books and copies of registers of marriages solemnised in any parish
church, shall extend to any chapel in which the solemnisation of mar-
riages shall be reathorised as aforesaid, in the same manner as if the
same were a parish church, and everything required by law to be done,
civaell,y e
iw of
aar nd
en
relating thereto by the Rector, Vicar, Curate, or Churchwardens respec.
v
any parish church shall be done by the officiating 111inister,
n
or other person exercising analogous duties in such
chapel respectively.
31. Provided always, that, notwithstanding any Ouch license as afore-
said to solemnise marriages in any such chapel, the parties may, if they
think fit, have their marriage solemnised in the parish church, or in
any chapel in which heretofore the marriage of such parties, or either of
them, might have been legally solemnised.
32. That any such license or order may at any time be revoked by
writing under the hand and seal of the Bishop of the diocese, with the
consent in writing of the Archbishop of the province; and such revo.
cation and consent shall be registered in the registry of the diocese, the
registrar whereof shall notify the same in writing to the Minister offi-
ciating in the chapel, and shall also give public notice thereof by adver-
tisement in some newspaper circulating within the county, and in the
London Gazette, and thenceforth the authority to solemnise marriages
in such chapel shall cease and determine.
33. That in case of the revocation of the license to solemnise mar-
riages in any such chapel all registers of marriages solemnised therein
under such license, which shall be in the custody or possession of the
Minister of such chapel at the time of such revocation, shall forthwith
be transmitted to the incumbent or officiating Minister of the parish
church, and shall thenceforth be preserved, and in all other respects
dealt with in the same manner, and be of the same force and validity,
to all intents and purposes, as if they had been originally made and de-
posited with such incumbent or officiating Minister; and that such
incumbent or Minister shall, when he next transmits to the superintend-
ent-registrar copies of the registers of marriages solemnised in such
parish church, also therewith transmit copies of all such entries as shall
have been made in such first-mentioned registers subsequent to the
tsathe
da l copytna whereofn terf transmit icaths t
not transmitted
copy
nos
pmyei tisltheei
shall
lotpohy
at
evh
fee
everyt
beent tp er
riene
gctlcias, f,13:0,h,e/g lastiottransmitted
ntarsnymd,•
tee
ready transmitted to the superintendent-re istrat hav'n first signed his
name at the foot of the last entry therein.
6 g
34. That the registrar of every diocese shall within fifteen days
after the said first day of Match, and also within fifteen days after
the Ist of January in every succeeding year, make out and send
through the Post Office, directed to .the registrar-general of births,
deaths, and marriages, at his office, a list of alt chapels belonging to
the Church of England within that diocese wherein marriages may
lawfully be solemnized according to the rites and ceremonies of the
Church of England, and shall distinguish in such list which have a
parish, chapelry, or other recognised ecclesiastical division annexed to
them, and which are chapels licensed by the Bishop under this Act,
and shall state therein the district for which each of such chapels
is licensed according to the description thereof in the license;
and the registrar-general shall in every year make out and cause to
be printed a list of all such chapels, and also of all places of public
worship registered under the provisions of this Act, and shall state in
such list the county and registrar's district within which each chapel or

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registered building is situated, and shall add also the names and places of
abode of the registrars and deputy-registrars of each district, and of
the superintendent-registrars, and a copy of such list shall be sent to every
registrar and superintendent-registrar.
35. That every marriage solemnised under this Act shall be good and
cognisable in like manner as marriages before the passing of this Act ac-
cording to the rites of the Church of England.
36. That it shall be lawful for the registrar before whomany marrirge
is solemnised according to the provisions of this Act to ask of the parties
to be married the several particulars required to be registereh touching
such marriage.
37. That every person who shall enter a caveat with the superinten-
dent-registrar against the grant of any license or issue of any certificate
on grounds which the registrar-general shall declare to be frivolous, and
that they ought not to obstruct the grant of the license, shall be liable
for the costs of the proceedings, and for damages, to be recovered in a
special action upon the case by the party against whose marriage such
caveat shall have been entered.
38. That every person who shall knowingly and wilfully make any
false declaration or sign any false notice or certificate required by this
Act, for the purpose of procuring any marriage, and every person who
shall forbid the issue of any superintendent-registrar's certificate, by
falsely representing himself or herself to be a person whose consent to
such marriage is required by law, knowing such representation to be
false, shall suffer the penalties of perjury.
39. That every person who, after the said Ist day of March, shall
knowingly and wilfully solemnize any marriage in England, except by
special license, in any other place than a church or chapel in which mar.
riages may be solemnized according to the rites of the Church of Eng-
land, or than the registered building or office specified in the notice
and certificate as aforesaid, shall be guilty of felony (except in the
case of a marriage between two of the Society of Friends, commonly
called Quakers, according to the usages of the said society, or between
two persons professing the Jewish religion, according to the usages of the
Jews) ; and every person who in any such registered building or office
shall knowingly and wilfully solemnize any marriage in the absence of
a registrar of the district in which such registered building or office is
situated shall be guilty of felony; and every person who shall knowingly
and wilfully solemnize any marriage in England after the said Ist day
of March (except by license) within 21 days after the entry of the notice
to the superintendent-registrar, as aforesaid, or if the marriage is by li-
cense, within seven days after such entry, or after three calendar months
after such entry shall be guilty of felony.
40. That every superintendent-registrar who shall knowingly and wil-
fully issue any certificate for marriage after the expiration of three ca-
lendar months after the notice shall have been entered by him as afore-
said, or any certificate for marriage by license before the expiration of
seven days after the entry of the notice, or any certificate for marriage
without license, before the expiration of twenty-one days after the entry
of the notice, or any certificate the issue of which shall have been for-
bidden as aforesaid, by any person authorised to forbid the issue of the
registrar's certificate, or who shall knowingly and wilfully register any
marriage herein declared to be null and void; and every registrar who
shall knowingly and wilfully issue any license for marriage after the ex-
piration of three calendar month. after the notice shall have been en-
tered by the registrar as aforesaid, or who shall knowingly and wilfully
solemnise in his office any marriage herein declared to be null and void,
shall be guilty of felony.
41. That every prosecution under this Act shall be commenced with.
in the space of three years after the offence committed.
42. That if any person shall knowingly and wilfully intermarry after
the said first day of March under the provisions of this Act in any
place other than the church, chapel, registered building, or office, or
other place specified in the notice and certificate aforesaid, or without
due notice to the superintendent-registrar, or without certificate of no.
tice duly issued, or without license, in case a license is necessary under
this Act, or in the absence of a registrar or superintendent-registrar,
where the presence of a registrar or superintendent registrar is necessary
under this Ac-, the marriage of such persons, except in any case here-
inafter exillepted, shall be null and void ; provided always, that nothing
herein contained shall extend to annul any marriage legally solem-
nised according to the provisions of an Act passed in the 'fourth year
of his late Majesty George IV., entitled " An Act for amending the
laws respecting the solemnization of Marriages in England.''
. . _

43. That if any valid marriage shall be had under the provisions of
this Act by means of any wilfully false notice, certificate, or declaration
made by either party to such marriage, as to any matter to which a no-
tice, certificate, or dec:aration is herein required, it shall be lawful for
his Majesty's Attorney-General or Solicitor-General to sue for a for.
feiture of all estate and interest in any property accruing to the offending
patty by such marrirge ; and the proceedings thereupon and conse.
quences thereof shall be the same as are provided in the like case with
regard to marriages solemnised by license before the passing of this Act
according to the rites of the Church of England.

44. That this Act shall be taken to be part of the said Act for regis-
tering births, deaths, and marriages, as fully and effectually as if incor-
porated therewith, and that all the provisions and penalties of the said
Act relating to any registrar or register of marriages, or certified copies
thereof, shall betaken to extend to the registrars and registers of mar-
riages to be solemnised under this Act and to the certified thereof, so far
as the same are applicable thereunto.

43. That this Act shall extend only to England, and shall not extend
to the marriage of any of the Royal Family.

REGISTRATION of BIRTHS, DEATHS,

AND MARRIAGES.

The following are the clauses of this Act which received
the Royal assent on the 17th ult :-
1. This clause merely repeals so much of the Acts of Geo. 111., c.
146, and 4 Geo. IV., c, 76, as relates to the registration of marriages.
2. That it shall be lawful for his Majesty to provide a proper office in
London or Westminster, to be called " The General Register Office,"
for keeping a register of all births, ,deaths, and marriages of his Ma-
jesty's subjects in England, and to appoint for the said office under the

Great Seal of tile United Kingdom a registrar-general of birthi, deaths,
and marriages in England, and from time to time, at pleasure, to remove
the said registrar-general and appcint some other person in his room.
3. That the Lord Treasurer or Lords Commissioners of his Majesty's

Treasury, or any three of them, or the registrar.general, subject to the
approval of the sail Lords Commissioners, shall appoint, from time to

time, such officers, clerks, and servants as they shall deem necessary to
carry on the business of the general registry office, and at pleasure re-
move them or any of them ; and the said Lord Treasurer or Lords Com-
missioners shall fix the salary of the registrar.general, so that the same
shall not at any time exceed the rum of 1,000. yearly, and shalt fix the
salaries of the officers, clerks, and servants in fit proportion, according
to the duties they may have to perform.

4. That the salaries of the registrar-general, and of the said officers,
clerks, and servants, and the amount of the sums hereinafter provided
to he paid to the superintendent-registrars for every entry in the certi-
fied copies of the registers, and all expenses of carrying on the business
of the general registry olEce not herein otherwise provided for, shall be
paid by the said Lord Treasurer or Lords Commissioners of his Ma-
jesty's Treasury out of the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland.

5. That one of his Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, or the
registrar-general, with tha approbation of such principal Secretary, from
time to time may make regulations for the management of the said re-
giste: ()Mee, and for the duties of the registrar-general, clerks, officers,
and servants of the said office, and of the registrars, deputy-registrars,
and superintendent-registrars hereinafter mentioned, in the execution of
this Act so that they be not contrary to the provisions herein contained ;
and the regulations so made end approved shall be binding on the said
registrar-general, clerks, officers, and servants, and on the registrars,
deputy-registrars, and superintendent-registrars.
ti. That the registrar-general shall send once in every year to one of
the principal Secretaries of State a general abstract of the number of
births, deaths, and marriages registered during the foregoing year, in
such form as the, said Secretary from time to time shall require; and
every such annual general abstract shall he laid before Parliament within
one month after receipt thereof, or after the meeting of Parliament.
7. That the guardians of every union declared under the provi-
sions of an Act passed in the sth and Pith years of his present Ma-
jesty, entitled, " An Act for the Amendment and better Administra-
tion of the Laws relating to the Poor in England and Wales," and also
of every parish or place in which a board of guardians shall have been
established under the provisions of the last-named Act, shall, on or
before the Ist day of October in this year, if the said board of guar-
dians shall have been established before the passing of this Act, or
within three calendar mouths next atter the establishment of the board,
if the said board shall not havebeen established before the passing of this
Act, divide the union or the parish or place of which they are the
guardians into such and so many districts as they, subject to the ap-
proval of the registrar-general, shall think fit; and every such division
when made shall be published by the guardians within the union,
parish, or place of which they are guardians, in such manner as the said
registrar-general shall direct; and every such district shall be called by
a distinct name, and shall be a registrar's district ; arid the guardians
shall appoint a person, with such qualfications as the registrar-general
may, by any general rule, declare to be necessary, to be registrar of
births arid deaths within each district, anti in every case of vacancy in
the office of registrar shall forthwith fill up the vacancy; and the clerk
to the guardians of every such union, parish, or place shall, if he shall
think fit to accept such office, and have such qualifications as the regis-
trar-general may by any general rule declare to be necessary, be the
superintendent-registrar thereof; and in the event of his refusal or dis-
qualification to act in that capacity the guardians shall appoint a person,
with such qualifications as the registrar-general may by any general rule
declare to be necessary to be the superintendent-registrar of each union,
or of such parish or place, and in every case of vacancy of the office of
superintendent-registrar shall forthwith fill up the vacancy ; and every
registrar and superintendant-registrar shall hold his office during the
pleasure of the registrar-general.
8. Provided that in every case in which the clerk to the guardians of
the union, parish, or place, or any other officer of any such union,
parish, or place, shall hold any office under this Act, and shall be re-
moved by the Poor Law Commissioners from his office in such union,
parish, or place, and in every case in which any registrar or superin-
tendent-registrar shall be removed by the registrar-general from his
office under this Act, notice of such removal shall be forthwith given
by advertisement in some newspaper circulating in the county wherein
the dietrict for which such officer may act shall be; and every
such per.
son shall thenceforth cease to hold his office under this Act, and shall
be incapable of being re-appointed thereto; provided also, that the ap-
pointment of any officer of any such union, parish, or place, to any
office tinder this Act, shall be subject to the approval of the Poor Law
Commissioners, except as hereinhefore directed with respect to the
clerk to guardians of any such union, parish, or place.
9. That the guardians shall provide and uphold, out of the monies
corning to their hands or controul as such guardians, a register office,
according to a plan to be approved by the registrar-general, for preserv-
ing the registers to be deposited therein, as hereinafter provided ; and
the care of the said office and the custody of the registers deposited
therein shall be given to the superintendent-registrarof the union, or
parish, or place, having a board of guardians
10. That the Poor Law Commissioners for England and Wales shall,
as soon as may be after the said Ist day of October, from all the pa-
rishes, townships, and places in England, in or for which a board of
guardians shall not have been then established( under the provisions of
the said Act for the amendment of the laws relating to the poor, into
temporary districts, having regard in the formation thereof to the
boundaries of parishes and townships, and shall appoint a registrar to
each of such temporary districts, subject to being displaced as herein-
after provided; and the registrar.general shall appoint a sufficient num-
ber of fit persons to be superintendent registrars for such temporary
districts, subject to being displaced as hereinafter provided, and shall
appoint the districts which each shall superintend.
11. That in every case in which a board of guardians shall be esta-
blished under the provisions of the said Act for the amendment of the
laws relating to the poor, in or for any parish, township, or place forming
part of any temporary district in or for which a registrar or superinten-
dent-registrar shall have been previously appointed as last aforesaid, and
as soon as a registrar or registrars shall have been appointed for the dis-
tricts into which the guardians shall have divided the union or parish
or place of which they are guardians as aforesaid, and the clerk of the
guardians of such union, parish, or place shall have accepted the office
of superintendent-registrar, or the said guardians shall have appointed a
superintendent-registrar for such districts, in like manner as in the
unions formed before the passing of this Act, every such parish or place
shall cease to be a part of the temporary district to which it was so an-
nexed by the Poor Law Commissioners, and every registrar, deputy-re-
gistrar, and superintendent-registrar appointed before the election of
such board of guardians as aforesaid in or for such parish, township, or
place shall cease to hold their respective offices, so far as relates to such
parish, township, or place, unless re-appointed.
12. That for every district for which a registrar of births and deaths
shall be appointed by the guardians, as aforesaid, the registrar shall have
power; subject to the approval of such guardians, and for every district
for which a registrar shall be appointed by the said Poor Law Commis-
sioners such registrar shall have power, subject to the approval of such
commissioners, to appoint by writing under his hand a fit person to act
as his deputy in case of the illness or unavoidable absence of such regis.

tray ; and every such deputy-registrar whilst so acting shall have all the
powers and duties and be subject to all the provisions and penalties
herein declan•d concerning registrars, and in case of the death of the re-
gistrar shall act as registrar until another registrar is appointed ; and
every registrar shall be civilly responsible for the acts or omissions of his
deputy.

13. That the appointments of registrars, deputy-registrars, and su.
perintendent.registrars, and the duplicates and certified copies of regis-
ters hereinafter mentioned, shall be exempt from all stamp duties.
14. That the registrar-general shall furnish to every superintendent.
registrar, for the use of the registrars under his superintendence, a
sufficient number of strong iron boxes to hold the register books to be
kept by such registrar; and every such box shall be furnished with a
lock and two keys and no more; and one of such keys shall be kept by
the registrar, and the other key shall be kept by the superintendent-
registrar; and the register books of each district, while in the custody
of the registrar and not in use, shall be always kept in the register box,
and the register box shall always be left locked.
15. That in every case in which any registrar or superintendent-
registrar shall be removed from or cease to hold the said office, all re-
gister boxes, keys, books, documents, and papers in his possession a
such registrar or superintendent registrar, shall be given as soon as con-
veAently may be to his successor in office; and if any person shall re-
fuse to give up any such box, key, books, documents, or papers, in such
case as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for any justice of the peace for the
county or other jurisdiction where such person shall be or reside, upon
application made for that purpose, to issue a warrant under his hand
and seal for bringing such person before any two justices of the peace
for the said county or other jurisdiction, and upon such person not appear.
ing, or not being found, it shall be lawful for such justices to hear and
determine the matter in a summary way; and if it shall appear to the
justices that any such box, key, books, documents, or papers, are in the
custody or power of any such person, and that he has refused or wil-
fully neglected to deliver the same, the said justices are hereby required
to commit such offender to the common gaol or house of correction for
the said county or jurisdiction, there to remain without bail until he
shall have delivered up the same, or until satisfaction shall have been
given in respect thereof to the person in whose custody the same ought
to be; and the said justices may grant a warrant to search for such
box, key, books, documents, or papers, as in the case of stolen goods, in
any dwelling-house or other premises in which any credible witness
shall prove upon oath before them that there is a reasonable cause to
suspect the same to be ; and the same when found shall be delivered to
the person in whose custody they ought to be.

PS. That every registrar and deputy-registrar shall dwell within
the district of which he is registrar or deputy.registrar, and shall cause
his name, with the addition of registrar or .deputy.registrar, (as the
case may be) for the district for which he shall be so appointed to be
placed in some conspicuous.place on or near the outer door of his own
dwelling-house; and the superintendent-registrar shall cause to be
printed and published in the districts which he shall superintend a list
of the name and place of abode of every registrar and deputy.registrar
under his superintendence.
17. That the registrar-general shall cause to be printed, on account
of the said Registrar Office, a sufficient number of register books for
making entries of all births, deaths, and marriages of his Majesty's sub-
jects in England, according to the forms of schedules (A) (B) (C) to this
Act annexed; and the said register books shall be of durablematerials,
and in them shall be printed upon each side of every leaf the 'heads of
information herein required to be known and registered of births, deaths,
and marriages respectively; and every page of each of such books shall
be numbered progressively from the beginning to the end, beginning with
number one ; and every place of entry shall be also numbered progres-
sively from the beginning to the end of the book, beginning with num.
ber one; and every entry shall be divided from the following entry by a
printed line.

18. That the registrar.general shall furnish to every superintendent.
registrar, for the u-e of the registrars under his superintendence, a
sufficient number of register books of births and of register books of
deaths, and of forms of certified copies thereof, as hereinafter provided,
at a reasonable price, to be fixed from time to time by one of his Ma-
jesties principal Secretaries of State, the cost whereof shall be borne by
the union, parish, or place in or for which the superintendent-registrar
is appointed, and shall be paid by the guardians or by the churchwardans
or overseers (as the case may be) out of the monies coming to their
hands or controul as such guardians or churchwardens and overseers, to
the registrar, and shall be accounted for by him to the registrar.general;
and every registrar shall be authorised and is hereby required to inform
himself carefully of every birth and every death which shall happen
within his district after the said Ist day of March, and to learn and re-
gister as soon after the event as conveniently may be done, without fee
or reward, save as hereinafter mentioned, in one of the said books, the
particulars required to be registered according to the forms in the said
schedules (A) and (B) respectively touching every such birth or every
such death, as the case may be, which shall not have been already regis-
tered, every such entry being made in order from the beginning to the
creel of the book.

19. That the father or mother of any child born, or the occupier
of every house or tenement in England in which any birth or death
shall happen, afrer the said Ist day of March, may, within 42 days next
after the day of such birth, or within five days after the day of such
death, respectively, give notice of such birth 'or death to the registrar of
the district; and in case any new-born child or any dead body shall be
found exposed the overseers of the poor in the case of the new born

child, and the coroner in the case of the dead body, shall forthwith give
notice and information thereof, and of the place where such child or
dead bcdy was found, to the registrar; and for the purpose of this Act
the master or keeper of every gaol, prison, or house of correction, or
workhouse, hospital, or lunatic asylum, or public or charitable institu-
tion, shall be deemed the occupier thereof.
20. That the father or mother of every child born in England after
the said Ist of March, or, in case of the death, illness, absence, or ina-
bility of the father or mother, the occupier of the house or tenement in
which such child shall have been born, shall, within 42 days next after
the day of every such birth, give information, upon being requested so
to do, to the said registrar, according to the best of his or her knowledge
cr belief, of the several particulars hereby required to be known and re-
gistered touching the birth of such child.

21. That if any child of an English parent shall be born at sea on
board of a British vessel the captain or commanding officer of the vessel
on board of which the said child shall have been born shall forthwith
snake a minute of the several particulars hereinbefore required to be in-
serted in the register touching the birth of such child, so far as the same
may be known, and the name of the vessel wherein the birth took place,
and shall, on the arrival of such vessel in any port of the United King.
dom, or by any other sooner opportunity, send a certificate of the said
minute through the Post Office to the registrar-general, who shall file
the same, and enter a copy thereof under his hand in a book to be kept
for that purpose in " the General Register Office," to be called the
" Marine Register Book," and shall keep the said book with the other
registers, according to the provisions of this Act.

'22. That after the expiration of forty-two days following the day of
the birth of any child it shall not be lawful for any registrar to register
such birth, save as hereinafter is next mentioned • provided, that, in case
the birth of any child shall not have been registered according to the pro.
visions hereinbefore contained, it shall be lawful for any person present
at the birth of such child, or for the father or guardian thereof, at any
time within six calendar months next after the birth, to make a solemn
declaration of the particulars required to be known touching the birth of
such chili, according to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, and
it shall thereupon be lawful for the said registrar then and there, in the
presence of the superintendent-registrar, to register the birth of the said
chill according to the information of the person making the said ado-
ration ; and in every such case the superintendent-registrar before whom
the said declaration is made shall sign the entry of the birth, as well as the
registrar; and for every such registry as last aforesaid the superinde..t.
registrar shall be entitled to have a fee of a. 6d from the parson requiring
the same to ha registered; and the registrar, over and above the fee here.
inafter enacted in respect of evtry birth registered by him, shall be en-
titled, unless the delay ►hall have been occasioned by his default, to have
a fee of tis. from the person requiring the same to be registerei ; and no
register of births shall be given in e,idence to prove the birth of any
child wherein it shall appear that forty-two days have intervened be-
tween the day of the birth and the day of the registration of the birth of
such child, unless the entry shall be signed by the superintendent-regis.
true ; and every person who shall knowingly register or cause to be re•
gistcred the birth of any child, otherwise than hereinbefore is last
mentioned, after the expiration of forty-two days following the day of
the birth of such child, shall forfeit and pay for every such offence a sum
CA exceeding 501.

23. That after the expiration of six calendar months following the
birth of any child it shall not be lawful for any registrar to register the
birth of such child, and no register of births, except in the case of
children born at sea, shall be given in evidence to prove the birth of any
child wherein it shall appear that six calendar months have intervened
between the clay of the birth and the day of the registration of the
birth of such child; and every person who shall knowingly register or
cause to be registered the birth of any child after the expiration of six
calendar months following the day of the birth of such child shall for-
feit and pay for every such offence a sum not exceeding 50/.
24. That if any child born in England, whose birth shall have been
registered as aforesaid, shall, within six calender months next after it
shall have been so registered, have any name given to it in baptism,
the parent or guardian of such child, or other person procuring such
name to be given, may, within seven days next after such baptism,
procure and deliver to the registrar, or superintendent-registrar, in
whose custody the register of the birth of the child may then happen to
be, a certificate, according to the form of schedule (G) to this Act
annexed, signed by the Minister who shall have performed the rite of
baptism, which certificate such Minister is hereby required to deliver
immediately after the baptism, whenever the same shall be demanded,
on payment of the fee of Is. which he shall be therefore entitled to re-
ceive; and the said registrar, or superintendent-registrar, upon receipt
of such certificate, and on the payment of the fee of Is. which he
shall be therefore entitled to receive, shall, without any erasure of
the original entry, forthwith register therein that the child was baptised
by such name, and the registrar shall thereupon certify upon the said
certificate the additional entry so made, and shall forthwith send the
said certificate, through the Post-Office, to the registrar.general.
25. That some person present at the death or in attendance during the
last illness of every person dying in England, after the lit day of March,
or in case of the death, illness, inability, or default of all such persons, the
occupier of the house or tenement, or if the occupier be the parson who
shall have died, some inmate of the house or tenement in which such
death shall have happened, shall, within eight days next after the day of
such death, give information, upon being requested so to do, to the said
registrar, according to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, of the
several particulars hereby required to be known and registered touching
the death of such person; provided always, that in every case in which
an inquest shall be held on any dead body the jury shall inquire of the
particulars herein required to be registered concerning the death, and
the coroner shall inform the registrar of the finding of the jury, and the
registrar shall make the entry accordingly.
26. That if any of his Majesty's English subjects shall die at sea on
board of a British vessel the captain or commanding officer of the vessel
on board of which such death shall have happened shall forthwith make
a minute of the several particulars hereinbefore required to be inserted
in register touching such death, so far as the same may be known,
an the
dthe name of the vessel wherein the death took place, and shall, on
the arrival of such vessel in any port of the United Kingdom, or by
any other
same, and enter
sooner
opportunity, send a certificate of the said minute,
through the pest
Office, to the registrar.general, who shall file the
book a ,
and keep the
o 84PY thereof under his hand in the marine register
with the other registers, according to the pro-
-27. That every regittra,
or as soon thereafter as be
..dinediately upon registering any death,
reward, deliver to the
unde ball be required so to do, shall, without fee or
hi iciele or other person having charge of the
funeral a certificate under
(E) to this Act annexed, this: suand, according to the form of schedule
death has been duly registered, and
such certificate shall be delivereat
religious service for the
vrhsouch undertaker or other person to
the minister or officiating person taltl be required to bury or to
been. dseoadde livered,boday provided
always, which :41 of the dead body ; and if
perform any
tahllebpeerbsuonri,e,dhofosrhall
bury
an y
if he shall think fit, before registry of
such certificate shall have
shall Gr
that the coroner, Perform any funeral or any
religious service for the burial
forthwith give notice thereof to the
, upon holding any inquest,
registrar : pr
give a certificate or
his order In writ-
y
ing under his hand, according to the form of schedule
tmliaeydoeradther, aqdthe sblioadl in such sbuecbhucrai buried,
(P) to this Act
annexed, to such undertaker or other person having
- —Vita of the fu-
neral, which shall be delivered as aforesaid ; and every
Person who
shall bury or perform any funeral or any religious service for the burial
of any dead body for which no certificate shall have been dulymade
and delivered as aforesaid, either by registrar or coroner, and who shall
not within seven days give notice thereof to the registrar, shall forfeit
and pay any sum not exceeding 10/. for every such offence.
28. That every person by whom the information contained in any
register of birth or death under this Act shall have been given shall
sign his name, description, and place of abode in the register; and no
register of birth or death according to this Act shall be given in evi.
d ence which shall not be signed by some person professing to be the

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1836.

informant, and to be such party as is herein required to give such infor-
mation to the registrar.

29. That every registrar shall make out an account four times in
every year of the number of births and deaths which he shall have re-
gistered since the last quarterly account, and the superintendent-re-
gistrar shall verify and sign the same ; and the guardians or overseers of
the parish, township, or place in or for which he shall be registrar, on
production of the said account so verified and signed, shall pay to the
said registrar, out of the monies in their hands or power as such guar.
dims or overseers such sums as he shall be entitled to receive on the
said account according to the following scale (that is to say)—for the
first 20 entries of births and deaths in every year which he shall have
registered, whether the same be of births or of deaths indiscriminately,
2s. 6d. each, and Is. for every subsequent entry of births or deaths in
each year; and in the case of an union the said several sums shall be
charged to the account of the parishes in which such births or deaths
respectively shall have occurred.

30. That the registrar-general shall furnish or cause to be furnished
to the Rector, Vicar, or Curate of every church and chapel in England
wherein marriages may lawfully be solemnised, and also to every person
whom the recording clerk of the Society of Friends, commonly called
Quakers, at their central office in London, shall from time to time cer-
tify in writing under his hand to the registrar-general to be a register.
ing officer in England of the said society, and also to every person whom
the president for the time being of the London committee of deputies
of the British Jews shall from time to time certify in writing under his
hand to the registrar-general to be the secretary of a synagogue in
England of persons professing the Jewish religion, a sufficient number
in duplicate of marriage register books, and forms for certified copies
thereof, as hereinafter provided; and the cost of all such books and
forms shall be paid by the churchwardens and overseers of the parish or
chapelry out of the monies in their hands as such churchwardens or
overseers, or by the registering officer or secretary respectively to whom
the same shall be furnished.
31. That every Clergyman of the Church of England immediately
after every office of matrimony solemnised by him, shall register in
duplicate in two of the marriage register books the several particulars
relating to that marriage, according to the form of the said schedule
(C), and every such registering officer of the Quakers, as soon as con-
veniently may be after the solemnisation of any marriage between two
Quakers in the district for which he is registering officer, and every
such secretary of a synagogue, immediately after every marriage so-
lemnised between any two persons professing the Jewish religion, of
whom the husband shall belong to the synagogue whereof he is secre-
tary, shall register or cause to be registered in duplicate in two of the
said marriage register books the several particulars relating to that mar-
riage according to the form of the said schedule (C) : and every such
registering officer or secretary, whether he shall or shall not be pre.
sent at such marriage, shall satisfy himself that the proceedings in re.
lation thereto have been conformable sc* the usages of the said society,
or of the persons professing the Jewish religion, as the case may be;
and every such entry as hereinbefore is mentioned (whether made by
such Clergyman, or by such registering officer or secretary respectively
as aforesaid) shall be signed by the clergyman, or by the said registering
officer or secretary, as the case may be and by the parties married,
and by two witnesses, and shall be made in order from the beginning to
the end of each book, and the number of the place of entry in each
duplicate marriage register book shall be the same.
32. That in the months of April, July, October, and January, on such
days as shall from time to time be appointed by the registrar general,
every registrar shall make, and deliver to the superintendent-registrar of
his district, on durable materials, a true copy, certified by him under his
hand, according tothe form of Schedule (D) to this Act annexed, of all the
entries of births and deaths in the register book kept by him sincethe last
certificate, the first of such certificates to be given in the month of July,
1837, and to contain all the entries made up to that time; and the su-
perintendent-registrar shall verify the same, and, if found to be correct,
shall certify the same under his hand to be a true copy; and if there
shall have been no birth or death registered since the last certificate, the
registrar shall certify the fact, and such certificate shall be delivered to
the superintendent-registrar as aforesaid, and countersigned by him ; and
the registrar shall keep safely each of the said register books until it shall
be filled, and shall then deliver it to the superintendent-registrar, to be
kept by him with the records of his office.

33. That the Rector, Vicar, or Curate of every such church end
chapel, and every such registering officer and secretary shall, in the
months of April, July, October, and January respectively, make and
deliver to the superintendent-registrar of the district in which such
church or chapel may be situated, or which may be assigned by the
registrar.general to such registering officer or secretary, on durable
materials, a true copy certified by him under his hand of all the entries
of marriages in the register.book kept by him since the last certificate,
the first of, such certificates to be given in the month of July, 1837, and
to contain all the entries made up to that time, and if there shall have
been no marriage entered therein sines the last certificate, shall certify
the fact under his hand, and shall keep the said marriage register
books safely until the same shall be filled ; and one copy of every such
register book, when filled, shall be delivered to the superintendent-
registrar of the district in which such church or chapel may be s"tuated,
or which shall have been assigned as aforesaid to such registering
officer or secretary, and the other copy of every such register book, kept
by any such Rector, Vicar, or Curate, shall remain in the keeping of
such Rector, Vicar, or Curate, and shall be kept by him with the re.
gisters of baptisms and burials of the parish or chapelry within which
the marriages registered therein shall have been solemnized; and the
other copy of every such register book of marriages among the
people called Quakers, and among persons professing the Jewish religion
respectively, shall remain under the care of the said people or persons
respectively, to be kept with their other registers and records, and shall
for the purposes of this Act be still deemed to be in the keeping of the
registering officer or secretary for the time being respectively.
34. That every superintendent-registrar shall, four times in every
year, on such days as shall he therefore named by the registrar-general,
send to the registrar-general all the certified copies of the registers of
births, deaths, and marriages, which he shall have so received during
the three calendar months next preceding such quarterly days of trans-
mission respectively; and if it shall appear, by interruption of the re-
gular progression of numbers or otherwise, that the copy or any part
of any book has not been duly delivered to him, he shall procure, as
far es possible, consistently with the provisions of this Act, that the
same may be remedied and supplied ; and every such superintendent_
registrar shall be entitled to receive the sum of for every entry in
such certified copies; and every superintendent-registrar shall make out
an account four times in every year of the number of entries in the
certified copies sent to him during the last quarter, and the certified
copies so sent to the General Registry Office shall be thereafter kept in
tne said office in such order and manner as the registrar-general, under
the direction of the Secretary of State, shall think fit, so that the same
may be most readily seen and examined.

no distress made by virtue of this Act shall be deemed unlawful, nor
shall the party making the same be deemed a trespasser, on account of
any defect or want of form in the summons, conviction, or warrant of
distress, or on account of any irregularity which shall afterwards be
committed by the party distraining, but the person or persons aggrieved
by such irregularity shall recover full satisfaction for the special da-
mages sustained in an action on the case.
46. That in all cases where the sum adjudged to be paid on any such
summary conviction shall exceed 51. any person convicted may appeal
to the next Court of General or Quarter Sessions, which shall be holden
not sooner than twelve days after the day of such conviction, for the
county or other district wherein the cause of complaint shall have arisen ;
provided that such person shall give to the complainant a notice in writ-
ing of such appeal, and of the cause and matter thereof, within three
days after such conviction, and seven clear days at the least before such
sessions, and shall also either remain in custody until the sessions, or en.
ter into a recognizance, with two sufficient sureties, before a justice of
the peace, conditioned personally to appear at the said sessions, and to
try such appeal, and to abide the judgment of the Court thereupon, and
to pay such costs as shall be by the Court awarded; and upon such no.
tice being given, and such recognizance' being entered into, the Court
at such sessions shall hear and determine the matter of the appeal, and
shall make such order therein with or without costs, to either party, as
to the Court shall seem meet, and in case of the dismissal of the appeal,
or the affirmance of the conviction, shall order and adjudge the offender
to be punished according to the conviction, and to pay such costs as shall
be awarded, and shall, if necessary, issue process for enfoicing such
judgment.
I 47. That no such conviction or adjudication made on appeal there-
from shall be quashed for want of form, or be removed by certiorari, or
otherwise, into any of his Majesty's superior Courts of Record, and no
warrant of commitment shall be held void by any reason of any defect
therein, provided it be herein alleged that the party has been convicted,
and there be a valid conviction to sustain the same.

48. That the registrar-general may receive and send by the General
Post from and to places in England all letters and packets relating ex-
clusively to the execution of this Act, free from the duty of postage,
provided that such letters and packages as shall be sent to the registrar.
general be directed to the " registrar-general of births, deaths, and
marriages,'' at his office, and that all such letters and packets as shall
be sent by the registrar-general shall be in covers, with the words " re-
gistrar.general of births, deaths, and marriages," printed on the same,
and be sealed with the seal of the said register office, and be signed on
the outside thereof under such words with the name of such person as
the said registrar-general, with the consent of the Lords Commis-
sioners of the Treasury, or any three or more of them, shall ap.
point, in his own handwriting (such name to be from time to time
sent to the Secretary of the General Post Office in London,)
and under such regulations as the said Lords Commissioners, or
any three or more of them, shall think fit ; and if the person
so to be appointed shall subscribe or seal any letter or packet
whatever, except such only concerning which he shall receive the spe-
cial direction of his superior officer, or which he shall himself know to
relate exclusively to the execution of this Act, or if the person so to
be appointed, or any other person, shall send or cause to be sent under
such cover any letter, paper or writing, or any enclosure, other than
shall relate exclusively to the execution of this Act, every person so
offending shall forfeit and pay the sum of 1001., and be dismissed from
his office; one moiety of such penalty to be paid to the use of his Ma.
jesty, his heirs, and successors, and the other moiety to the use of the
person who shall inform or sue for the same; to be sued for and re-
covered in any of his Majesty's Courts of Record at Westminster.
49. Provided that nothing herein contained shall affect the registra-
tion of baptisms or burials as now by law established, or the right of
any officiating Minister to receive the fees now usually paid for the per-
formance or registration of any baptism, burial, or marriage.
50. And be it further enacted, that the said registrar general shall,
within three calendar months after his appointment to such office, fur-
nish to the respective guardians of every union, parish, or place, printed
notices, which the said guardians shall, as soon as conveniently may be
after the receipt thereof, cause to be fixed or placed on the outside of
the several church or chapel doors, or other public and conspicuous
buildings or places within their respective unions, parishes, or places,
and r. hich said notices shall specify the several acts required to be done
rous of solemnising marriage, or of regis.
or the death of any person, under the

by persons who may be desi
tering the birth of any child,
provisions of this Act.
SCHEDULES TO

WHICH THIS ACT REFERS.

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33. That every rector, vicar, or curate, and every registrar, register-
ing officer, and secretary, who shall have the keeping for the time being
of any register book of births, deaths, or marriages, shall at all reason-
able times allow searches to be made of any register books in his keeping,
and shall give a copy, certified under his hand, of any entry or entries in
the same, on payment of the fee hereinafter mentioned (that is to say)—
for every search extending over a period not more than one year, the
sum of Is., and lid. additional for every additional year, and the sum of
2s. fid. for every single certificate.

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36. That every superintendent-registrar shall cause indexes of the re-
gister books in his office to be made, and kept with the other records of
his office; and that every person shall be entitled at all reasonable hours
to search the said indexes, and to have a certified copy of any entry or
'entries in the said register books under the hand of the superintendent-
registrar, on payment of the fees hereinafter mentioned (that is to say)—
for every general search the sum of ss„ and for every particular search
the sum of Is., and for every such certified copy the sum of 2s. 6d.
37. That the registrar_general shall cause indexes of all the said cer-
tified copies of the registers to be made and kept in the general register
office; and that every person shall be entitled on payment of the fees
hereinafter mentioned, to search the said indexes between the hours of
ten in the morning and four in the afternoon of every day, except Sun-
days, Christmas Day, and Good Friday, and to have a certified copy of
an entry in the said certified copies of the registers; and for every
general search of the said indexes shall be paid the sum of 2.05., and for
every particular search the sum of Is., and for every such certified copy
the sum of 2s. ficl., and no more, shall be paid to the registrar-general, or
such other officer as shall be appointed for that purposs on his account.
38. That the registrar.gcneral shall cause to be made a seal of the
said register office, and the registrar-general shall cause to be sealed or
stamped therewith all certified copies of entries given in the said office;
and all certified copies of entries purporting to be sealed or stamped with
the seal of the said register office shall be rec*ved as evidence of the
birth, death, or marriage to which the same relates, without any further
or other proof of such entry; and no celtified copy purporting to be
given in the said office shall be of any force or effect which is not scaled
or stamped as aforesaid.
39. That every sum received under the provisions of this Act by or
on account of the registrar_general shall be accounted for and paid by
the registrar-general, at such time as the Lords Commissioners of the
Treasury from time to time shall direct, into the Bank of England, to
the credit of his Majesty's Exchequer, according to the provisions of
an Act passed in the fourth and fifth years of his Majesty, entitled,
" An Act to regulate the Office of Receipt of his Majesty's Exchequer
at Westminster."

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40. That it shall be lawful for every Clergyman of the Church of
of England who shall solemnize any marriage in England, and for every
registering officer of the Quaker, and every secretary of a Synagogue,
after the Ist day of March, to ask of the parties married the several
particulars herein required to be registered touching such marriage.
41. That every person who shall wilfully make, or cause to be made,
for the purpose of being inserted in any register of birth, death, or mar-
riage, any false statement touching any of the particulars herein re..
quired to be known and registered, shall be subject to the same pains and
penalties as if he were guilty of perjury.
42. That every person who shall refuse, or, without reasonable cause
omit, to register any marriage solemnized by him, or which he ought to
register, and every registrar Rho shall refuse, or without reasonable
cause omit. to register any birth or death of which he shall have had
due notice, as aforesaid, and every person having the custody of any
register book, or certified copy thereof, or of any part thereof, who shall
carelessly lose of injure the same, or carelessly allow the same to be in-
jured whilst in his keeping, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding 501. for
every such offence.

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43. That every person who shall wilfully destroy or injure, or cause to
be destroyed or injured, any such register book, or any part or certified
copy of any part thereof, or shall falsely make or counterfeit, or cause to
be falsely made or counterfeited, any part of any such register book or
certified copy thereof, or shall wilfully insert or cause to be inserted in
any register book or certified copy thereof any false entry of any birth,
death, or marriage, or shall wilfully give any false certificate, or shall
certify any writing to be a copy or extract of any register book, know-
ing the same registr to be false in any part thereof, or shall forge or
counterfeit the seal of the register office, shall be guilty of felony.
44. Provided that no person charged with the duty of registering
any birth, death, or marriage, who shall discover any error to have
been committed in the form or substance of any such entry, shall
be therefore liable to any of the penalties aforesaid, if within one
calendar month next after the discovery of such error, in the presence
of the parents of the child whose birth may have been so registered, or
of the parties married, or of two persons attending upon any person in
his or her last illness, whose death may have been so registered, or in
case of the death or absence of the respective parties aforesaid, then
in the presence of the superintendent-registrar and of two other cre-
dible witnesses, who shall respectively attest the same, he shall cor.
rect the erroneous entry, according to the truth of the case, by an entry
in the margin, without any alteration of the original entry, and shall
sign the marginal entry, and add thereunto the day of the month and
year when such correction shall be made; provided also, that, in case
of a marriage register he shall make the like marginal entry, attested
in like manner in the duplicate marriage register book to be made by
him as aforesaid, and in every case shall make the like alteration in the
certified copy of the register book to be made by him as aforesaid, or in
case such certified copy shall have been already made, provided he shall
make and deliver in like manner a separate certified copy of the ori.
ginal erroneous entry, and of the marginal correction therein made.
45. That all fines and forfeitures by this Act imposed, unless other-
wise directed, shall be recovered before any two justices of the peace
for the county, city, or place where the offence shall have happened,
upon the information or complaint of any person ; and if, on the convic-
tion of the offender, either on his or her confession, or by the oath of
any one or more credible witness or witnesses (which oath such justices
are hereby empowered to administer), such fines or forfeitures, with
the costs of the conviction, shall not be forthwith paid the same shall be
levied by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the offender, by
warrant under the hand and seal of such justices ; and, for want of dis-
tress, such justices may commit every such offender to the common gaol
or house of correction for the county, city, or place where the offender
shall be committed, without bail or mainprise, for any term exceeding
one calendar month, unless such fine and forfeiture, and all reasonable
charges attending the recovery thereof, shall be sooner paid; and one
moiety of all such fines and forfeitures shall go to the person who shall
inform and sue or prosecute for the same, and the other moiety shall go
to the registrar-general, or to such other persons as the Lords Commis.
sioners of the Treasury shall appoint, for the use of his Majesty; and

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SCHEDULE (D).
I, John Cox, Registrar of births and deaths in the district of Maryk-
in the county of Middlesex, do hereby certify, that this is
of the registrar's book of births [or deaths] within the said
d
the entry of the birth [or death] of James Green, No. (1),
tabooitsntrihueree.cNh,
ct'entrycopy
yo mof the birth [or death] of William Strange, No. (34).
Witness my hand, this seventh day of March, 18(38),
John Cox, Registrar.

SCHEDULE (E).
1, John Cox, Registrar of births and deaths in the district of Maryle.
bone, North, in the county of Middlesex, do hereby certify, that the
death of Henry Hastings Was duly registered by me on the seventh day
of March, 18(38).
Witness my hand, this eighth March, 18(36).
John Cot, Registrar.

SCHEDULE (F).
1, James Smith, Coroner for the county of Dorset, do hereby order
the burial of the body now shown to the inquest jury as the body of
John Jones.
Witness my hand, this eighth dayt March, 18(3G).
James Smith, Coroner.

SCHEDULE ( G).
Gilbert Elliot, Vicar of Barming, in the county of Kent, do hereby
certify, that I have this day baptised by the name of Thomas a male
child, produced to me by William Green, as the son of William Green
and Rebecca Green; and declared by the said William Green to have
been born at Marylebone, in the county of Middlesex, on the seventh
day of January, 18(36).
Witness my hand, this first day of December, 18(38).
Gilbert Elliot, Vicar.

[The above words in Italics, and the figures within parentheses, in
the above Schedules, to be Ailed in u the case may be.]

THE NEW REGISTRATION OF

BIRTHS.

The following is a copy of a circular letter which has been issusd to
:he clerks of the Boards of Guardians throughout the country .:—•
Poor Law Commission Office, Somerset House,
August 27, 1836.

" Sia—The Commissioners of Poor Laws for England and Wales re.
quest you to call the immediate attention of the Guardians to the im-
portant public trusts with which the Legislature has invested them by
the provisions of the Act of the 6th and 7th William IV., cap. 88, for
the establishment of a registration of births, deaths, and marriages in
England ; and also of the Act of the 6th and 7th William IV., cap. 85,
for the regulation of marriages in England, which Acts received the
Royal Assent on the 17th instant.
" The Commissioners have directed that a copy of each of these Acts
shall be herewith transmitted for the information of the Board.
" On reference to the 7th section of the Act for the establishment
of a registration of births, deaths, and marriages, it will be perceived
that the duty which first devolves upon the Guardians is to divide the
union into such districts as they may deem the most convenient, and
as the Registrar-General may approve, to be registrars' districts' for
the registration of the births, deaths, and marriages which may take
place within them.
" It will be perceived—(l) That the division into districts must be
made—(2) The districts named, and—(S) A statement of such proposed
division forwarded to The Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and
Marriages,' for his approval, on or before the Ist day of October next.
" The other duties (in relation to the last-named Act) with which the
Guardians are invested are less pressing as to the time of their perform-
ance ; but the Commissioners now advert to them because the conside-
ration of the appointments of the local registrars may, to some extent,
influence the determination of the proper districts for registration.

" In case you, as the clerk to the board, should not yourself think fit to
undertake the office of superintendent registrar of the district, or should
not be deemed to possess the qualifications which the Registrar General
may, by any general order, declare to be necessary, or in case your ap-
pointment should not be approved by the Poor Law Commissioners, it
will then be the duty of the Guardians to appoint some other person who
possesses the requisite qualifications to be the superintendent registrar.
" It will next be the duty of the Guardians to appoint persons to be
registrars for each of the registrar's districts into which the union shall
have been divided.

" Each person appointed as a local registrar must possess such qualifi-
cations as the Registrar General may by any general rule declare to be
necessary. If the person appointed as registrar by the Guardians be an
officer of the union, his appointment will be subject to the approval of
the Poor Law Commissioners.

" The duties of the registration of the births, deaths, and marriages
(which it is expected on the average may be about twenty-nine births,
nineteen deaths, and seven marriages, in every thousand of the popula.
tion), will not in general suffice to occupy more than a small portion of
the time of any person within a district of convenient distance from the
local registrar, or from the superintendent registrar, and the probable
emoluments would be inadequate to obtain the exclusive services of a
person properly qualified; as the duties may also, in general, be conve-
niently performed by the paid officers of the union, from the tenor of the
Act it is suggested that it was the intention of the Legislature that the
several offices should be performed by the paid officers of the union,
where no obstacles to that arrangement exist.
" The Commissioners trust that when the time arrives for making
these appointments, the Guardians will appoint those officers whose
ordinary duties are the most consistent with the duties of regis-
tration. It appears by the schedule (B) appended to the afore-
said Act, that the Legislature has declared that in the registration
of deaths, the cause of death shall be recorded; it is evidently impor-
tant that this record should be made with care and exactness; and for
this purpose the Commissioners consider that the public would
derive advantage from the duties of the office of registrar being per-
formed by a medical officer of the union, when those duties are not in-
consistent with his engagements, and he may be disposed to perform
them.

" These officers will be the better qualified to perform these duties,
amongst other reasons, from having been accustomed, in pursance of
the orders of the Commissioners to keep a register of the sickness and
mortality amongst the classes in receipt of parochial relief, in which re-
gister it has been prescribed that the known or supposed cause of the
disease and death shall be recorded.

" Where the medical officers may decline accepting the office of regis-
trar, it appears to the Commissioners that the class of officers next best
qualified to perform the business of registration are the collectors of the
poor.rates appointed by the Board of Guardians.
" The Commissioners are of opinion that where paid collectors are
appointed, or may be appointed, to collect the rates fur the union, those
officers will, as compared with the relieving officers, possess superior
qualifications for the performance of the duties of the office of registrar,
inasmuch as the business ofcollection, with occasional and comparatively
rare exceptions, requires them to visit every house in the union, and in
the occasion of such visits gives them opportunities of making inquiries
with relation to the business of registration. The duties of the cam_
tors are in other respects regular, and it is also their duty to make en.
tries, as collectors, with exactness and regularity, which are the qualifi-
cations of a registrar.

" Where any medical officers are willing to accept the office of re-
gistrar, and an appointment is made from the officers of another class,
the Commissioners request that the reasons for the preference may be
stated to them, in order to judge of their adequacy, as grounds for the
approval of the appointment. So also where the paid collector of the
rates of the union is willing to accept the appointment (the medical
officers being unwilling), but a preference is given to an officer of another
class, it is requested that the grounds of the preference should be fully
stated.

" Where paid officers of the unions are appointed as registrars, it is
desirable that registrars' districts should as far as possible be made coin-
cident with the district of the officer appointed; that being usually a
district traversable from one extremity to another in the daily perfor-
mance of the duties of the office. Each district must, however, be
made coincident with known boundaries, such as those of parishes,
townships, or hamlets.
" The Commissioners have merely indicated such arrangements as it
appeared to them would be found most conformable to the business of the
union, and to the attainment of the objects of the Legislature, as re-
gards the business of registration.
" You will obtain by reference to the Act itself, the requisite infor-
mation as to the particular duties of the officers, and as to other material
points, which do not come within the province of the Commissioners.
" Signed, by order of the Board,
EDWIN CHADWICK, Secretary.
" To the Clerk of the Board of Guardians."

The following is a copy of a letter from the Secretary to the Poor-
Law Commissioners, in answer to an inquiry as to the formation of
temporary districts for registration :
" Poor. Law Commission Office, Somerset House, IS3ti.
" In reply to your letter of inquiry with relation to the appointment
of local registrar, the Poor-Law Commissioners for England and Wales
direct me to state that wherever there is any immediate prospect of
any parishes which are not placed under the control of a Board instituted
under the Poor-Law Amendment Act, being in the course of the pre-
sent year included in an Union, it will not be conducive to the objects of
the Legislature to form temporary districts for registration, or appoint
officers, or make other arrangements which must be superseded when
the parishes are placed under the control of Boards of Guardians.
" The Commissioners will not, therefore, exercise their power of ap-
pointing local registrars until, from the progress made by their Assis-
tant Commissioners, it should appear that the public business would be
more impeded by the delay in the formation of Unions, than by the
change of the arrangements when the temporary districts and the tem-
porary officers shall be snperseded by the paid officers of the new Unions.
I have the honor to be, Sir,

" Your very obedient servant,
"EDWIN CHADWICK, Secretary.
" The Commissioners are unable to inform you as to the time at which
any proceedings will probably be taken with relation to the district for
which you propose yourself as a local registrar."

NEW ACT for the REGISTRATION OF

BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, and DEATHS.

The following circular letter was on Saturday received by the clerks to
he Board of Guardians in the metropolis from the Secretary to the Poor
Law Commissioners; and it has, no doubt, been transmitted to the
Clerks of the other Boards of Guardians formed under the Poor Law
Amendment Act throughout the country

" Poor Law Commission °Moe, Sonaerset.hause,
" 9th September, 1536.
" sir,—The Poor Law Commissioners for England and Wales
transmit to you herewith a letter addressed to you by the registrar.
general. respecting the formation of registrars' districts, which they
trust will receive the same prompt attention which jou pay to the corn.
munications from this office.

" The Commissioners request that whether you do or do not accept
the office of superintendent-registrar in your union, and whether the
union officers are or are not eventually appointed registrars, the union
officers and yourself will give every possible assistance in carrying into
effect the directions of the registrar.general, and the object of the Act
under which he is appointed.
" Signed by order of the Board,
"EDWIN CHADWICK, Secretary.
" To the Clerk of the Board of Guardians.''

" ' London, Sept. 0, 11136.

" Sir—ln the recent Act of the 6th and 7th of William IV. cip.
86, for registering Births, Deaths, and Marriages, in England, it is enac-
ted, " That the guardians of every 'Union declared under the provisions
of an Act passed in the sth and 6th years of his present Majesty, in.
tituled an Act for the Amendment and better Administration of the
Laws relating to the Poor in England and Wales, and also of every
parish or place in which a board of guardians shall have been esta-
blished under the provisions of the last-named Act, shall on or before
the first day of October in this year, if the said board of guardians shall
have been established before the passing of this Act, or within three
calendar months next after the establishment of the board, if the said
board shall not have been established before the passing of this Act, di-
vide the union or the parish or place of which they are the guardians
into such and so many districts as they, subject to the approval of the
registrar.general, shall think fit.'' And it is further declared, " That
every such district shall be called by a distinct name, and shall be a re-
gistrar's district."
" In requesting you to call the attention of the guardians to this first
duty which devolues upon them, under the provisions of the aforesaid
Act, I dawn it expedient, with a view to the prevention of future
delay, to point out the nature and extent of the information respect-
ing such proposed divisions, with which I must be furnished before
I can feeljustified ie expressing either approval or dissent, and to
convey to you certain principles which it is desirable should as far as
possible be observed in the formation of registrars' districts.
" I request that the statements respecting the formation of regis.
trars' districts, which must be submitted to me for appproval on or be.
fore the Ist day of October in thepresent year, may contain the following
particulars respecting each proposed district :

- .
" ' 1. Azics..—State the number of acres or of square miles contained in
the proposed district, or, if no such measurement has been made,
state the extreme length, and the extreme and mean breadth.
" ' 2. POPULATION.—State the amount of thepopulation, according to the
census of 1831, adding the present number, if known, or the
computed ratio of increase since 1831.
"6 3. BOUND♦RlRs.—Describe the proposed boundaries of the registrar's
district, stating whether they coincide wholly or in part with
any ancient recognised boundaries, such as those of township,
parish, hundred, or county; whether they intersect any such
boundaries ; or whether they lie whollywithin them.
"' State, also, whether such proposed district coincides with any me-
dical or relieving district of the Union in which you officiate
formed under the provisions of the Act of 4th and sth of Wm.
IV., for the Amendment and better Administration of the Laws
relating to the Poor in England and Wales.
" State, also, whether any portion of the proposed district is detached.
" 4. NAislx.—State the distinguishing name by which the guardians
propose the registrar's district shall be called.
" It is requested that a statement respecting all the foregoing (cir-
cumstances may be made separately for each registrar's district into
which the union or the parish or place may be divided by the guardians
established therein ; and that the statements respecting all such districts
'n the union, &c., may be sent together by the post, directed to the Re-
gistrar General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages," at his office, London.
It must at the same time be stated that the foregoing districts together
form the whole union or parish or place, and that no part of it is ex.
eluded from such districts.
" 11. It is my wish that the guardians, in proceeding to the forma-
tion of registrars' districts, should not be unnecessarily fettered in the
exercise of their judgment, or be diverted from a due _ttention to local
peculiarities, by the supposed necessity of adhering rigidly to a precise
rule; but, inasmuch as it is desirable that uniformity of system, in so

far as it is practicable, should be attained, and that the chance of disap-
proval, and of the delay and trouble consequent thereupon, should, as
much as possible, be diminished, I deem it expedient to lay before
you certain principles, the observance of which will conduce to the de-
sirable attainment of that uniformity, and to the avoidance of those In-
conveniences.
" In determining the proper extent of a registrar's district, it is de-
sirable that area and population should be considered conjointly, and
each with reference to the other; that, when the population is dense, the
area should be proportionally contracted; that when it is thinly scattered:
over the country, the territorial extent should be proportionally increased.
,
The evident object of such a rule is to equalize the labours of the regis-
trar; for it is obvious that the births and deaths in a population closely
congregated within a town may be ascertained and registered by one per-
son with more ease and certainty than those of half the same amount of
population thinly scattered over an extensive tract of country.
" ' With respect to the amount of population which a registrar's dis-
trict may comprise, I am not disposed to require a very strict attention
to number. But I may state that when the population is of average den-
city, that district may be regarded as well adapted to the purposes °f
,
registration which contains about five thousand persons. It is true that
such a district (in which the entries of births and deaths will not amount
to three h undred in a year) will not fully occupy the time and attention
of a registrar ; but it must be remembered that the registrar will net
be a person occupied exclusively with the business of registration ; and
that it is of importance, not so much to ascertain the utmost that a single
registrar can perform, and to assign such a district as will fully eTploy
him, as to take care that neither the extent of territory, nor the amount
of population under his supervision, shall render it probable that any
birth or death can remain unnoticed.
" With respect to the boundaries it is desirable, both with a liCif to
facilitate the knowledge of the limits of the new district, and to avoid a
multiplicity and intermixture of divisions, that the boundaries of the
registrar's districts shall (when it is practicable, consistent with the at-
tainment of other objects) be identical with ancient recognised bounda-
ries, such as township or parish, and shall not unnecessarily intersect
them; but it is not desired that the limits of a district should be much
extended in order to make it coincident with any such ancient bound
dary. Facility of communication is of still greater importance than ad-
herence to an ancient boundary ; and compactness and connection of
territory must not be sacrificed for the sake of such adherence. Thus,
for example, a river extending far, without ford or bridge, may with
propriety be made part of the boundary of a registrar's district,
although
the parish, of which that district is a part, may not terminate at that
boundary. It is also expedient that a registrar's district should invaria-
bly be one connected portion of territory, and not consist of two or
more detatched portions.
"`Although it is advisable that the consideration of the immediate
(luty of division into registrars' districts, and that of the subsequent
duty of selecting fit persons for the office of registrar, shall as much as
po sible be kept distinct, yet it is right that your attention should Ire
directed to the 16th clause of the Act for Registering Births, Deaths,
and Marriages, which enjoins that every registrar shall dwell within the
district for which he is registrar. This provision should not be forgotten
in the formation of registrars' districts ; and as it is obvious that the
same registrar cannot be appointed for more than one district, it is de-
sirable that each district should contain persons whose characters for
intelligence, diligence, honesty, and regularity of conduct, and whose
ability to write and keep accounts with neatness and accuracy, may
render them, in the opinion of the guardians, capable of fulfilling the
duties of a registrar. Of the nature of these duties the guardians Mg
be sufficiently informed by inspection of the Act for Registering Births,
Deaths, and Marriages.
" It is recommended that the name by which the registrar's district
may be called shall be that of the parish or township, or of the largest
of two or snore parishes or townships contained in it ; or if two or more
districts shall be contained within one parish or township, then that
each shall be called by the name of some street, building, or place
within earls parish or township ; but that, invariably, the name given
shall be that of a place, and not of a person.
" It is desirable that the letter including a statement respecting the
formation of registrars' districts should refer exclusively to that subject.
There will be other subjects on which it will be my duty to address you,
which must be reserved for subsequent communication.
" If, before the receipt of this letter, you shall have already trans-
mated to me a statement of division into registrars' districts, as proPese4
by the board of guardians, and if such statement contains all those part'
eulars herein required, and if such proposed division has been made i 3
eonformity with the general principles herein expressed, and is one which
the guardians do not propose to alter, I do not request that the state-
ment shall be made to me again, but only that, in reply to this letter, Yed
shall notify the fact and period of such previous transmission, and informs
KC that such statement previously transmitted is that which the guar-
dians,
adopt as their final statement to be submitted for approval.
these particulars have been given only in part, it is requested that th/
remaining information may be afforded to me with as little delay as
possible.

" ' I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
" ' T. H. LISTEIt, Registrar.general.' "

On Wednesday morning, between ten and eleven
o'clock, the family of Mr. William Parry, of No. 5, Frederick'
place, Hampstead-road, was plunged into a state of deep
tion, by the following lamentable and fatal occurrence. Af
bottle, containing oil of vitriol, had just been placed out o
hands on a table, when Mr. Parry's youngest child, a fine boy
about three years of age, took it up unnoticed and droplets
portion of its contents. The screams of the child drew tue
attention of some of the family to what had happened, and nu
surgical assistance being directly obtained, it was found necer
sary to remove the boy to the North London Hospital, in
Upper Gower-street, Bedford-square, where Mr. Green, tue
house surgeon of the establishment, promptly introduced tho
usual antidotes into the stomach, by making an incision int°
the front part of the neck, the effect of the poison having coin:
pletely closed the throat. We regret, however, to state that
the coats of the stomach are so extensively injured, that no
hopes can be entertained of the child's surviving. Mrs. Parry
remains in a state of mind bordering on distraction, and much
anxiety is felt as to the effect it will produce on her health.
On Wednesday evening, at seven o'clock, a meet'
ing of master boot-makers, resident in the metropolis, took
place in the large room of the Crown and Anchor Tavern,
Strand, for the purpose of establishing a Provident and Bene-
volent Institution for affording relief to distressed
members,
their widows, and orphans. The meeting was most nume-
rously and respectably attended. Mr. Lloyd, of CoVentrY-
street, was in the chair. From the speeches of several gentle-
men who addressed the meeting, it appeared that the amount
collected by donations and bequests, and all other collections,
together with the first and second years' subscriptions, will be
invested in the English Funds, in the name of four trustees,
who shall be donors and subscribers, and the interest arising
therefrom be added to the principal, and suffered to accumu-
late until a fund be raised which, by a majority of the sub-
scribers, b
scribers, may be deemed sufficient to carry into effect the ufe.
sign of erecting almshouses, and of endowing them for of
benefit of master boot and shoe-makers, not under the agfiet.
fifty-six, and their widows, not being under the age of no
A series of rules for the government of the Society hav'n°
been agreed upon, the meeting separated.
last'
EFFECTS OF A DREAM.-011 Sunday night
David Henley, of No. 42, "Bermondsey-street, excavat°24:
while dreaming that the house was falling about his 61_,
rushed out of bed, and attempted to jump through the windo7,
in doing which the flesh of his left arm was most serion
llacerated with the broken glass. He was awoke by fee
the warm blood pouring down on his feet, and in a few seets,
he became quite insensible. He was removed to Guys but
pital, where every possible assistance was rendered him,
_OO
the wound having become gangrenous, amputation of the
at the shoulder was deemed indispensable, and on TuesdaY
operation was cleverly performed by Mr. Bransby CefPreed
but we regret to state that the patient is at present conslue
to be in imminent danger.
The longest steam voyage undertaken at present
l
from Falmouth to Corfu, being, being 1,900 miles, autaif
accomplished at an average speed of seven miles and a
WI hour.

re
SETS OF PLATED DISH coVERS, Wit°
STRONG SILVER EDGES, may be selected from of warki—:‘
Patterns, price 201. the Set, at T. COX SAVORY'S, Worland
Goldsmith, Silversmith, and Watchmaker, 47, Cornhill, Lon 16,
The Set consists of one cover 20 inches diameter, ono of le,
14, and 12 inches. riot
N.B. The SHOW-ROOM contains 'a large variety of ggei,ist
Silver-edged latd Goods. A Paphlet iven gratis, 10,110 oas ,
of Prices of Silver Spoons and Forks,m Silverg Plate, Plated ‘'
Watches, Clocks, &c.

BIRTHS.
On the 20th inst., in the Strand, the lady of R. Twining,Pr"
Esq., of a son.
On the 12th inst., at Geneva, the lady of D. T. Cunyngi'
Esq., of a daughter. lady of
On the 21st inst., in George-street Portman. square, the
ala 0.
Captain L. Smyth O'Connor, lst West India Regiment, of
•"'Ven..
On the 20th inst., in York-street, Portman-square, Airs.
rick Bacon, of a son. cortr
On the 22d inst., in Cadogan-place, Mrs. F. Vernon bar
of a daughter. of
On the 21st inst., the lady of Thomas Tyrwhitt Drake, Esq.'
a On dahter. „ore,
ug
the 22d inst., in Upper Seymour-street, Portrean-,,s'iocii,
the lady of Lieutenant-Colonel Walton, of the Coldstream uu
of a daughter.

MA RR lED. of the
On the 20th inst. at Hackney, Searle James Nash, -.ol"tioliter
Paragon, New Kent-road, to Elizabeth Wellman, eldest da
of G. Wedd, Esq., of Clapton. -uu Graf-
On the 21st inst., at Christ Church, St. Marylebone, 00,
ton Smith, Esq., of Fiume, near Trieste, to Carissirna St•
second daughter of the late John Slater, Esq of Halligsee'
John's-wood. gr.
O the 20th inst. at St. Helen's, Isle of Wight, Thomas
doch n Leacock, Esq.,, of Westbrook, to Agnes Mary, fourth daub
of J. Young, Esq., of Westridge. gales'
On the 21st inst., at St. George's, Hanover-square, Mar4ichara
Gordon, (laughter of G. J. Guthrie, Esq., to the Rev•fteetor
Dawes, late Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge, an°
of King's Samborne, Hants.
On the 20th inst., at St. George's, Hanover-square, Fre(frerricall'i
Shells, Esq., of Haltham-hill, to Frances Maria, eldest daug"
the late J. .arshall, Esq. voter6f
On the 19th inst., at Stoke Damerell Church, near Po.nlent, o.
Henry Vaughan Brooke, Esq., Captain in the 32d flog' „mar a'
Burgmoy, county of Donegal, to Augusta Mary, only clau,'
Major-General Sir Willoughby Cotton.
DIED. sged 52,
On the 18th inst., at Hastings, Henry Hoare, Esq"
only son of Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart., of Stour head,
aged 59:
On the 21st inst., in Charlotte-street, Bedford-square, f
Sarah, wife of Wm. Dunn, Esq. Ater °
At Walton-on-Thames, the Lady Anna Beresford,
the Dowager Countess of Tankerville. r ndoly COl-
of
On the 18th inst., aged 58, Mr. John Mather,
ney, Herts.
On the 20th inst., at Foundling-terrace, Gray's Inn-r°-
Mary, the wife of Mr. C. T. Depree, jun., aged 4.
_ling Co.
On the 18th inst., aged 54, Mr. John Hemingay,
graver. ,
50110'
et!
On the 10th inst., Philip Hill, Esq., of Greek-str
square, aged 70. Finch, ch,
On the 21st inst., Elizabeth, second daughter of J.
of Woburn-place, Russell-square. Ann, I°l'4-
:)n the 20th inst , at Upper Tooting;aged 17, Mary
est daughter of the late J. Lade, Esq., of Pitchin, flerts•gr. Job°
On the 19th inst., at Gibraltar-place, Chatham,' Kent'
Baker, of that place.
On the 17th inst., at Southampton, aged 64, gra•
Maul.

14°.
London: Printed and Published by MURDO YOVA,i; cottsitY
112, Strand, at The Sun Office, No. 110, Straw!, in ''""
of Bliddlesozi—Friday, September 23, 11186.