8 THE FALL OF THE BIRTH-RATE 



Civil registration of births as distinct from regis- 

 tration by the clergy was not established in England 

 until 1837, when the General Register Office was 

 founded and the post of Registrar General created. 

 Registration was not, however, made compulsory 

 until the passing of the Births and Deaths Registra- 

 tion Act of 1874. Under the Act of 1836 it was the 

 duty of the local Registrar to " inform himself " of 

 the birth, and he could require answers, but it was 

 not the duty of the parents, relatives, or other persons 

 to go to him and give him information. By the Act 

 of 1874 births had to be registered within 42 days 

 under penalty. 



TABLE I. 



England and Wales, Annual Birth, Marriage and 

 Death-rates; the death-rates in 1915 to 1918 are 

 based on civilian deaths and estimated civilian 

 population. 



Deaths of 

 infants under 

 Deaths per one year 

 1000 living 

 at all ages 



Period 



1851-55 

 1856-60 

 1861-65 

 1866-70 



1871-75 

 1876-80 

 1881-85 

 1886-90 

 1891-95 

 1896-00 

 1901-05 

 1906-10 



1911-15 

 1916 

 1917 

 1918 

 1919 



per 1000 

 births 



22-7 

 21-8 

 22-6 

 22-4 



22-0 



20-8 



19-4 



18-9 



18-7 

 17-7 

 16-0 

 14-7 



14-3 

 14-4 

 14-4 

 17-6 

 13-8 



156 

 152 



157 

 153 

 145 

 139 

 145 



156 

 138 

 117 

 no 



96 



97 

 89 



This imperfection of the earlier system and the fact 

 that compulsion was not enforced until 1875 should 



