History of registration

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 (summons) 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, however, it did lead to the rise in fame of Gretna Green, as it was  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 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 is run by Medway Council.

Kent has a range of Kent and Bexley Approved Premises for the celebration of civil marriages. These are usually register offices. Kent libraries offer facilities for the registration of births and deaths and a number of options are available.

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.