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A brief history of registration services within the
British Isles, leading up to the present day service.
When did registration begin?
The need to record the important events in
someone's life can be traced back to the reign of Henry VIII.
In 1538 a local system of registration based on
christenings, marriages and burials was introduced by Thomas
Cromwell, Henry VIII's lord chancellor.
The clergy of each parish were ordered to keep a
book which recorded all baptisms, marriages and burials.
In 1597 special registers were bought by each
parish and for the first time annual returns were to be sent to a
diocesan registrar.
An Act of 1666 complicated the job of registering
burials in that all corpses had to be buried "in a woollen shroud"
(for the sake of the duty on wool). After each burial an oath was
made which confirmed this.
Then in 1753 an act was passed which made it
illegal for marriages to take place unless banns had been read or a
licence issued in the parish where the bride or groom lived.
This meant that runaway marriages in England became
almost impossible, but, it did lead to the rise in fame of Gretna
Green, being just over the border in Scotland!
Except for a brief time during the commonwealth
(1653 - 1660), registration was carried out by the local
clergy.
Why did it change?
Only the registers of the established church were accepted as a
legal record and, as the number of non-conformist churches began to
grow, the parish registers became more and more incomplete.
In the early nineteenth century a House of Commons committee
recommended that the local system should be replaced by a national
system of registration and that a civil marriage ceremony should be
introduced.
On the 1 July 1837, in the first year of Queen Victoria's reign,
the new modern registration service began.
On that day 2193 newly appointed registrars of births and deaths
and 619 superintendent registrars took up their pens throughout
England and Wales and commenced entry number 1 in their first civil
register.
In the first full year of the service, 11,826 births and 7,871
deaths were registered in Kent.
During 1987, the 150th anniversary year, that number had grown
to 20,885 births and 17,773 deaths.
From 1837 until 1929 the local service was run by the Poor Law
Board of Guardians.
How did the modern service develop?
In 1929 the service was transferred to local government and in
Kent today it is run by the county council.
The Medway towns area which is run by Medway Council.
The county council area has six main
register offices. Each office has a suite of rooms for the
celebration of civil marriages, and separate offices for the
registration of births and deaths.
In 1995 the county council was allowed to licence other venues
for civil marriage ceremonies
Couples now have the choice of taking their marriage vows in
castles, stately homes, hotels, animal parks, gazebos and many
other unique and interesting places.
In the early years of the service very few marriages took place
in register offices, but now over 60% of all marriages celebrated
in Kent take place in licensed venues and register offices.
Whilst the service still retains many of its Victorian roots,
computers have now replaced pen and ink as the best way to record
these important personal events. |