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An Act for the Registration of Births and Deaths in Ireland.

[20 April 1863]

26 & 27 Vict. c.11.

Whereas it is expedient that a complete System of Registration of Births and Deaths should be established in Ireland, as in other Parts of the United Kingdom: Be it 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, as follows:
Preliminary
Short Title. 1. This Act may be cited for all Purposes as "The Registration of Births and Deaths (Ireland) Act."
As to Extent of Act. 2. This Act, except as herein otherwise provided, shall extend to Ireland only.
Interpretation of Terms. 3. The following Words and Expressions shall, in construing this Act, be taken and understood to have the Meanings hereby assigned to them, unless there be something in the Context repugnant to such Construction; (that is to say,)
"Lord Lieutenant" shall mean and include the Lord Lieutenant or other Chief Governor of Governors of Ireland for the Time being:
"Lord Lieutenant in Council" shall mean the Lord Lieutenancy by and with the Advice of Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland:
"Registrar General" shall mean the Registrar General of Birth and Deaths in Ireland for the Time being appointed or to be appointed under this Act, and in case of the Absence of the Registrar General shall also mean and include the Assistant Registrar General for the Time being appointed or to be appointed under this Act.
"Occupier" shall, for the Purposes of the Notification of Births and Deaths for Registration under this Act include the Governor, Keeper, Master, Superintendent, or other chief Resident Officer of every Gaol, Prison, or House of Correction, and of every School, Reformatory, Workhouse, Hospital, Lunatic Asylum, or other Public or Charitable Institution, and where any House is let in separate Apartments or Lodgings shall include the Person under whom such Lodgings or separate Apartments are immediately held, and any Agent or Servant of such Person residing in such House:
"General Search" shall mean a Search during any Number of successive Days, not exceeding Six, without stating the Object of Search:
"Particular Search" shall mean a Search over any Period not exceeding Five Years for any given Register of Birth or Death.
PART I.
Registrar General
General Register Office to be provided, and Registrar General to be appointed.

Proviso as to present Registrar General.
4. The Lord Lieutenant shall cause a proper Office to be provided in the City of Dublin, to be called the "General Register Office," and shall from Time to Time appoint for the said Office a fit and competent Person to be the Registrar General of Births and Deaths in Ireland, who shall hold Office during the Pleasure of the Lord Lieutenant, and be removable by him: Provided always, that the Person who shall at the Date of the passing of this Act hold the Office of Registrar General of Marriages under an Act passed in the Seventh and Eighth Years of her Majesty, Chapter Eighty-one, shall be appointed to the Office of Registrar General under this Act.
Seal to be provided, and certified Copies given at General Register Office to be sealed therewith. 5. The Registrar General shall cause to be made a Seal of the said General Register Office, and shall cause to be sealed or stamped therewith all certified Copies of Entries given in the said Office; and all certified Copies of Entries purporting to be sealed or stamped with the Seal of the said General Register Office (which Seal it shall not be necessary to prove) shall be admissible as Evidence in all Parts of Her Majesty's Dominions of the Birth or Death to which the same relates, without any further or other Proof of such Entry, and no certified Copy purporting to be given in the said Office shall be of any Force or Effect which is not sealed or stamped as aforesaid.
Power to Registrar General with Consent, to alter Forms. 6. It shall be lawful for the Registrar General, with the Consent of the Lord Lieutenant in Council, to alter the Forms annexed to this Act, regard being always had to the Objects and Purposes of this Act, and to rendering the same more effectual; and such Alterations of Forms shall be published in the Dublin Gazette, and shall thereupon be deemed to be the Forms required to be used by this Act, and shall within Fourteen Days after the same shall have been issued, be laid before both Houses of Parliament, or if Parliament shall not be then sitting within Fourteen Days after the Commencement of the then next Session.
Officers, Clerks and Servants to be appointed. 7. It shall be lawful for the Lord Lieutenant (or the Registrar General, subject to the Approval of the Lord Lieutenant,) to appoint such and so many Officers, Clerks, and Servants as may from Time to Time be necessary for carrying on the Business of the General Register Office, and at pleasure to remove any of them: Provided always, that all Officers, Clerks, and Servants who may be employed in the Business of the General Register Office at the Time of the passing of this Act shall, if the Lord Lieutenant (or Registrar General, subject to the Approval of the Lord Lieutenant,) think fit, be employed in the Business of the General Register Office under this Act as if their original Appointment under the said Act of the Seventh and Eighth Years of Her Majesty had been made under the Authority of this Act.
Power to increase Salary of Registrar General, which is to include Remuneration for all Public Duties performed by him. 8. "Whereas the Registrar General of Marriages appointed under the said Act has been heretofore required by the Lord Lieutenant to superintend the taking of the Census in Ireland, and also the annual Collection of Agricultural Statistics, and to perform other public Duties from Time to Time, in addition to those he was required to perform under the said Act, for which Duties special Remuneration has been heretofore awarded to him, in addition to the Salary received by him under the said Act; and it is expedient that in respect of such Duties and of the additional Duties he may be required to perform under this Act, or otherwise, he should be paid by Salary:" Be it enacted, That so much of the said Act of the Seventh and Eighth Years of Her Majesty, Chapter Eighty-one, as enacts that the Salary of the Registrar General shall not at any Time exceed the Sum of Eight hundred Pounds yearly shall be repealed; and it shall be lawful for the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to appoint from Time to Time the Salary of the said Registrar General, so that the same shall not at any Time exceed the Sum of One thousand Pounds.
Salaries to be paid out of Monies provided by Parliament. 9. The Salaries of the Officers, Clerks, and Servants, and all such Salaries and all other Expenses of carrying this Act into execution not herein otherwise provided for, shall be paid out of any Monies which may from Time to Time be provided by Parliament for that Purpose; and the Salary so to be appointed for the said Registrar General shall be deemed to include the Remuneration for all Duties which the said Registrar General is now or may hereafter be appointed or required to perform.
Power to appoint an Assistant Registrar General in case of Illness, &c. 10. The Registrar General shall have Power, subject to the Approval of the Lord Lieutenant, to appoint by Writing under his Hand a fit Person to act as his Assistant in case of Illness or Absence of the Registrar General; and every such Assistant, while so acting, shall have all the Powers and Duties of the Registrar General, and be subject to all the Provisions and Penalties declared by the said Act and this Act, except that such Assistant shall not have Power to make or declare any general Rule, or to rescind or alter any Order, Regulation, or Approval signified by the Registrar General or made by the Registrar General in Writing under his Hand, or to dismiss any Person from any Office holden during the Pleasure of the Registrar General.
Regulations to be made for Management of Office and for Discharge of Duties of Officers. 11. The Lord Lieutenant, or the Registrar General, with his Approbation, shall and may from Time to Time make Regulations for the Management of the General Register Office, and for the Discharge of the Duties of the Registrar General, Officers, Clerks, and Servants of the said Office, and of the Superintendent Registrars and Registrars, and their Deputies herein-after mentioned, so that such Regulations be not contrary to the Provisions of this Act; and the Regulations so made and approved shall be binding on such Registrar General, Officers, Clerks, and Servants of the said Office, and on the Superintendent Registrars and Registrars, and their Deputies respectively.
Registrar General to furnish to Boards of Guardians Notices of Acts required to be done. 12. The Registrar General shall, in sufficient Time before the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, furnish to the Guardians of every Union printed Notices, which the said Guardians shall, on or before the said Thirty-first Day of December, cause to be fixed or placed on the Outside of the several Church and Chapel Doors, or other public and conspicuous Buildings or Places within their respective Unions, and which said Notices shall specify the several Acts required to be done for the Purpose of registering any Birth or Death, under the Provisions of this Act.
Fees received by Registrar General to be paid into Bank. 13. All Fees received by or on account of the Registrar General under the Provisions of this Act shall be accounted for and paid by the Registrar General, at such Times as the said Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury shall from Time to Time direct, into the Bank of Ireland, to the Credit of Her Majesty's Treasury.
Appointments exempt from Stamp Duties. 14. The Appointments of Superintendent Registrars and Deputy Superintendent Registrars and of Registrars and Deputy Registrars, under this Act, and the Duplicates and certified Copies of Registers, as herein-after mentioned, shall be exempt from all Stamp Duties, save and except as herein-after provided.
Supply of Books and Boxes.
Iron Boxes for Register Books to be provided. 15. The Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury shall cause to be furnished, upon the Application of the Registrar General, for the Use of the Registrars appointed under this Act, a sufficient Number of strong Iron Boxes to hold the Register Books to be kept by each Registrar; and every such Box shall be furnished with a Lock and Two Keys and no more, and One of such Keys shall be kept by the Registrar and the other by the Superintendent Registrar appointed under this Act; and the Registrar Books of each District while in the Custody of the Registrar and not in use shall be always kept in the Register Box, which shall always be left locked.
Register Books to be provided. 16. The Registrar General shall cause to be provided a sufficient Number of such Register Books and Forms as shall be necessary to the Execution of this Act; and the Register Books shall be of durable Materials, and in them shall be printed on each Side of every Leaf the Heads of Information herein required to be known and registered of Births and Deaths respectively; and every Page of each of such Books shall be numbered progressively from the Beginning to the End of the Book, beginning with Number One, and every Place of Entry shall be also numbered progressively from the Beginning to the End of the Book, beginning with Number One, and every Entry shall be divided from the following Entry by a printed Line; and the Registrar General shall furnish for the Use of the Registrars a sufficient Number of Register Books of Births and Register Books of Deaths as may from Time to Time be required for the Purposes of this Act.
PART II.
Divisions of Districts.
Superintendent Registrar's Districts. 17. Every Union which shall have been formed by the Poor Law Commissioners, under the Provisions of the Acts for the Relief of the destitute Poor in Ireland, shall, from and after the said Thirty first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, be a Superintendent Registrar's District: Provided that in the event of any Alteration being thereafter made in the Boundaries of any of the said Unions, or in the event of the Registrar General considering it expedient for the better Execution of this Act, it shall be lawful for the Registrar General to make such Alterations in the Boundaries of any Superintendent Registrar's District under this Act as he may, subject to the Approval of the Lord Lieutenant, deem expedient and proper.
Registrar's Districts. 18. Each Dispensary District of a Poor Law Union shall, with the Approval of the Registrar General, be a Registrar's District for the Purposes of this Act ; but it shall be lawful for the Registrar General to subdivide any such Dispensary District into Two or more Registrars Districts if he shall think fit to do so, and every such Registrar's District shall be called by a distinct Name. In the event of any Alteration being made in the Boundaries of any such Dispensary District, or in the event of the Registrar General considering it expedient for the better Execution of this Act, it shall be lawful for the Registrar General to make such Alterations in the Boundaries of any Registrar's District as he may, subject to the Approval of the Lord Lieutenant, deem expedient and proper.
Alterations of Districts to be published. 19. The Superintendent Registrar's, and Registrar's Districts of each Union, and every Alteration of any such Districts, shall be published by the Registrar General within the Union and elsewhere, as may be deemed necessary, in such Manner as the Registrar General shall think proper.
Register Office.
Register Office to be provided by Guardians. 20. The Guardians of each Union shall provide and uphold, out of the Monies coming into their Hands or Control as such Guardians, a Register Office, according to a Plan to be approved by the Registrar General, for preserving the Registers to be deposited therein as herein-after provided; and such Register Office may, with the Sanction of the Poor Law Commissioners, and if the Guardians think fit, be made in some Part of the existing Poorhouse, and the Care of the said Office and the Custody of the Registers deposited therein shall be given to the Superintendent Registrar of the District.
Guardians may borrow Money for providing Register Offices. 21. The Boards of Guardians may borrow Money for the Purpose of providing such Register Office, and may charge the Amount of the Sum borrowed on the future Rates of the Union of which they are Guardians, in the Manner provided by the Acts for the Relief of the Poor in Ireland with respect to Money borrowed under the Provisions of the said Acts.
Superintendent Registrars and Registrars.
Appointment of Superintendent Registrar. 22. The Clerk of the Union for the Time being shall, if he shall think fit to accept such Office, and have such Qualifications as the Registrar General may by any general Rule declare to be necessary, be the Superintendent Registrar thereof. In the event of his Refusal or Disqualification to act in that Capacity, the Guardians of the Union shall appoint a Person with such Qualifications as the Registrar General may by any general Rule declare to be necessary, to be the Superintendent Registrar. Every Superintendent Registrar shall hold his Office during the Pleasure of the Registrar General.
Appointment of Registrars. 23. The Medical Officer for the Time being of each Dispensary District not subdivided as aforesaid shall, if he shall think fit to accept such Office, and have such Qualifications as the Registrar General may by any general Rule declare to be necessary, be the Registrar of the said District. In the event of his Refusal or Disqualification to act in that Capacity, the Guardians of the Union in which such Dispensary District is situate shall appoint a Person with such Qualifications as the Registrar General may by any general Rule declare to be necessary, to be the Registrar of such District. In any Case in which there are Two Medical Officers in One Dispensary District, the Guardians shall appoint One of such Medical Officers, qualified as aforesaid, to be the Registrar of such District; and in case the Registrar General shall subdivide the Dispensary District into Two or more Districts, the Guardians shall appoint Registrars, qualified as aforesaid, for such Districts, Preference being given to the Medical Officer or Medical Officers, as the Case may be, of the Dispensary District. Every Registrar shall hold his Office during the Pleasure of the Registrar General.
Officers of Unions and Dispensary Medical Officers ceasing to hold their Offices to cease to act under this Act. 24. In every Case in which any Clerk of a Union or any Medical Officer of a Dispensary District shall hold Office under this Act and shall cease to be a Clerk of the Union or Medical Officer of the District, he shall cease to hold his Office under this Act in such Union or District. In every such Case and in every Case in which any Superintendent Registrar or Registrar shall be removed by the Registrar General from his Office under this Act, Notice thereof shall be forthwith given by Advertisement in some Newspaper circulating in the County or Counties wherein the District for which such Officer may act shall be, and every such Person shall thenceforth cease to hold his Office under this Act in Such District.
If Guardians neglect to appoint Superintendent Registrars and Registrars, Lord Lieutenant to appoint them. 25. In every Case in which the Clerk of Union or the Medical Officer shall not think fit or shall be disqualified to accept the Office of Superintendent Registrar or Registrar, and the Guardians shall refuse neglect, during Fourteen Days after being required so to do by the Registrar General, to appoint a Superintendent Registrar or Registrar properly qualified, and in every Case of Vacancy of the Office of Superintendent Registrar or Registrar in any District in which the Guardians shall refuse or neglect, during Fourteen Days after such Vacancy, to appoint a Superintendent Registrar or Registrar properly qualified, the Appointment shall he made by the Lord Lieutenant.
Deputy Registrars to be appointed. 26. Every Superintendent Registrar and Registrar shall, subject to the Approval of the Registrar General, appoint by Writing under his Hand a fit Person to act as his Deputy in case of the Illness or unavoidable Absence of such Superintendent Registrar or Registrar ; and every such Deputy, while so acting, shall have all the Powers and Duties, and be subject to all the Penalties herein declared concerning Superintendent Registrars and Registrars respectively; and in case of the Death or Resignation of the Superintendent Registrar or Registrar as the Case may be, shall act as Superintendent Registrar or Registrar until another Superintendent Registrar or Registrar is appointed; and every Superintendent Registrar or Registrar shall be civilly responsible for the Acts and Omissions of his Deputy.
Books, &c. to be transferred on Death or Removal of Superintendent Registrar or Registrar. 27. In every Case in which any Superintendent Registrar or Registrar shall die, or be removed from or otherwise cease to hold his Office, all Register Boxes, Keys, Books, Documents, and Papers in his Possession as such Superintendent Registrar or Registrar, or which shall come into the Possession of his Representatives, shall be given up as soon as conveniently may be to his Successor in Office. If any Person shall refuse to give up any such Box, Key, Book, Document, or Paper, in such Case as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for any Justice of the Peace for the County or other Jurisdiction where such Person shall be or reside, upon Application made for that Purpose, to issue a Warrant under his Hand and Seal for bringing such Person before any Two Justices of the Peace for the said County or other Jurisdiction; and upon such Person appearing or not being found it shall be lawful for such Justices to hear and determine the Matter in a summary Way; and if it shall appear to the Justices that any such Box, Key, Book, Document, or Paper is in the Custody or Power of any such Person, and that he has refused or wilfully neglected to deliver the same to the Person in whose Custody the same ought to be, the said Justices shall commit such Offender to time Common Gaol or House of Correction for the said County or Jurisdiction, there to remain without Bail until he shall have delivered up the same, or until Satisfaction shall have been given in respect thereof and the said Justices may grant a Warrant to search for any such Box, Key, Book, Document, or Paper, as in the Case of stolen Goods, in any Dwelling House or other Premises in which any credible Witness shall prove upon Oath before them that there is reasonable Cause to suspect the same to be; and the same when found shall be delivered to the Person in whose Custody it ought to be.
Superintendent Registrars and Registrars to reside in their Districts. 28. Every Superintendent Registrar and his Deputy, and every Registrar and his Deputy, shall reside or have a known Place of Business within the District for which he is appointed, and shall cause his Name, with the Addition of Superintendent Registrar or Registrar of Births and Deaths, or Deputy Superintendent Registrar, or Deputy Registrar of Births and Deaths (as the Case may be), for the District for which he is so appointed, and the Days and Hours during which he will attend at such Residence or Place of Business, to be placed on some conspicuous Place on or near the outer Door of his Dwelling House, or known Place of Business; and every Superintendent Registrar shall cause to be printed and published in his District a List of the Names and Places of Abode or known Places of Business of every Registrar of Births and Deaths under his Superintendence, and also his own Name and Place of Abode or known Place of Business.
Exemption of Superintendent Registrars &c. from serving on Juries, &c. 29. Every Superintendent Registrar and Registrar appointed under the Provisions of this Act shall he freed and exempted from serving on any Jury or Inquest, and from every Parochial and Corporate Office whatever.
PART III.
Registration of Births and Deaths.
Registrar to learn and register Births and Deaths, as in Forms (A.) and (B.) 30. Every Registrar shall, subject to the Regulations to be made under this Act, be and he is hereby authorized and required to inform himself carefully of every Birth and Death which shall happen within his District after the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and to learn and register as soon after the Event as conveniently may be done, and without Fee or Reward, save as herein provided, in One of the said Register Books, the Particulars required to be registered, according to the Forms (A.) and (B.) hereunto annexed respectively, touching every such Birth or every such Death, as the Case may be, every such Entry being made in order from the Beginning to the End of the Book.
Parents and others required to give Notice of Births within Twenty-one Days, and Information within Three Months. 31. The Parents or Parent of any Child born in Ireland after the said Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, or, in case of the Death or Inability of the Parents or Parent, the Occupier of the House or Tenement in which to his or her Knowledge such Child was born or the Nurse or any Person present at the Birth of such Child, shall, at any Time within Twenty-one Days next after the Day of such Birth, give Notice thereof to the Registrar of the District within which such Child shall have been born ; and such Parents and Persons above specified whether they have given such Notice or not, shall, upon being required personally or by written Requisition of the Registrar, within Three Months after the Date of such Birth, attend personally at some Dispensary Station or Vaccination Station within the Registrar's District, or otherwise at the Place of Residence of such Parents or Person, and give Information to the Registrar of the District in which such Birth occurred, according to the best of his or her Knowledge and Belief, of the several Particulars by the said Form (A.) required to he registered touching the Birth of such Child, and shall sign the Register in the Presence of the Registrar.
As to Registry after the Expiration of Three Months from Birth. 32. After the expiration of Three Months following the Birth of any Child it shall not be lawful for any Registrar to register such Birth, save as herein-after provided; that is to say, in case the Birth of any Child shall not have been registered according to the provisions herein-before contained, it shall be lawful for any Person present at the Birth of such Child, or for the Father or Mother or Guardian thereof, at any Time within Six Calendar Months next after the Birth of such Child, to make before the Superintendent Registrar a Declaration in Writing of the Particulars required to be known touching the Birth of such Child, according to the best of his or her Knowledge or Belief, which Declaration the said Superintendent Registrar is hereby authorized to take, and it shall thereupon be lawful for the said Registrar, then and there in the Presence of the Superintendent Registrar, to register the Birth of such Child, according to the Information of the Person making the said Declaration; and the Superintendent Registrar before whom the said Declaration is made shall sign the Entry of the Birth as well as the Registrar; and for every such Registry as last aforesaid the Superintendent Registrar shall be entitled to receive a Fee of Two Shillings and Sixpence from the Person requiring the same to be registered, and the Registrar, over and above the Fee in this Act authorized to be taken in respect of every Birth registered by him, shall be entitled, unless the Delay shall have been occasioned by his Default, to take a Fee of Two Shillings and Sixpence from the Person requiring the same to be registered; and no register of Birth shall be given in Evidence to prove the Birth of any Child whenever it shall appear that more than Three Calendar Months have intervened between the Day of the Birth and the Day of the Registration of the Birth of such Child (except in the Case of a Child born at Sea or in a Foreign Country), unless the Entry shall be signed by the Superintendent Registrar as well as the Registrar.
Births not be registered after Six Months. 33. After the Expiration of Six Months following the Birth of any Child it shall not be lawful for any Registrar to register the Birth of such Child, and no Register of Births, except in the Case of Children born at Sea or in a Foreign Country, shall be given in Evidence to prove the Birth of any Child wherein it shall appear that Six Calendar Months have intervened between the Day of the Birth and the Day of the Registration of the Birth of such Child.
Name given in Baptism may be registered within Six Months after Registration of Birth. 34. If any Child born in Ireland whose Birth shall have been registered as aforesaid shall within Six Calendar Months next after the Registration of such Birth have any Name given to it in Baptism, the Parent or Guardian of such Child, or other Person procuring such Name to be given, may, within Seven Days next after such Baptism, procure and deliver to the Registrar or Superintendent Registrar of the District in whose Custody the Register of the Birth of the Child may then happen to be, a Certificate, according to the Form (C.) to this Act annexed, or to the like Effect, signed by the Clergyman, Minister, or officiating Person who shall have performed the Rite of Baptism, which Certificate he is hereby required to deliver immediately after the Baptism whenever the same shall be then demanded, on Payment of the Fee of One Shilling, which he shall be entitled to receive for the same; and the said Registrar or Superintendent Registrar, Upon Receipt of such Certificate, and on Payment of the Fee of One Shilling, which he shall be entitled to receive for the same, shall, without any Erasure of the original Entry, forthwith register therein that the Child was baptized by such Name and also the Date of the Registry of such Baptismal Name; and the said Registrar or Superintendent Registrar shall thereupon certify upon the said Certificate the additional Entry so made, and shall forthwith send the said Certificate through the Post Office to the Registrar General; and whenever a Baptismal Name shall have been added to an Entry of Birth subsequently to the Transmission to the General Register Office of the Return of certified Copies containing such Entry, a duly certified Copy of such Entry, containing the Baptismal Name and the Date of such Entry, shall in like Manner be sent to the Registrar General, who shall cause the same to be duly entered in the Register without any Erasure of the original Entry.
Provision for Name given without Baptism after Registration.



Certificate of Birth of Child to be in Form as in Schedule (F.)
35. In the Case of any Child of Parents not recognizing the Sacrament of Baptism, or Infant Baptism, when any Name shall have been given to any such Child by the Parents or Guardians of such Child than that by which it may have been registered, it shall be lawful for such Parents or Guardians, within Six Months after the Birth of any such Child shall have been registered, or, if after Six Months, then only with the written Authority of One or more Justice or Justices of the Peace presiding at the Petty Sessions of the District in which such Parents or Guardians shall reside, or (if in the Police District of Dublin Metropolis) of One or more Divisional Justice or Justices within the said District (which Authority, upon a Statement of the Circumstances of the Case submitted to him or them, it shall be lawful for such Justice or Justices to give), to deliver to the Registrar or Superintendent Registrar in whose Custody the Register of the Birth of such Child shall then happen to be a Certificate in the Form of the Schedule (F.) to this Act annexed, or to the like Effect, signed by such Parents or Guardians; whereupon, and upon Payment of a Fee of One Shilling, such Registrar or Superintendent Registrar shall, without Erasure of the Name by which such Child shall have been registered, register therein the Name of such Child; and such Certificate shall be certified and transmitted by the Registrar or Superintendent Registrar to the Registrar General, in the like Manner and to the like Effect as is in this Act prescribed regarding Certificates in relation to Names given in Baptism.
Persons present at Death and others required to give Notice within Seven Days, and Information within Fourteen Days. 36. Some Person present at the Death or in attendance during the last Illness of any Person dying in Ireland after the said Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, or the Occupier of the House or Tenement in which such Death took place, or if the Occupier be the Person who shall have died, then some One or more of the Persons residing in the House in which such Death took place, shall, within Seven Days next after the Day of such Death, give Notice of such Death to the Registrar of the District in which such Death occurred; and such Persons as aforesaid, or if such Death shall not have taken place within a House, then any Person present at such Death, or having a Knowledge of the Circumstances attending the same, shall, whether they have given such Notice or not, upon being required personally or by written Requisition of the Registrar, within Fourteen Days after the Date of such Death, attend personally at some Dispensary District, or Vaccination Station within the Registrar's District, or otherwise at the Place of Residence of such Person, and give Information to the Registrar of the District in which such Death occurred, according to the best of his or her Knowledge and Belief, of the several Particulars required by the said Form (B.) to be registered touching such Death, and shall sign the Registry in the Presence of the Registrar.
Notice to be given of the finding of any new-born Child or dead Body. 37. In case any Person shall, after the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and sixty three, find exposed any new-born Child, or any dead Body, the Person first having Charge of such Child in the Case of the new-born Child, and the Coroner in case of the dead Body, shall forthwith give Notice of the Finding of the same and of the Place where the same was found to the Registrar of the District in which the same shall have been found; and the Registrar shall register, after proper Inquiry, all the several Particulars required to be known and registered, touching the said Birth or Death, or so much and so many of the Particulars as shall have been ascertained.
Registrar to make Entry of Finding of Jury upon Coroner's Inquest. 38. In every Case in which an Inquest shall be held on any dead Body after the said Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three the Jury shall inquire of the Particulars herein required to be registered concerning the Death, and the Coroner shall communicate the Finding of the Jury in Writing under his Hand to the Registrar, and the Registrar shall make the Entry accordingly; provided that the Coroner shall not be required to sign the Register as Informant; but the Registrar shall state in the Entry of such Death that the Information was received from the Coroner, and shall transmit all such Informations to the Superintendent Registrar, who shall send the same to the Registrar General, who shall preserve such Informations with the Records of his Office.
Register of Children born at Sea. 39. If any Child of an Irish Parent shall be born at Sea after the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, on board of a British Vessel, the Captain or Commanding Officer of such Vessel shall forthwith make a Minute in the Log. Book or otherwise of the several Particulars hereby required to be registered touching the Birth of such Child, so far as the same may be known, and of the Name of the Vessel in which the Birth took place, and shall, on the Arrival of such Vessel in any Port of the United Kingdom, or by any other earlier Opportunity, send a certified Copy of such Minute through the Post Office to the Registrar General in Dublin, who shall file the same, and shall cause a true and correct Copy thereof, verified by his own Signature, to be entered in a Book to be kept for that Purpose in the General Register Office, to be called the "Marine Register Book of Births," and the Registrar General shall keep such Book with the other Registers according to the Provisions of this Act.
Register of Persons dying at Sea. 40. If any of Her Majesty's Irish Subjects shall die at Sea on board of a British Vessel after the said Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, the Captain or Commanding Officer of the Vessel on board of which such Death shall have happened shall forthwith make a Minute in the Log Book or otherwise of the several Particulars herein required to be inserted in the Register touching such Death, so far as the same may be known, and of the Name of the Vessel wherein such Death took place, and shall, on the Arrival of such Vessel in any Port of the United Kingdom, or by any other earlier Opportunity, send a certified Copy of such Minute through the Post Office to the Registrar General in Dublin, who shall file the same, and shall cause a true and correct Copy thereof to be entered in a Book to be kept for that Purpose in the General Register Office, to be called the "Marine Register Book of Deaths," and the Registrar General shall keep such Book with the other Registers according to the Provisions of this Act.
Register of Birth and Death of Irish Subjects occurring in Foreign Countries as in Forms (A.) and (B.) 41. The Birth of any Child of Irish Parents, or the Death of any Person born in Ireland which shall take place in any Foreign Country, if intimated to the Registrar General within Twelve Months after the Date thereof, in accordance, as near as may be, with the Forms prescribed in Forms (A.) and (B.) to this Act annexed, and duly certified by the British Consul of the Country or District within which such Birth or Death shall have taken place, shall be entered in a Book to be kept for the Purpose in the General Register Office, to be called "The Foreign Register;" and all such Intimations shall be filed and the relative Entries verified by the Signature of the Registrar General.
Register to be signed by the Informant, except as herein stated. 42. Every Person by whom the Information contained in any Register of Birth or Death under this Act shall have been given, except in the Case of such Information being given by the Coroner, or by the Captain or Commanding Officer of a Vessel at Sea, or in the Case of a Person born or dying in any Foreign Country, as herein-before provided, shall sign his Name, Qualification, and Place of Abode in the Register; and except as aforesaid, no Register of Birth or Death according to this Act shall be given in Evidence which shall not be signed by some Person professing to be the Informant, and to be the Person or One of the Persons required by this Act to give such Information to the Registrar.
Persons may sign by a Mark before the Registrar. 43 In case of the Inability to write of any Person whose Signature is required or necessary under this Act, it shall be lawful for such Person to adhibit, in the Presence of the Registrar, a Cross or other Mark, who shall annex the Designation of such Person to such Cross or other Mark ; and such Cross or other Mark shall be in all respects as binding and effectual as the Signature of such Person if capable of writing would have been.
Correction of erroneous Entries. 44. If any Error shall be discovered to have been committed in the Entry of any Birth or Death in any Register the Person discovering the same shall forthwith give Information thereof to the Justice or Justices presiding at the Petty Sessions of the District within which such Birth or Death shall have occurred, or. if within the Dublin Metropolitan Police District to a divisional Justice or Justices within the said District; and it shall be lawful for the said Justice or Justices, and they are hereby authorized and required thereupon or upon otherwise coming to the Knowledge of such erroneous Entry, to summons before them the Person who made and any Person concerned in making such erroneous Entry or having any Knowledge regarding the same, and also any Person interested in the Effect of such erroneous Entry, and to examine all such Persons on Oath; and if the said Justice or Justices shall be satisfied that any Error has been committed in any such Entry such Justice or Justices shall, by Authority in Writing under his or their hands, direct the Registrar to correct the erroneous Entry; and it shall be lawful for the Registrar, and he is hereby required thereupon, to correct the erroneous Entry according to the Truth of the Case by Entry in the Margin without any Alteration of the original Entry; and such marginal Entry shall contain a Reference to the Deposition upon which the said Justice or Justices directed the Correction to he made, and shall be dated on the Day on which it is made, and signed by the Parties applying for the Correction and by the Registrar; and in every Case the Registrar shall make the like Alteration in the certified Copy of the Register Book, to be made by him as herein-after provided; provided that in case such certified Copy shall have been already made, he shall make and deliver in like Manner a separate certified Copy of the original erroneous Entry and of the marginal Correction therein made.
Registers of Baptisms and Burials may be kept as heretofore. 45. Nothing herein contained shall affect the Registry of Baptisms or Burials as now by Law established, or the Right of any officiating Minister to receive the Fees now usually paid for the Performance or Registration of any Baptism or Burial.
PART IV.
Medical Certificate of Death.
Medical Attendant to transmit Certificate of Death to Registrar. 46. 'Whereas it is expedient to establish a Registration of the Causes of Death:' Be it therefore The Registrar shall furnish from Time to Time, gratis, to every duly qualified Medical Practitioner within his District the necessary Forms of Certificates of Deaths in the Form (D.) hereunto annexed, which Certificates the Registrar General shall cause to be printed and forwarded from Time to Time to every Registrar for that Purpose; and the Medical Practitioner who shall have been in attendance during the last Illness and until the Death of any Person dying after the said Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three shall, within Seven Days after the Death of such Person, transmit to the Registrar of the District in which the Death occurred a Certificate of the Cause of Death in the Form mentioned, the Particulars of which shall be entered by the Registrar in the Register: In case such Certificate shall not be so transmitted, the Registrar shall transmit to such Medical Practitioner a Form of such Certificate, and by a written or printed Requisition under his Hand shall require such Medical Practitioner forthwith to return to him such Certificate duly filled up, and such Medical Practitioner shall, within Three Days after time Receipt thereof return such Certificate duly filled up to such Registrar.
PART V.
Returns.
Certified Copies of Registers of Births and Deaths to be sent quarterly and the Register Books, when filled, to the Superintendent Registrar. 47. In the Months of April, July, October, and January, on such Days as shall from Time to Time be appointed by the Registrar General, every Registrar shall make and deliver to the Superintendent, Registrar of his District, on durable Materials, a true Copy, certified by him under his hand, according to the Form (E.) to this Act annexed, of all the Entries of Births and Deaths made during the Quarter of a Year last preceding the First Day of each of the several Months herein-before mentioned respectively, in the Register Books kept by him, time first of such certified Copies to be given in the Month of April in the Year One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and the Superintendent Registrar shall examine the same, and if found to be correct shall certify the same under his Hand to be a true Copy: If there shall have been no Birth or Death registered since the Delivery of the last Certificate, the Registrar shall certify the Fact, and such Certificate shall be delivered to the Superintendent Registrar as aforesaid, and be countersigned by him : The Registrar shall keep safely each of the Register Books furnished to him as herein-before mentioned until it shall be filled, and shall then deliver it to the Superintendent Registrar to be kept by him with the Records of his Office.
Superintendent Registrars to send certified Copies of Registers of Births and Deaths to Registrar General. 48. Every Superintendent Registrar shall Four Times in every Year, on such Days as shall he named for the Purpose by the Registrar General, send to the Registrar General all the certified Copies of the Registers of Births and Deaths which lie shall have received from the Registrars of Births and Deaths as aforesaid for the Quarter of- a Year last preceding the First Day of each of the several Months herein-before mentioned respectively; and the Registrar General, if it shall appear by Interruption of the regular Progression of Numbers or otherwise that the Copy of any Part of any Book has not been duly delivered to him, shall procure, as far as possible, consistently with the Provisions of this Act, that the same may be remedied and supplied; the certified Copies so sent to the General Register Office shall be thereafter kept in the said Office in such Order and Manner as the Registrar General, under the Direction of the Lord Lieutenant, shall think fit, so that the same may be most readily seen and examined.
Abstract of Registers to be laid annually before Parliament. 49. The Registrar General shall once in every Year transmit to the Lord Lieutenant a General Abstract of the Numbers of Births and Deaths registered during the foregoing Year in such Form and at such Date as the Lord Lieutenant shall from Time to Time prescribe; and every such annual General Abstract shall be laid before Parliament within One Month after Receipt thereof, or, if Parliament shall not be then sitting, within One Month after the Commencement of the next Session.
Indexes to be kept at General Register Office; Searches allowed and certified Copies given, by paying Fees herein named. 50. The Registrar General shall cause Indexes of all the Registers herein mentioned to be made and kept in the General Register Office; and every Person shall be entitled to search the said Indexes between the Hours of Ten in the Morning and Four in the Afternoon of every Day, except Sundays, Christmas Day, and Good Friday, and to have a certified Copy of any Entry in the said Registers; and for every general Search of the said Indexes the Sum of Twenty Shillings, and for every particular Search the Sum of One Shilling, and for every such certified Copy the Sum of Two Shillings and shall be paid to the Registrar General or such other Officer as shall be appointed to receive such Fees on his Account, in addition to the Stamp Duty of One Penny imposed by an Act passed in the Twenty-third Year of Her Majesty, Chapter Fifteen.
Indexes to be made at every Superintendent Registrar's Office, and Persons allowed to search them by paying Fees herein named. 51. Every Superintendent Registrar shall cause Indexes of the Register Books in his Office to be made arid kept with the other Records of his Office: Every Person shall be entitled on such Days and at such reasonable Hours as shall be directed by the Registrar General to search the said Indexes, and to have a certified Copy of any Entry or Entries in the said Register Books, under the Rand of the Superintendent Registrar, on Payment of the Fees herein-after mentioned; that is to say, for every general Search the Sum of Five Shillings, and for every particular Search the Sum of One Shilling, and for every certified Copy the Sum of Two Shillings and Sixpence, in addition to the Stamp Duty of One Penny imposed by an Act passed in the Twenty-third Year of Her Majesty, Chapter Fifteen.
Searches may be made in Register Book, and Certificates given of Entries therein by Registrars. 52. Every Registrar who shall have the keeping for the Time being of any Register Book of Births or Deaths shall, subject to such Regulations as shall be made from Time to Time by the Registrar General, with the Approval of the Lord Lieutenant, allow Searches to be made of the Register Book in his keeping, and shall give a Copy certified under his Hand of any Entry or Entries in the same, on Payment of the Fee herein-after mentioned; (that is to say,) for every such Search the Sum of One Shilling, and the Sum of One Shilling for every single Certificate.
Fees.
Superintendent Registrars to be paid for the certified Copies send to General Register Office. 53. Every Superintendent Registrar shall make out an Account Four Times in every Year, on such Days and for such Periods as shall from Time to Time be appointed by the Registrar General, of the Number of Entries in such certified Copies so sent by him to the Registrar General as provided by this Act, and shall send the said Account to the Registrar General: If on Examination and Comparison with the certified Copies of the Registers or Certificates received by the Registrar General such Account shall be found correct, the Superintendent Registrar shall be entitled to receive Twopence from the Registrar General for every Entry in such certified Copies of Registers of Births and Deaths.
Registrars to make out Accounts quarterly. 54. Every Registrar shall make out an Account Four Times in every Year, on such Days and for such Periods as shall from Time to Time be appointed by the Registrar General, of the Number of Births and Deaths which he shall have registered in pursuance of the Provisions of this Act, and the Superintendent Registrar shall verify and sign the same: The Guardians of the Union in which he shall be Registrar, on Production of the said Account so verified and signed, shall pay to the said Registrar out of the Monies in their Hands or Power as such Guardians at the Rate of One Shilling for every Entry of Birth or Death included in such Account, and the same shall be charged to the Union at large.
PART VI.
Penalties.
Penalty for wilfully giving false Information. 55. Every Person who shall wilfully make or cause to be made, for the Purpose of being inserted in any Register of Birth or Death, any false Statement touching any of the Particulars herein required to be known and registered shall be subject to the same Pains and Penalties as if he were guilty of Perjury.
Penalty for destroying or falsifying Register Books. 56. The Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Sections of an Act passed in the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Years of Her Majesty, intituled An Act to consolidate and amend the Statute Law of England and Ireland relating to indictable Offences by Forgery, shall be incorporated with and form Part of this Act.
Penalty for not duly registering Births or Deaths, or for losing or injuring Registers. 57. Every Registrar who shall refuse or without reasonable Cause omit to register any Birth or Death of which he shall have had due Notice, or to make any Addition to or Alteration upon the Register in accordance with the Provisions of this Act, and every Person having the Custody of any Register Book or of any Part thereof who shall carelessly lose or injure the same, or carelessly allow the same to be injured whilst in his Keeping, shall forfeit a Sum not exceeding Ten Pounds for every such Offence.
Penalty for neglecting to send Register Books to Superintendent Registrar. 58. Every Person who under the Provisions of this Act is required to deliver the Registers of Births and Deaths, or Copies of such Registers, to any Superintendent Registrar or to the Registrar General, and who after being duly required to deliver such Registers or Copies as aforesaid shall refuse or during One Calendar Month neglect to do so, shall be liable for every such Offence to forfeit a Sum not exceeding Ten Pounds.
Penalty for improper Registry of Birth, after Six Months. 59. Any Person who shall knowingly register or cause to be registered the Birth of any Child otherwise than is by this Act required after the Expiration of Three Calendar Months following the Day of the Birth of such Child, or who shall knowingly register or cause to be registered the Birth of any Child after the Expiration of Six Months following the Day of the Birth of such Child, except in the Case of Children born at Sea or in a Foreign Country, shall be liable for every such Offence to a Penalty not exceeding Five Pounds.
Penalty for failing to give notice of Birth or Death. 60. Any Person required by this Act who shall, within the Period specified by this Act, fail to give Notice of any Birth or Death to the Registrar o the District within which such Birth or Death shall have occurred shall be liable to a Penalty not exceeding Twenty Shillings.
Penalty for failing to give Information to Registrar respecting Birth or Death, &c. 61. Any Person required by this Act who shall, within the Period specified by this Act, fail to attend personally at the Place specified by the Registrar of the District within which such Birth or Death shall have occurred, and to give Information to such Registrar of the Particulars required by this to be registered touching such Birth or Death, or shall refuse to sign the Register in the Presence of the Registrar, shall he liable to a Penalty not exceeding Forty Shillings.
Penalty for not giving Notice to Registrar of finding new-born Child, &c. 62. In the Case of finding exposed any new-born Child, or any Dead Body, any Person who shall be required by this Act to give Notice, and who shall not give Notice forthwith of finding the same, and of the Place where the same was found, to the Registrar of the District in which the same shall have been found shall be liable to a Penalty not exceeding Twenty Shillings.
Penalties not exigible if Notice given.


Notices may be given by Post.
63. No Penalty imposed by this Act on Persons failing to give any Notice required by this Act shall be exacted, if any of the Persons so required shall have given such Notice and whenever Notice is required to be given by this Act, the Person bound to give the Notice shall he held to have sufficiently discharged himself; if he shall have put into the Post Office, before the Expiration of the Period within which the Notice is required to be given; a Letter addressed to the Person to whom and containing the Particulars of which the Notice is required to be given.
No Penalty where Failure not wilful. 64. No Penalty shall be exacted in any Case when it. shall appear to the Satisfaction of the Justice or Justices that the Person failing to comply with the Provisions of this Act, in relation to the giving Notices or Information under the same, has not wilfully been guilty of such Failure, but that such Failure has been occasioned by unavoidable Accident, or by Circumstances over which he had no Control, and where he had used every reasonable Endeavour towards Compliance with such Provisions.
Penalties, how recoverable.
14 & 15 Vict. c.93.
65. Any Penalty recoverable under the Provisions of this Act shall be recoverable in a summary Way with respect to the Police District of Dublin Metropolis, subject and according to the Provisions of any Act regulating the Powers and Duties of Justices of the Peace for such District, or of the Police of such District, and, with respect to other Parts of Ireland, before a Justice or Justices of the Peace sitting in Petty Sessions, subject and according to the Provisions of "The Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851," and any Act amending the same.

Forms to which the foregoing Act refers.

FORM (A.)

BIRTHS registered in the District of [                    ] in the Union of [                    ] in the County of [                    ].

No. Date and Place of Birth. Name (if any). Sex. Name and Surname and Dwelling Place of Father. Name and Surname and Maiden Surname of Mother. Rank or Profession of Father. Signature, Qualification, and Residence of Informant. When registered. Signature of Registrar. Baptismal Name, if added after Registration of Birth and Date.
1 6th January 1864
15, George's Street.
John Male James Rea

15, George's Street.
Sarah Rea, formerly Thompson [if married more than once Surnames of former Husbands should be Stated. Carpenter James Rea, (Father),
Carpenter,
15, George's Street,
Kingstown.
10th January 1864 John Cox.
REGISTRAR.
Robert.

15th February 1864

The Words and Figures in Italics in this Schedule to be filled in as the Case may be.


FORM (B.)

DEATHS registered in the District of [                    ] in the Union of [                    ] in the County of [                    ].

No. Date and Place of Death. Name and Surname. Sex. Condition. Age last Birthday. Rank, Profession or Occupation. Certified Cause of Death and Duration of Illness. Signature, Qualification, and Residence of Informant. When registered. Signature of Registrar.
1 24 January 1864.
10, High Street, Kingstown.
James Green Male Married, Bachelor or Widower (as the Case may be). 43 Years Carpenter Pneumonia,

Two Months, Certified.
Sarah Green, Widow,
High Street,
present at Death.
25th January 1864 John Cox.

REGISTRAR.

The Words and Figures in Italics in this Schedule to be filled in as the Case may be.


FORM (C.)

I                                       of                                       do hereby certify, That I have this Day baptized, by the Name of                                       a [State the Sex Child produced to me by                                       as the child of A.B. and C.D. of                                      , and declared by the said                                       to have been born at                                       in the County of                                       on the                                       Day of                                       One Thousand eight hundred and                                       .
Witness my Hand this                                       Day of                                       One thousand eight hundred and                                      .


FORM (D.)

To the Registrar of the District of                                       in the Union of                                      , in the County of                                       . I hereby certify, That I attended                                      , who was apparently aged or was stated to be aged                                       Years; that I last saw him [or her] on the                                       Day of                                       186    ; that he [or she] died on the                                       Day of                                       186           at                                      ; that the Cause of his [or her] Death was                                      ; and that the Disease had continued                                       .
Witness my Hand this                                       Day of                                       One thousand eight hundred and                                      .
                                                                                                                (Signed)
                                                                                                                Profession,
                                                                                                                Residence,


FORM (E.)

I                                       , Registrar of Births and Deaths in the District of                                       in the Union of                                       , in the County of                                       , do hereby certify, That this is a true Copy of the Registrar's Book of Births [or Deaths] within the said District from the Entry of the Birth [or Death] of                                       , No.                                      , to the Entry of the Birth [or Death] of                                       .
Witness my Hand this                                       Day of                                       18             .
                                                                                                                                                        , Registrar.


FORM (F.)

I do hereby certify that the Child named                                       was born at                                       , in the County of                                       , on the Day of                                       18              ; that A.B. and C.D. of                                       are the Parents of the said Child; and that the Name                                       was given to the said Child on the                                       Day of 18                  , according to the Rules or Usage of the Sect or Persuasion of                                       to which the Parents belong.
Witness my Hand this                                       Day of                                       One thousand eight hundred and                                       .                                                                                                                   (Signed by Parent or Guardian of Child.)


The Words in Italics and the Blanks for Words and Figures in the above forms to be filled in as the Case may be.