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A summary of the history of the records held by the NSW
Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
Areas covered include:
Early Church Records
In 1788 the only birth, death or marriage records kept in
the Colony of NSW were registers maintained by
the Churches when they performed a baptism, marriage or burial.
The first child baptised was William Tilley on board the
"Lady Penryn" (Penrhyn) on 20th April 1787, the
first burial was James Bradley on board the "Alexander"
on 3rd February 1787, and the first marriage was between William
Parr and Mary MacCormick at the corner of Bligh and Hunter
Streets, Sydney on 10th February 1788. These events were recorded
by Reverend Richard Johnson, Chaplain to the First Fleet,
and his successors continued to perform and record baptisms,
burials and marriages.
Between 1825 and 1855, eight Acts of Parliament were passed
in an attempt to regulate and improve the system of Church
registration. Conditions in the Colony were vastly different
from those in Great Britain and distances from towns, distrust
of authority and lack of participation in formal church services
meant that the Church registration system was unable to adequately
record the details of all births, deaths and marriages which
occurred in New South Wales.
Civil Registrations
On 1st March 1856 "An Act for Registering Birth, Deaths
and Marriages" came into effect. The Act established
a number of District Registrars responsible for the compulsory
registration of all births, deaths and marriages occurring
in New South Wales. It was now the responsibility of a parent,
in the case of a birth, a Minister, in the case of a marriage,
or the owner of a house in which a death occurred to notify
the District Registrar of the details so that the event could
be registered.
In the early years of civil registration most events were
registered following verbal advice from the informant. The
widespread use of notification forms did not begin until after
World War 1 (1918). District Registrars would then enter the
details into bound registers and allocate the registration
a unique number. In some Registration Districts these numbers
would run sequentially for the whole years, while in other
districts a new number series was begun each quarter.
A copy of the registration was made on a loose registration
sheet and forwarded to the Sydney Registry at the end of March,
June, September and December each year. The Sydney Registry
consolidated these returns. They were bound with Sydney registrations
first, followed by metropolitan districts and then the country
districts in alphabetical order. The consolidated registers
were then renumbered starting at 1 and running through the
whole year.
Marine Births and Deaths
The 1856 Act made provision for the registration of births
and deaths which occurred at sea while en route to New South
Wales. The Registration of marine events included information
such as the name of the ship, originating port and the longitude
and latitude defining where the events took place.
Marine births and deaths were originally bound into separate
registers and each given a number beginning with an "M".
This practice was amended later in the century as the number
of births and deaths at sea declined.
Marine births from 1888, and marine deaths from 1894 were
still registered on the separate registration sheets, but
these were now bound with the ordinary returns at the end
of each year and were allocated a registration number in sequence
with other births or deaths.
Acquiring the Early Church Records
The Registry has been acquiring copies of Early Church Records
since 1856. Concerted efforts to acquire or copy these registers
were undertaken in 1856, 1879 and 1912. In recent years further
church registers have been found and copies of their contents
forwarded to the Registry for inclusion in the State's records.
The Registry's first acquisition was made in 1856 when the
Registrar General took possession of the records held by the
Supreme Court. These records were copies of the 1834 to 1835
baptism, marriage and burial registers from Ministers of denominations
other than Church of England.
In 1879 the Clergy Returns Transfer Act was passed. It required
that the copies of the 1825 to 1855 baptism, marriage and
burial registers lodged with the Church of England Bishop
in Sydney be handed over to the Registry. These records had
been in the possession of a Mr Kerrison James who had issued
certificates from them. Mr James was paid £ 4,000 compensation
for the loss of the records. When the crates of bound returns
were opened they were found to contain not only the 1825 to
1855 records but also the earlier registers going back to
1787.
In 1912 the Registrar General wrote to all the Church authorities
requesting that they allow him access to their pre-1856 registers
so that a complete reconciliation could be made between Registry
and Church Records. The Registry's Early Church Records were
consolidated into Volumes and each entry was allocated a unique
number. When the reconciliation was complete there were 158
Volumes of Early Church Records with approximately 50, 000
entries.
The Registry took this opportunity to request access to the
1856 to 1895 church marriages registers. Some Registry marriage
records from these years recorded only the details pertaining
to the parties to the marriage. Details of the parents had
been left blank although they appeared in the Church registers.
These registrations were amended and a notation made in the
margin to record the circumstances of the amendment.
The task of reconciling the Early Church Records and amending
the marriage registrations was never finalised. The Registry's
records from these years are not complete and it can be worthwhile
for genealogists to contact the relevant church to find details
missing from a marriage certificate or in the case of a birth,
a baptism record where there is no corresponding civil registration.
Miscellaneous Births and Deaths
While reconciling the Early Church Records the Registry
registered and indexed thousands of miscellaneous births and
deaths dating back to 1856. These registrations related to
events which were brought to the attention of the appropriate
District Registrar but could not be registered because of
incomplete information, missing signatures or the time lapse
since the birth (see Late Registrations).
Although incomplete, the forms held by the Registry were
the only record of these events and so they were entered into
four Volumes and allocated volume reference numbers (Volumes
151 - 154). Back to Top
The Index
From 1856 annual birth, death and marriage indexes were
created to enable Registry staff to locate registrations.
Marriages were indexed under both the bride's and groom's
name. Re-registrations, legitimations, adoptions and late
registrations were usually indexed twice, once in the year
the event occurred and once again in the year the event was
registered. There has never been any linking of birth records
to subsequent marriages or deaths, nor between children and
families.
In 1912 a consolidated Index to the Volumes containing the
1787 to 1855 baptism, marriage and burial records was created
to replace the numerous separate indexes in existence. The
miscellaneous births and deaths were included in this index.
The index lists key identifying information and the registration
or volume number. It has never included mother's maiden name
(births), place of event or spouse's name (deaths). Back to Top
Late Registrations
The original 1856 Act establishing the process of civil
registration required that a child's birth be registered within
sixty days and it prohibited the District Registrar from registering
the birth after six months. Given that many people lived long
distances from a town and may have only visited irregularly,
there were many children who did not have their births registered.
Some of these were baptised and these records were collected
by the Registry in the 1912 reconciliation. Others were recorded
by way of a Declaration (see Declarations).
It was not until 1935 that the Act was changed to permit
the Registrar General to register the birth of a child at
any time. A large number of births which had occurred prior
to 1918 were now registered. A cross reference was entered
into the index in the year of birth to assist Registry staff
locate the entry. Back to Top
Legitimations
In 1902 the Legitimation Act was passed. This Act allowed
a District Registrar to re-register the birth of an illegitimate
child, whose parents had subsequently married, to include
details of the father and the parent's marriage. The Act did
have the qualification that this could only be done providing
there was no legal impediment to the marriage at the time
the child was born.
Many parents now had their children's birth registered, or,
when the child's birth had not originally been registered
at the time of birth, registered under the new Act (between
1902 and 1935 it was possible for legitimations to be registered
late but not other births!) These new registrations were entered
into the registers of the year the legitimation took place
and the "old" pre-legitimation registration was
cancelled. The new number was indexed in both the year of
birth and the year of legitimation.
Despite the advantages of the new arrangement, the problem
remained for the married parents of an illegitimate child
who had been unable to marry at the time of the child's birth
because of some legal impediment. In 1913 arrangements were
made to allow these parents to record their marriage details
by way of a Declaration (see Declarations). Back to Top
Declarations
In 1913 administrative arrangements were made to assist
people unable to register the true details of their child's
birth and parentage because of inadequacies in the legislation.
The three areas of concern were:
Parents who had not registered their child's birth within
six months. Legislation was amended to accommodate this in
1935.
Parents who were unable to legitimate their child, despite
their subsequent marriage, because there had been a legal
impediment to their marriage at the time of the child's birth.
This anomaly was not remedied until the introduction of the
Commonwealth Marriage Act in 1961.
Foster parents who had "adopted" a child and were
unable to have their own details recorded in any form on the
child's birth registration. Legal adoptions were not introduced
until 1924.
The system of Declaration allowed the necessary details to
be formally declared and recorded by the Registrar General.
No formal registration was created, however certified copies
of these declared details were issued.
Declarations were indexed along with normal registrations
in the year the birth occurred, although there are some instances
when the index entry appears in the year the declaration was
made without any cross reference to the year of birth. Over
4,000 Declarations are held by the Registry. Unfortunately,
some contain little information about events. Back to Top
Papers
Papers are files containing the details of births, deaths
and marriages provided to the Registry, which were insufficient
to allow a registration to be effected. Following notification
that an event had occurred, the Registry created an index
entry and opened a file while attempts were made to obtain
further information. In some cases the Papers include letters
without supporting documents, incomplete forms or notes of
verbal advice received by the Registry. Many Papers contain
no information other than the index entry.
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