Non-Parochial Registers Act 1840
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
(3 & 4 Vict.) C A P. XCII.
[10th August 1840]
'WHEREAS by a Commission under the Great Seal, bearing Date the Thirteenth Day ofSeptember in the Seventh Year of the Reign of His late Majesty, certain Persons therein named were appointed Commissioners for inquiring into the State, Custody, and Authenticity of any Registers or Records of Births or Baptisms, Deaths or Burials, and Marriages lawfully solemnized, as had been kept in England and Wales , other than the Parochial Registers, and the Copies thereof deposited with the Diocesan Registrars, and for inquiring whether any and what Measures could be beneficially adopted for collecting and arranging and depositing such Registers or Records, and for considering and advising the proper Measures to be adopted for giving full Force and Effect as Evidence in all Courts of Justice to all such Registers as were found accurate and faithful, and for facilitating the Production and Reception of the same; and by another Commission under the Great Seal, issued in the First Year of Her present Majesty, the Powers and Duties of the said Commissioners were continued: And whereas there are now about Seven thousand Registers in the Custody of the said Commissioners, which by their Report to Her Majesty, bearing Date the Eighteenth Day of June One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, they have recommended to be kept together in some secure Place of Deposit, and to be deemed to be in legal Custody, and to be receivable in Evidence in all Courts of Justice, subject to certain Conditions and Restrictions therein recommended:' Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That the Registrar General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages inEngland shall receive, and deposit in the General Register Office, all the Registers and Records of Births, Baptisms, Deaths, Burials, and Marriages now in the Custody of the Commissioners appointed by Her Majesty as aforesaid, and which they have by their said Report recommended to be kept in some secure Place of Deposit, and also the several Registers and Records mentioned in the Schedules (H.), (I.), (P.), and (Q.), annexed to the said Report of the said Commissioners, and also such other Registers as are herein-after directed to be deposited with him: Provided that none of the said Registers or Records not already in the Custody of the said Commissioners shall be received by the Registrar General, unless the Person or Persons now having the Custody thereof shall, within Three Calendar Months from the passing of this Act, send the same to the said Commissioners for Examination by them.
II Continuance of Commissioners for 12 Months.
II. And be it enacted, That such of the said Commissioners as are now living shall be continued Commissioners for the Purposes herein-after mentioned for the Space of Twelve Calendar Months from the passing of this Act, and they are hereby authorized, from Time to Time during the said Twelve Months, to inquire into the State, Custody, and Authenticity of every Register or Record of Birth, Baptism, Naming, Dedication, Death, Burial, and Marriage which shall be sent to them within Three Calendar Months from the passing of this Act, and such as they shall find accurate and faithful they shall certify under the Hands and Seals of Three or more of them (of whom the Registrar General shall not be One) as fit to be placed with the other Registers and Records hereby directed to be deposited in the said Office; and the Registrar General, upon receiving the said Certificate of the said Commissioners, accompanied by an Order of One of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, shall receive such Registers and Records, and deposit them with the Registers and Records which are now in the Custody of the said Commissioners.
III Declaratory Provisions as to the General Register Office.
III. And be it enacted, That every Office or Place where any Registers or Records which by this or any other Act are directed to be in the Custody of the Registrar General shall be deposited by Direction of the Registrar General, with the Approval of the Lord High Treasurer, or Three or more Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, shall be deemed to be a Branch or Part of the General Register Office, so long as such Registers or Records shall remain therein, and the Execution of this Act shall be deemed to be a Part of the Business of the General Register Office.
IV Commissioners to identify the Registers deposited.
IV. And be it enacted, That the said Commissioners shall from Time to Time deliver to the Registrar General a descriptive List or Lists of all the Registers and Records now in their Custody, and also of all the Registers and Records which shall be so certified as fit to be placed with the other Registers and Records in the General Register Office, containing such Particulars, and referring to the Registers and Records in such Manner, as in the Opinion of the Registrar General shall be sufficient to identify every such Register and Record; and Three or more of the said Commissioners, (of whom the Registrar General shall not be One,) shall certify under their Hands, upon some Part of every separate Book or Volume containing any such Register or Record, that it is one of the Registers or Records deposited in the General Register Office pursuant to this Act, and in every Case in which the Commissioners shall certify to the Registrar General as aforesaid that certain Parts only of such Registers or Records appear to them to be original or authentic, the Commissioners shall refer in the descriptive List or Lists, and also in the Certificate upon such Book or Volume, to those Parts, in such Manner as to identify them to the Satisfaction of the Registrar General.
V Lists to be made; which shall be open to Search;
V. And be it enacted, That the Registrar General shall cause Lists to be made of all the Registers and Records which may be placed in his Custody by virtue of this Act; and every Person shall be entitled, on Payment of the Fees herein-after mentioned, to search the said Lists, and any Register or Record therein mentioned, between the Hours of Ten in the Morning and Four in the Afternoon of every Day, exceptSundays and Christmas Day and Good Friday , but subject to such Regulations as may be made from Time to Time by the Registrar General, with the Approbation of One of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, and to have a certified Extract of any Entry in the said Registersor...
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