A church dictionary

by Walter Farquhar Hook

“Whenever the ceremony of baptism, or burial, shall be performed in any other place than the parish church, or churchyard of any parish, (or the 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 any such parish or chapelry, the minister who shall perform such ceremony of baptism or burial shall, on the same, or on 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 ——.’”

“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 hereby 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 ——.’” (Sect. 4.)

Sect. 5 directs, that the new registers, and also those previously existing, shall be kept by the minister of the parish, “in a dry, well-painted, iron chest, to be provided, and repaired as occasion may require, at the cost of the parish; which chest shall be constantly kept locked in some dry, safe, and secure place within the usual place of residence of such minister, or in the parish church or chapel.”

Sect. 6 directs, that within two months after the expiration of every year, four copies of the registers for the preceding year shall be made on parchment by the clergyman, “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.” The copies are to be verified and signed by the clergyman in a prescribed form, and his signature is to be attested by the churchwardens or chapelwardens, or one of them. These copies are to be sent by post to the diocesan registrars. (Sect. 7.) In case of the minister’s neglecting to verify the copies, the churchwardens shall certify his default to the registrar, by whom it shall be reported to the bishop. (Sect. 9.) Any person convicted of falsifying a register, or allowing it to be falsified, shall be subject to transportation for fourteen years. (Sect. 14.)

Sect. 16 provides, that the act shall not affect the fees payable to any minister for giving extracts of registers, &c.

The act of 52 Geo. III. is still in force as regards the registration of baptisms and burials by clergymen. But as to marriages, an alteration has been made by the acts 6 & 7 Will. IV. c. 80, and 7 Will. IV., and 1 Vic. c. 22. By the former of these acts the general civil registry was instituted. Sect. 30 orders, that the Registrar-general shall, at the expense of the parish or chapelry, furnish the rector, vicar, or curate, of every church and chapel in which marriages may lawfully be solemnized, duplicate register books and forms for certified copies thereof. Sect. 31, that every clergyman, immediately after every office of matrimony solemnized by him, shall register in duplicate the several particulars relating to that marriage, according to a new form, annexed in a schedule to the act. Sect. 33, (explained by 7 Will. IV., and 1 Vic. c. 22,) that the clergyman of every church or chapel shall, in the months of April, July, October, and January respectively, make and deliver to the registrar of his district a true copy, certified by him under his hand, of all the entries of marriages in the register book kept by him for the three months preceding, to the last days of March, June, September, and December respectively; and if there shall have been no marriage since the last certificate, shall certify the fact under his hand; and that one copy of each duplicate register book shall, when filled, be delivered to the superintendent-registrar of the district. Sect. 27 of the act of 1 Vic. provides, that for every entry in the quarterly certified copies the clergyman shall receive sixpence from the registrar, which sum is to be repaid to the registrar by the guardians or overseers of his district.

By the act of 6 & 7 Will. IV. c. 86, sect. 42, 43, any person who shall refuse, or without reasonable cause omit, to register any marriage solemnized by him, or which he ought to register, and every person having the custody of any register book, who shall carelessly lose or injure the same, or carelessly allow the same to be injured while in his keeping, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding £50 for every such offence; and any person who shall wilfully destroy, injure, or in any way falsify any register book, or shall wilfully give any false certificate or extract, shall be guilty of felony.