A transcript of the 1812 Act for
the regulating and preserving Parish and other Registers in England
CAP.
CXLVI.
An Act for the better regulating and preserving Parish and other Registers of Births,
Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, in England [28th July 1812.]
Whereas the amending the Manner and Form of
keeping and of preserving Registers of Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials of His
Majesty's Subjects in the several Parishes and Places in England, will greatly
facilitate the Proof of Pedigrees of Persons claiming to be entitled to Real or
Personal Estates, and be otherwise of great public Benefit and Advantage ; be
it therefore enacted by the King's 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 from and after the
Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and twelve,
Registers of Public and Private Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, solemnized
according to the Rites of the United Church of England and Ireland,
within all Parishes or Chapelries in England, whether subject to the Ordinary,
or Peculiar, or other Jurisdiction, shall be made and kept by the Rector,
Vicar, Curate, or Officiating Minister of every Parish (or of any Chapelry
where the Ceremonies of Baptism, Marriage, and Burial have been usually, and
may according to Law be performed) for the Time being, in Books of Parchment or
of good and durable Paper, to be provided by His Majesty's Printer as Occasion
may require, at the Expence of the respective
Parishes or Chapelries ; whereon shall be printed, upon each Side of every
Leaf, the Heads of Information herein required to be entered in the Registers
of Baptism, Marriages, and Burials respectively, and every such Entry shall be
numbered progressively from the Beginning to the End of each Book, the First
Entry to be distinguished by Number One ; and every such Entry shall be divided
from the Entry next following by a printed Line, according to the Forms
contained in the Schedules(A.) (B.) (C.) hereto annexed ;
and every Page of every such Book shall be numbered with progressive Numbers,
the First Page being marked with the Number 1. in the
Middle of the upper Part of such Page, and every subsequent Page being marked
in like Manner with progressive Numbers, from Number 1. to
the End of the Book.
II. And for better ensuring the Regularity
and Uniformity of such Register Books, be it further enacted, That a printed
Copy of this Act, together with one Book so prepared as aforesaid, and adapted
to the Form of the Register of Baptisms prescribed in Schedule (A.) to this Act
annexed ; and also one other Book so prepared as aforesaid, and adapted to the
Form prescribed for the Register of Marriages in Schedule (B.) to this Act
annexed ; and also one other Book so prepared as aforesaid , and adapted to the
Form prescribed for the Register of Burials in the Schedule (C.) to this Act
annexed, shall, as soon as conveniently may be after the passing of this Act,
be provided and transmitted by His Majesty's Printer to the Officiating
Ministers of the several Parishes and Chapelries in England
respectively, who are hereby required to use and apply the same in and to the
Purposes of this Act ; and such Books respectively shall be proportioned to the
Population of the several Parishes and Chapelries, according to the last
Returns of such Population made under the Authority of Parliament ; and other
Books of like Form and Quality shall for the like Purposes be furnished from
Time to Time by the Churchwardens or Chapelwardens of
every Parish or Chapelry, at the Expence of the said
Parish or Chapelry, whenever they shall be required by the Rector, Vicar, or
Curate, or Officiating Minister to provide the same ; and all such Books shall
be of Paper, unless required to be of Parchment by such Churchwardens or Chapelwardens respectively.
III. And be it further
enacted, That such Registers shall be kept in such separate Books aforesaid,
and that every such Rector, Vicar, or Curate, or officiating Minister shall as
soon as possible after the Solemnization of every Baptism, whether Private or
Public, or Burial, respectively shall record and enter in a fair and legible
Handwriting, in the proper Register Book to be provided, made, and kept at any
said, the several Particulars described in the several Schedules herein before
mentioned, and sign the same ; and in no Case, unless prevented by Sickness, or
other unavoidable Impediment, later than within Seven Days after the Ceremony
of any such Baptism or Burial shall have taken place
IV. And be it further
enacted, that whenever the Ceremony of Baptism or Burial shall be performed in
any other Place than the Parish Church or Church Yard of any Parish (or Chapel
or Chapel Yard of any Chapelry providing its own distinct Registers) and such
Ceremony shall be performed by any Minister not being the Rector, Vicar,
Minister, or Curate of such parish or Chapelry, the Minister who shall perform
such Ceremony of Baptism or Burial shall, on the same or the next day, transmit
to the Rector, Vicar, or other Minister of such Parish or Chapelry, or his
Curate, a Certificate of such Baptism or Burial in the Form contained in the
Schedule (D.) to this Act annexed, and the Rector, Vicar, Minister, or Curate
of such Parish or Chapelry, shall thereupon enter such Baptism or Burial
according to such Certificate in the Book kept pursuant to this Act for such
Purpose ; and shall add to
such Entry the following Words, “According to the
Certificate of the Reverend
“transmitted
to me on the Day of .”
V. And be it further enacted, That the
several Books wherein such Entries shall respectively be made, and all Register
Books heretofore in use, shall be deemed to belong to every such Parish or chapelry respectively, and shall be kept by, and remain in
the power and Custody of the Rector, Vicar, Curate, or other Officiating minister of each
respective Parish or Chapelry as aforesaid, and shall be by him safely and
securely kept in a dry well-painted Iron Chest, to be provided and repaired as
Occasion may require, at the expence of the Parish or
Chapelry, and which said Chest containing the said Books shall be constantly
kept locked in some dry, safe and secure Place within the usual Place of
residence of such Rector, Vicar, Curate, or other Officiating Minister (if
resident, within the Parish or Chapelry) or in the Parish Church or Chapel ;
and the said books shall not, nor shall any of them be taken or removed from or
out of the said Chest at any Time or for any cause whatever, except for the
purpose of making such Entries therein as aforesaid, or for the Inspection of
Persons desirous to make search therein, or to obtain Copies from or out of the
same, or to be produced as Evidence in some Court of Law or Equity, or to be
inspected as to the State and Condition thereof, or for some of the Purposes of
this Act ; and that immediately after making such respective Entries, or
producing the said Books respectively for the Purposes aforesaid, the said
Books shall forthwith again be safely and securely deposited in the said Chest.
VI. And be it further enacted, That at the
Expiration of Two Months after the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and thirteen, and at the
Expiration of Two Months after the End of every subsequent Year, fair Copies of
all Entries of the several Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, which have been
solemnized or shall have taken place within the Year preceding, shall be made
by the Rector, Vicar, Curate, or other resident or Officiating Minister, (or by
the Churchwardens, Chapelwardens, Clerk, or other
Person duly appointed for the Purpose under and by the Direction of such
Rector, Vicar, Curate, or other resident or Officiating Minister,) on
Parchment, in the same Form as prescribed in the Schedules hereunto annexed (to
be provided by the respective parishes) ; and the Contents of such Copies shall
be verified and signed in the Form following, by the Rector, Vicar, Curate, or other Officiating Minister of the Parish
or Chapelry to which such respective register Book shall appertain :
‘I A.B.
Rector [or, as the Case may be] of
the Parish of C. [or Chapelry of D.] in the
Day of
are true Copies of all the several Entries in the said several Register
Books respectively from the said
Day of to the said Day of ;(and that no other
Entry during such Period is contained in any such Books respectively,) are
truly made according to the best of my Knowledge and Belief.
‘ Signed A.B.’
Which Declaration shall be fairly written,
without any Stamp. On the said Copy immediately after
the last Entry therein ; and the Signature to such declaration shall be
attested by the Churchwardens or Chapelwardens, or
One of them, of the Parish or Chapelry to which the such Register Books shall
belong.
VII. And be it further enacted, That Copies
of the said Register Books, verified and attested as aforesaid, shall, whether
such Parish or Chapelry shall be subject to the Ordinary, Peculiar, or other
Jurisdiction, be transmitted by such Churchwardens or Chapelwardens,
after they, or One of them, shall have signed the same, by the Post, to the
Registrars of each Diocese in England within which the Church or Chapel shall
be situated, on or before the First Day of June
One thousand eight hundred and fourteen, and on or before the First Day of June in every subsequent year.
VIII. And be it further enacted, That the
Registrar of every Diocese in England
shall, on or before the First day of July
One thousand eight hundred and fourteen, and on or before the First Day of July in every subsequent Year, make a
Report to the Bishop of such Diocese, whether the Copies of the registers of
the Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, in the several parishes and Places within
such Diocese, have been sent to such Registrar, in the Manner and within the
Time herein required ; and in the Event of any Failure of the Transmission of
the Copies of the Registers as herein required, by the Churchwardens and Chapelwardens of any Parish or Chapelry in England, the Registrar shall state the
Default of the Parish or Chapelry specially in his Report to the Bishop.
IX. And be it further enacted, That in case
the Rector, Vicar or other Officiating Minister or Curate of any Parish or Chapelry
shall neglect or refuse to verify and sign such Copies of such several Register
Books, and such Declaration as aforesaid, so that the Churchwardens or Chapelwardens shall not be able to transmit the same, as
required by this Act, such Churchwardens or Chapelwardens
shall, within the Time required by this Act for the Transmission thereof,
certify such Default to the Registrar of the Diocese within which such Parish
or Chapelry shall be, who shall specially state the same in his Report to the
Bishop of such Diocese.
X. And, for obtaining of Returns and
Registers of Baptisms and Burials in Extraparochial
Places in England, where there is no Church or Chapel, be it further
enacted, That in all Cases of the Baptism of any Child, or the Burial of any
Person in any Extra-parochial Place in England, according to the Rites of the
Established Church, where there is no Church or Chapel, it shall be lawful for
the officiating Minister within One Month after such Baptism or Burial, to
deliver to the Rector, Vicar, or Curate of such Parish immediately adjoining to
the Place in which such Baptism or Burial shall take place, as the Ordinary
shall direct, a Memorandum of such Baptism or Burial, signed by such Parent of
the Child baptized, or a Memorandum of such Burial, signed by the Person
employed about the same, together with Two of the Persons attending the same,
according as the Nature of the Case may respectively require ; and every such
Memorandum respectively shall contain all such Particulars as are herein before
required ; and every such Memorandum delivered to the Rector, Vicar, Curate of
any such adjoining Parish or Chapelry, shall be entered in the Register of his
Parish, and form a Part thereof.
XI. And be it further enacted, That the
Superscription upon all Letters and Packets containing the Copies of such
Parish or other Registers, to be transmitted by the Post to the several Offices
of the said Registrars as aforesaid, shall be indorsed and signed by the
Churchwardens or Chapelwardens of every respective
Parish and Chapelry in England, in
the Form contained in Schedule (E.) ; and that all such Letters and Packets
shall be carried and conveyed by Means of His Majesty’s Post Office to, and be
delivered at the Offices of the said Registrars, without Postage or other
Charge being paid or payable for the same.
XII. And be it further enacted, That when and
so often the Copies of the said Register Books of Baptisms, Marriages and
Burials as aforesaid, and also the said Lists of Births, Baptisms, Marriages,
or Burials as aforesaid, shall be transmitted to the Office of the said
Registrars respectively as aforesaid, pursuant to the Directions here-in before
contained for that Purpose, the said Registrars shall respectively cause all
the said Books and Lists to be safely and securely deposited, kept, and
preserved from Damage or Destruction by Fire or otherwise, and to be carefully
arranged for the Purpose of being resorted to as Occasion may require ; and the
said Registrars respectively shall also cause correct alphabetical Lists to be
made and kept in Books suitable to the Purpose, of the Names of all Persons and
Places mentioned in such Books and Lists as shall have been transmitted to the
said Registrars respectively, which alphabetical Lists and Books, and also Copies
of Registers and Lists so transmitted to the said Registrars as aforesaid,
shall be open to public Search at all reasonable Times on Payment of the usual
Fees.
XIII. And whereas in many Dioceses the Places
wherein the Copies of the Parochial Registers of Baptisms, Marriages, and
Burials, as well as the original Wills proved within the same respectively, are
kept are insufficient for their being preserved with due Care ; for which a
Remedy should be applied in those Dioceses where it shall be found necessary ;
be it further enacted, That in order to a due Examination thereof, the Bishop,
together with the Custodes Rotulorum
of the several Counties within each Diocese, and the Chancellor thereof, shall
before the First Day of February One thousand eight hundred and thirteen, cause
a Careful survey to be made of the several Places in which the Parochial
Registers, and the Wills proved within the Diocese, are kept ; and shall make a
Report to His Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council, of the State of the same,
on or before the First Day of March following, setting forth in each Case
whether the Buildings are in all Respects fit and proper for the Preservation
of Papers of the above Description, as well as with respect to Space as to
Security from Fire, and to Protection from Damp, and if not, at what probable Expence they can be made so ; and where the Instruments and
Papers before mentioned are kept in Dwellinghouses or
other Places, which cannot be made fit and secure for the due Preservation
thereof, then and in such Case the Persons before named shall enquire and
report in a like Manner at what Expence proper
Buildings may be provided, and inn what Places, so as to have one Place within
each Diocese for the due Preservation of all such Registers and Wills ; together
with their Opinion upon the most suitable Mode of remunerating the Officers
employed in each Registry, for their additional Trouble and Expence
in carrying the Provisions of this Act into Execution.
XIV. And be it further enacted, That if any
Person shall knowingly and wilfully insert, or cause, or permit to be inserted
in any such Register Book of such Baptisms, Burials, and Marriages as
aforesaid, or in any such copy of any such Register so directed to be
transmitted to the Registrars as aforesaid, or in any such Lists or
Declarations also directed to be transmitted to such Registrars as aforesaid,
any false Entry of any Matter or Thing relating to any Baptism, Burial or
Marriage, or shall falsely make, alter, forge, or counterfeit, or cause or procure,
or wilfully permit to be falsely made, altered, forged, or counterfeited, any
Part of any such Register, List, or Declaration or of any such Copy of any such
Register ; or shall wilfully destroy, deface, or injure, or cause, or procure,
or permit to be destroyed, defaced, or injured, any such register Book, or any
Part thereof ; or shall knowingly and wilfully sign, or certify any Copy of any
such Register, hereby required to be transmitted as aforesaid, which shall be
false in any Part thereof, knowing the same to be false ; every person so
offending, and being thereof lawfully convicted, shall be deemed and adjudged
to be guilty of felony, and shall be Transported for the Term of Fourteen Years
XV. Provided always, and be it enacted, That
no Rector, Vicar or other Officiating Minister or Curate of any Parish or
Chapel, who shall discover any Error to have been committed in the Form or
Substance of the Entry in the Register Book of such Baptism, Burial, or
Marriage, respectively by him solemnized, shall be liable to all or any of the
Penalties herein mentioned, if he shall within One Calendar Month after the
Discovery of such Error, in the Presence of the Parent or Parents of the Child
whose Baptism may have been entered in such Register, or of the Parties
married, or in the Presence of Two Persons who shall have attended at any
Burial, or in the case of the Death or Absence of the respective Parties
aforesaid, then in the Presence of the Churchwardens or Chapelwardens,
(who shall respectively attest the same), alter and correct the Entry which
shall have been found erroneous, according to the Truth of the Case, by Entry
in the Margin of the Book wherein such erroneous Entry shall have been made,
without any Alteration or Obliteration of the original Entry, and shall sign
such Entry in the Margin, and add to such Signature the Day of the Month and
Year when such Correction shall be made : Provided also, that in the fair Copy
of the Registers respectively which shall be transmitted to the Registrars of the
Dioceses, the said Rector, Vicar or other Officiating Minister shall certify
the Alterations so made by him as aforesaid.
XVI. Provided always, That nothing in this
Act contained shall in any Manner diminish or increase the Fees heretofore
payable or of Right due to any Minister for the Performance of any of the
before-mentioned Duties, or to any Minister or Register, for giving copies of
such Registrations, but that all due legal and accustomed Fees on such
Occasions, and all Powers and Remedies for the Recovery thereof, shall be and
remain as though this Act had not been made.
XVII. Provided also, and be it enacted, That
no Duplicate or Copy of any Register of baptism, Marriage, or Burial, made
under the Directions and for the Purposes of this Act, shall be chargeable with
any Stamp Duty thereon ; any Act now in force to the contrary thereof in
anywise notwithstanding.
XVIII. And be it further enacted, That One
Half of the Amount of all Fines or Penalties to be levied in pursuance of this
Act, shall go to the Person who shall inform or sue for the same ; and the Remainder of such Fines as shall be
imposed on any Churchwarden or Chapel warden shall go to the Poor of the Parish
or Place for which such Churchwarden or Chapelwarden
shall serve ; and the Remainder of such Fines as shall be imposed on any
Rector, Vicar, Minister or Curate, or Registrar, shall be paid and applied to
such Charitable Purposes, in the County within which the Parish or Place shall
be, as shall be appointed and directed by the Bishop of the Diocese.
XIX. And be it further enacted, That the
Rector, Vicar or other Officiating Minister or Curate of any Parish or Chapelry
in England, whether subject to the
Ordinary, peculiar, or other Jurisdiction, shall transmit to the Registrar of
the Diocese in which the Parish or Chapelry shall be situated, before the First
Day of June One thousand eight
hundred and thirteen, a List of all Registers which now are in such Parish or
Chapelry respectively, stating the Periods at which they respectively commence
and terminate, the Periods (if any) for which they are deficient, and any
Places where they are deposited.
XX. And be it further enacted, That all and
every the Provisions in this Act shall extend, so far as Circumstances will permit,
to Cathedral and Collegiate Churches, and Chapels of Colleges or Hospitals, and
the burying Grounds belonging thereto ; and to the Ministers who shall
officiate in such Cathedral or Collegiate Churches, and Chapels of Colleges or
Hospitals and burying Grounds respectively, and shall baptize, marry, or bury
any Person or Persons although such Cathedral or Collegiate Churches, and
Chapels of Colleges or Hospitals, or the burying Grounds belonging thereto, may
not be parochial, or the Ministers Officiating therein may not be, as such,
parochial Ministers, and there shall be no Churchwarden or Churchwardens
thereof ; and in all such Cases, the Books herein-before directed to be
provided, shall be provided at the Expence of the
Body having Right to appoint the Officiating Minister in every such Cathedral
or Collegiate Churches, and Chapel of a
College or Hospital ; and Copies thereof
shall be transmitted to the Registrar of the Diocese within such Cathedral or
Collegiate Churches, and Chapel of a College or Hospital shall be, by the
Officiating Minister of such Church, in like Manner as is herein directed with
respect to parochial Ministers, and shall be attested by Two of the Officers of
such Church, College, or Hospital, as the Copies of parochial Registers are
herein directed to be attested by Churchwardens : Provided always, that nothing
in this Act contained shall extend to repeal any Provision contained in an Act
passed in the Twenty-sixth Year of the Regien of His
late Majesty King George the Second,
intituled An Act for better preventing
Clandestine Marriages.
Schedules to which this Act refers.
Schedule
(A.)
1. |
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BAPTISMS
solemnized in the Parish of St. A.
in the |
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When
baptized |
Child’s
|
Parents
name |
Abode. |
Quality,
Trade |
By
whom the |
|
Christian |
Surname |
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1813. No.
1. |
|
William |
|
|
|
|
|
Ann |
Henry |
|
|
|
|
Schedule
(B.)
1. |
MARRIAGES
Solemnized in the Parish of St. A.
in the |
A.B.
of {the/this} Parish Were
married in this {church/chapel} by {Banns/Licence} with Consent of
{Parents/Guardians} This
Marriage was Solemnized between us {A.B/C.D. In
the Presence of {E.F./G.H. |
Schedule (C.)
1 |
||||
BURIALS
in the Parish of St. A. in the |
||||
Name. |
Abode. |
When
Buried. |
Age. |
By
whom |
John
Wilson No.
1. |
|
1813. |
|
|
Schedule
(D.)
I do
hereby certify, that I did on the Day of
baptize according to the Rites of the United Church of England and
Ireland
Son (or Daughter) of and his wife, by the
Name of .
To the Rector [or, as the Case may be] of .
I
do herby certify, that on the Day
of A.B. of
aged was buried in [stating the Place of
Burial], and that the Ceremony of Burial
was performed according to the Rites of the United Church of England and Ireland, by me,
To the Rector [or, as the Case may be] of
Schedule
(E.)
To
the Registrar of the Diocese of
. |
Copyright
Guy Etchells Ó 2003 All rights reserved. Permission is granted for all free personal and
non-commercial uses. It is my intention to make all data contained herein
freely available for all private, non-profit and non-commercial uses.
Commercial use of any portion contained herein is expressly prohibited. |
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