i:i.(5ISTRATION 



the first ease they may be performed according to 

 the rites of the Cliurcli of England, of the gcncial 

 body of Nonconformists, of tin- Six-iety of Friends, 

 or of the Jews. The Registrar general must send 

 marriage register- l*ioks to the minister of e\eiy 

 rhiirrh and registered chaiiel, and to each register 

 iug officer in Kngland of tin- Society of Krirnds or 

 Quakers, and every secretary of 11 synagogue in 

 Kngland. In each case, the official to whom the 

 liook is sent must register in two of the books in 

 duplicate the particulars of the marriage. One of 

 these Ixioks when full i sent to tin- Sinn mtendent- 

 registrar, and a quarterly retuni is also furnished 

 to him. In the caw of Nonconformists other than 

 Jews and Quakers, the registrar attends at the 

 legistered building, and register* the marriage 

 himself, as he also does when it is a purely civil 

 ceremony taking place at his office. Tne particn- 

 tare entered are ilate of marriage anil name, age, 

 condition, calling, residence, father's name and 

 calling of both p.-r 



Drittlt*. Much of what has been said about 

 registration of births applies to registration of 

 deaths, but the following points are to be note,!. 

 Notice must be given within five days of the 

 occurrence by the nearest relative of the deceased 

 present; if he does not, the duty falls on other 

 specified persons. A notice preliminary to registra- 

 tion may be gent, and this extends the time to 

 fourteen days. In default of action of others, tho 

 registrar ought to require the person liable to 

 appear before him before twelve months from 

 the death have elapsed, and supply him with the 

 statutory particulars. After the laiwe of twelve 

 month* there must \te written authority of the 

 Registrar-general Iwfore the entry can lie made. 

 There are special provisions for inquest case*, &c. 

 The particulars of registration are date, place, 

 name, sex, age, calling, cause of death, name of 

 certifying medical man, name and description of 

 informant, date of registration, and signature of 

 registrar. Provision is made for sending notice of 

 the death of medical practitioners, \-e. to special 

 registrars, in order that their names may be struck 

 off si>ecial list*. 



All the registers since 1836 and a number of tho 

 older irregular ones are preserved in Somerset 

 House. The registrars are bound to permit, mi 

 payment of a fee, a search of such recent registers 

 as are in their possession. There are thirty-nine 

 acts on the subject They are from the 52 Geo. III. 

 chap. 146 to the 50 anil :>\ Vi.-t. chap. 71. In 

 Ireland the system of registration, introduced in 

 1883, is almost exactly the same as in England. 

 There is a Registrar-general and a general register 

 office at Dublin. In the <-a-e ..f Unman Catholic 

 marriages, a registrar's certilicate must, IK) obtained 

 and produced before celebration. The officiating 

 clergyman then (ills it up ; it is returned to the 

 ngfitW, who enter, tin- particiilais in the proper 

 books. Other religious marriages an' registered iu 

 the same manner as Cliurcli of KngUnd nianiaji-s 

 are in England. There are fifteen acts dealing 

 with the subject, tho first l>eing the 7 and 8 Viet, 

 chap. 81, the last the i:t and II Vi.-t. chap. 13. 



Although tin- law in Scotland on this subject is 

 much the same as in the rest of the I'nileil King- 

 dom, some |H)intH of difference, are to be nnti-.l. 

 The general register-office is at the Register House, 



Edinburgh. Tl Mice of Registrar-general is 



held by the Deputy-clerk Register. Notice of a 

 birth is given in twenty one days; after three 

 months a declaration must lie made licfore the 

 sheriff by the informant of the particulars projKwed 

 to be registered. Provision is made for correct inn 

 of the register in the case of children legitimate.) 

 per tubtujtitnt mairimonium. Notice of death is 

 to hq given within eight days of the event. In the 



case of regular religious marriages a statutory 

 schedule is produced to and filled up by the official' 

 ing minister. It is then sent to the registrar, who 

 cut. -is the necessary particulars in his hook. The 

 liar is iMiiind, when required, to lie present 

 at a marriage, ami register the same. The 8taltiti \ 

 fee for this is '2()K., and he is entitled to the same 

 sum for registration after conviction or deen-e ..I 

 declaiator of an irregular marriage. There are ten 

 acts dealing with the siihject. the first In-ing the 

 10 Anne, cliap. 10, the last the 48 and 49 Viet. 

 chap. 61, sect. 5. It will be understood that [n-n 

 allies of varying degrees of severity are enacted 

 gainst breakers of the Registration Acts. See 

 Klaxman's Registration of Births and Death* in 

 l, Wales, and at Sea (1875). 



UK.ISTUATION OF VOTERS. It is a condition 

 precedent to the exercise of the right to vote in 

 parliamentary elections that the name of the voter 

 should be upon the register a preliminary requisite 

 first introduced when the franchise was remodelled 

 in 1832. In England the pro.-. ^nation, 



as settled by the last Registration Act (48 and 49 

 Viet. chap. 15), is as follows : On the loth of April 

 in each year a precept, containing a description of 

 the qualifications which entitle persons to he regis- 

 tered as voters, is sent by the clerk of the (teace in 

 a county, or by the town-clerk in a borough, to the 

 overseers of every parish or township. llcfore the 

 31st of July the overseer must make out a list of 

 occupiers, whom he has ascertained to he qualified' 

 persons who have paid their rates, and who aic 

 not disqualified by receipt of parochial relief and 

 a list of lodgers, who have sent in I heir claims to 

 vote in respect of their lodgings. Ity the 'Joth of 

 August all new claims have to he sent iu, and the 

 lists, together with notices of objections, have to 

 l>e published on the door of every church or public 

 chapel in the parish. These lists of occupiers ami 

 of claims and objections are then sent by the over- 

 seer to the clerk of the peace in a county, and to 

 the town-clerk in a borough. In September the 

 revising barrister comes round and adjudicates 

 upon disputed claims and objections; from his 

 decision an appeal lies on a cose stated by him to 

 the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court. 

 After this revision the register is finally made out. 

 If it is for a county, there are three lists lists of 

 ownership, occupation, and lodger voters ; if it is 

 for a liorough, there are two liste the ownership 

 list heiug omitted in boroughs. 



In Scotland the system of registration is carried 

 on largely by means of the machinery introduced, 

 for the valuation of land, by the Valuation Act 

 (17 and 18 Viet. chap. 91). The valuation roll, 

 annually made up under the Valuation Act, is the 

 basis of the register of voters ; a new form of this 

 valuation roll was provided in the Registration 

 Act of 1885, each dwelling-house in the county or 

 burgh l'ing now specified in the roll. The duties 

 of assessor for registration purposes are performed 

 by the valuation assessor of each burgh, or county, 

 or division of a county ; he may not be a she-nil - 

 clerk, or collector of poor rates, or employed as a 

 factor or land agent in the county or burgh for 

 which IIP- is assessor. Every year, on or liefore the 

 15th of Septeml>er, the assessor makes out a list of 

 voters, arranged alphabetically according to wards 

 or parishes and polling districts, and publishes the 

 list by affixing it to the town-hall, the parish 

 church, or other conspicuous place. Any person 

 whose name is on the list may object to any other 

 person as not having been entitled, on the last day 

 of .Inly preceding, lo have his name inserted, by 

 giving notice in a form prescribed, on or before 21st 

 September, to the assessor and to the person 

 objected to ; similarly, any person whose name 

 has Iwen omitted may claim to have it inserted, 



