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general sessions, and that they should then be ac-
counted one parish as to the matters only of the
Act ; and that for such parishes and places so united
one register should serve; and also provided, that
all subsisting register-books should be delivered, to
be kept as records by the registers appointed under
that Act. Until after the Restoration, the provi•
sions of this Act were found perfectly practicable,
and were carried into useful effect ; and in vestry

,
many parishes, notwithstanding all the prejudices
against the measure, the books continue to be fairly
preserved.

After the revolution, and in the reign of William
111., several Acts were passed to enforce, not a re•
gistry of baptisms, but of births, and also of mar-
riages and burials, as a source of revenue to the
state ; for by an Act 6 and 7 William 111., c. 6,
(1694), an Act granting his Majesty certain rates
and duties on marriages, births, and burials, the
clergy were compelled, under a penalty of 100/. for
neglect, to take an exact and true account, and
keep a register of all persons married, buried, chris-
tened, or born in their respective parishes, and the
collectors, and all persons concerned, were to have
free access to them without fee or reward. Under
this Act, it will be perceived that the clergy were
compelled to act gratuitously, as civil officers, and to
collect information of the births of all children born
within their parishes, to whatever religious denomi-
nation the parents might belong, and quite irrespec-
tive of any baptismal rite performed by them, or by
any ministers dissenting from their church. This
duty having been found too onerous, and informa-
tion as to births being unattainable by clergymen,
since the parents by concealment eluded payment of
the tax, the Act 7 and 8 William 111. c. 35 (1695)
provided that the parents of every child should,
within five days after birth, give notice to the
clergyman of the day of the birth of such child,
tinder a penalty of 40s. ; and the clergyman
should, under a like penalty, take an account of and
keep a distinct register of every child born and not
christened, for doing which the parents were to pay
6d. to him. Ultimately this tax was discontinued ;
but in 1783 (23 Geo. 111., c. 67) a stamp duty of
3d. was imposed on every entry of burials, marriages,
births, or christenings, to be demanded by each cler-
gyman from the undertaker or parties married, or the
parents of a child whose birth or christening was
registered : and by the 25 Geo. 111., c. 75, the Act
was extended to dissenting ministers, whose registra-
tions of births or baptisms or burials were so recog-
nized bylaw. In 1794, however, this Act was also
repealed, and at present the parochial registries for
baptisms and burials are regulated by the Act 52
Geo. 111., c. 146, passed in 1812, and commonly
called Sir George Rose's Act. This Act is entitled
" An Act for better regulating and preserving parish
and other registers of births, baptisms, marriages, and
burials in England." It directs (sec. 1.) officiating
ministers to keep registers of public and private bap-
tisms, of marriages, and of burials. (Sec. 2.) King's
printer to transmit to each parish a printed copy and
register books, adapted to forms prescribed. (Sec. 3.)
Registers to be kept in separate books, and signed
within seven days after each ceremony was per-
formed. (Sec. 4.) Certain forms to be observed
where the ceremony is not performed in the parochial
church or church-yard. (Sec. 5.) Register-books to be
kept by officiating minister in an iron chest, provided
at the parochial expense, and whence they may not
be removed. (Sec. 6.) Annual copies to be made,
and by the officiating minister verified and signed,
arid by the churchwardens attested. (Sec. 7.)
Such copies to be yearly transmitted to the registrars
of each diocese by the churchwardens, by post.
(Sec. 8.) Diocesan registrars to report to the
Bishops yearly thereon. (Sec. 9.) In case of neglect
by officiating ministers to verify and sign, church-
wardens to certify his default. (Sec. 10.) Where
there are no churches, a memorandum of each
baptism and burial to be delivered to the officiating
minister of an adjoining parish. (Sec. 11.) Letters
containing annual copies to go by the post, and free
from postage. (Sec. 12.) Annual copies trans-
mitted to registrars to be safely deposited and
secured from damage or destruction by fire, and
carefully arranged for reference ; and the registrars
to cause alphabetical lists of all persons and places
to be made, and kept, and to be open for search.
(Sec. 13.) A report to be made before the Ist of
March, 1813, to the Privy Council, of the state of
every place where copies of parochial registrars and
wills are preserved, and their protection from damp
and safety from fire. (Sec. 14.) Persons making
false entries or wilfully defacing or destroying
register books, to be guilty of felony, and trans-
ported for fourteen years. (Sec. 15.) But punish-
ment not to attach for accidental errors. (Sec. 16.)
Accustomed fees to continue. (Sec. 17.) Annual
copies not to he subject to any stamp duty. (Sec.
18.) One half the penalties levied under the Act
to go to the informer, and the remainder either to
the poor of the parish or to such charitable pur-
poses as the Bishops direct. (Sec. 19 ) List of
all extant register•books to be transmitted by offi-
ciating minister before the Ist of June, 1813, to dio-
cesan registrar. And (Sec. 20.) the provisions to
extend to cathedrals and collegiate churches, and to
extra parochial chapels.

On this extraordinary statute the whole system
of parochial registration at present depends ; and
that it is extraordinary will appear, if reference be
made to this title, which includes a register of births,
for which no provision was framed, and which can-
not legally be kept; to the clauses directing the la-
bours of receiving and arranging and indexing ail
the copies of registers, and making.reports to the
bishops by the diocesan registrars, for which no
compensation is awarded ; and to the clause for ap-
propriating penalties which are not imposed, and of
which the only one directed is transportation, which
no informer would desire to share, nor any charity
to partake. Connected with the statute law, are
cases which should not be unknown. Those cases
have decided-Ist, that entries of births made by
clergymen, on the representation of parents, in re-
gisters of baptisms, are not evidence of birth, and
that, as evidence, the entries cannot be read ; 2d,
that entries in register-books occasionally made up
from memoranda, and from day or rough books
used in many parishes, cannot be received in evi-
dence ; and 3d, that while copies from parish re-
gisters may be evidence without the production of
the originals, as the books are in the nature of pub•
lie documents and record!, yet copies of Dissenters'
registers of birth or baptism are not evidence, and
that their registers of burials are no evidence of
deaths.

The laws relating to parochial registration being
thus ascertained, your Committee have endea-
voured to collect facts and opinions as to the excel-
lence or defects of the law; as to their practical
operation ; as to their merits when compared with
the institutions and practice of foreign countries;'
as to the necessity and advantages of an improved
and general registration; and as to the means of
attaining that desirable end.
To procure and supply such information, they
have examined witnesses in different situations, and
they refer to the valuable testimony received from
clergymen of the Established Church—from gen-
tlemen of the legal profession—from authors devoted
to antiquarian researches—from persons of diffe-
rent religious denominations, including Catholics,
Dissenters, Jews, Quakers, Methodists, and parish
clerks—from gentlemen eminently scientific, and
attached to statistical inquiries—from medical au-
thorities, who have long desired ampler and more
accurate information on the extent and causes of
mortality—and from an eminent foreigner, distin-
guished for extensive and accurate statistical intelli-
gence ; and others whose wide-spreading inquiries
in foreign countries, and peculiar facilities of infor-
mation, entitled them to respect. From these wit-
nesses they have obtained the forms of the reg is-1
tration of baptisms and burials used. by English Ca-
tholics—of birth, marriage,
Quakers—of e,antdiiterment by the
Jews, and the Society birth used
by Protestant Dissenters at Dr. Williams's General
Register of Births—and of birth and baptism which
the Wesleyan Methodists adopt; and also various
forms which, as improvements on the present

terms, Mr. Black, Mr. Burn, Mr. Cooper, and Mr.
Edgar Taylor, have suggested, and which are an-
nexed to the report.
By the prompt and obliging assistance of the
Foreign-office, they have, too, obtained accounts
(also annexed), of the formulw or laws as to regis-
tration existing in Austria, in Belgium, at Berne, in
France, at Geneva, in Prussia, and in Spain. In
Spain the forms are superior to our own ; as the
native places of persons married, and the names of
their parents, are inserted in the registries of mar-
riages ; and in registers of baptisms the native
places of both parents, and the names and birth-
places of the paternal grandfather and mother are
also introduced. An alphabetical index to each
book is also prepared. At Berne, the time of the
birth of the child, the maiden name of the mother,
and the marriage-place of the parents appear in the
baptismal register, and the maiden name of the
female appears in the registers of deaths. In Aus-
tria, though the Catholic clergy exercise the func-
tions of registrars, they insert equally and indiscri-
minately the names of the Protestant inhabitants
with those of the Catholics, and in the tables columns
are arranged for the entry whether the parents are
of the Catholic or Protestant faith. There the ac-
curate keeping of the registers is deemed very im-
portant, and the regulations are strict and minute.
The registers are of births. :Midwives and accou-
cheurs are to notify the event to the registrar under
legal penalties, and a forfeiture of the right to ex-
ercise their profession. The maiden name of the
mother is inserted ; and in the register of mortality
the date of death, the age of the deceased, and
the malady and mode of death, are also set forth,
and there is either an inspection of the dead, or
the physicians in ordinary and local surgeons are
bound to inform the minister in writing, of the
distemper of each patient whom they have attend-
ed. Bishops, on visitations, are obliged to require
the production of the registers, and provincial au-
thorities to ascertain that they duly are kept ; and
at the conclusion of each year the registrar is to
extract an annual list from each register, divided in
columns and in regular forms, and to transmit the
same to the Office of Conscriptions, and to the
Office of the Circle, and which last is similar to
our Sessional Court, and to the Office of the De-
partrr ental Prefect in France. In Prussia, except
the Rhenish provinces, the custody of the registers
is confided officially to the clergyman of the parish,
among Christians, and to the elders among the
Jews; and there are correctional, and even criminal
penalties imposed on these registrars for neglect,
or for fraudulent subtraction or forgery. But
though the parochial clergyman be appointed, it is
his duty to enter the births, marriages, and deaths,
of persons who are not of the Established Church,
but who are " simply tolerated," on the declara-
tion of the parties or their ministers, and to include
these declarations in his annual returns. In bap-
tismal registers the day and hour of birth is intro-
duced ; in registers of marriages, the names of the
fathers of the bridegroom and the bride; and in
registers of deaths, its day and hour, the age of
the decease, the disease and cause of death, and
the names of the heirs, if known, also appear. The
entry is required to be immediate after a ceremony
is performed or notified : it is to be neatly and legi-
bly written; the dates are to be expressed in let-
ters; a duplicate is to be made, and at the end of
each year is to be deposited, when examined and
verified, in the local civil court, being " the tribunal
of the place."
Many of the regulations in all these countries are
excellent and imitable, but the law and practice in
France may be justly preferred, introduced in Les
Ging Codes, of Napoleon. The regulations as to
marriages, births, and deaths are included in Le
Code Civil, liv. 1, and the details and operation ap-
pear in the appendix to the report, as to Geneva
and France, and in the testimonies of Dr. Bowring
Mr. Finlayson, and Mr. Adolphe Quetelet. These,
regulations record marriages as civil arrangements,
and treat the registers of births and deaths as
a purely civil affair. They do not prescribe or in-
terfere with any religious ceremonies or observances
of the Catholics or Protestants on the celebration
of marriages, or on baptisms Of interments, and
allow the most perfect religious choice to every
member of the state; but they require as to births,
that within three days every child should be pro-
duced to the registrar or civil officer of the parish or
commune, and that an entry be made—as to mar-
riage, that the place of celebration, the names of the
parties, and their respective parents, should be ex-,
pressed—and as to deaths, that no interments take
place without previous notice to the registrar or
civil officer of the parish or commune, and a
written authority from him, after he shall have
recorded (on testimony of two witnesses, be-
ing the nearest friends or relations of the de-
ceased) his name, age, profession, and abode ;
the day, hour, and place of his death ; the names of
his wife ; and also, if possible, the names of his
parents, and the place of his birth. These registers
are compulsory and universal. They are kept by
a civil officer in every commune, of which there are
forty thousand in France. Their accuracy and re-
gularity are most carefully assured. Duplicates are
kept and closed at the end of each year with for-
malities that preclude interpolation. Tabular al-
phabetical indexes are annually formed. One copy
of the duplicates and indexes remains in the records
of the parish or commune, and the other is trans-
mitted to the tribunal of the district, where it is
examined arid placed under the superintendence of
the Procureur de Roi, or the local officer of the
Crown. From all these local documents another
complete alphabetical index, and a quinquennial or
decennial analysis, are made ; and statistical docu-
ments result to furnish the useful information as to
the movement of population which philanthropists,
and wise statesmen, and good Governments desire.
But as it might be apprehended that these regula-
tions, though of public utility, might be productive
of individual and social vexation, and considerable
expense, it is important to know that the system is
deemed throughout France an individual and social
benefit, and is neither evaded nor disliked. And it
is also important to know, that in Geneva, in the
Rhenish provinces of Prussia, arid in Belgium, where
the regulations were introduced when those countries
were subjugated by France, they are still tenaciously
retained, though the countries have long since be-
come independent, and might have returned to the
forms they previously observed ; and that in Bel-
gium, after the last revolution in 1830, an attempt
was made to restore the clerical registrars by the
parochial Catholic clergy, but that it was frustrated
by the decided exertions of the nation, who would
not consent to the change. There the regi,trations
are gratuitous; and since that revolution these re-
gistrations are rendered additionally independent of
religious opinions; anti though the clergy are allowed
to record births, marriages, and deaths, when they
are called in to perform religious ceremonies, yet their
inscriptions and memoranda are purely ecclesiastical
arid have no official character in civil affairs. There,'
too, it has been stated with pleasure by the Belgian
Minister for Foreign Affairs, the humblest indivi-
dual may trace his parentage and the origin of his
family, as well as the most illustrious personages
who possess genealogies, the result of laborious re-
search. The entries prescribed by these excellent
and widely adopted regulations of the French code
might, however, be improved by simplification, and
by the adoption of tabular forms.*
From this inquiry and general survey, and from
the concurrent representations incidentally made by
the Commissioners on real property, in their re-
p; by yetolmiepporsoevdinocfia4l,oomemdteemal,bearnsd, saisirsgeimeablleadssao-t
Bristol ; and by the factory commissioners, arid even
tehxeaampipneenddibxy)yotrcno(mamndittealel
some
hmi
ceh oafr
et hi
nee pu edresdo ni
ns
have arrived at the conclusions-
1. Teat the subj,ct is urgently important.
2. That it involves matters of great public and national
interest, as well as individual satisfaction, and rights and

* Since the preparation of the report, documents and for.
muhe have also been received from Denmark, Holland, Na
pies, Sweden, and Tuscany, by which the conclusions of the
Committee are clearly confirmed.