Births and Deaths Registration Act 1874

Births and Deaths Registration Act 1874[a]
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to amend the Law relating to the Registration of Births and Deaths in England, and to consolidate the Law respecting the Registration of Births and Deaths at Sea.
Citation37 & 38 Vict. c. 88
Territorial extent England and Wales[b]
Dates
Royal assent7 August 1874
Commencement1 January 1875[c]
Other legislation
AmendsSee § Repealed enactments
Amended by
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
Text of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1874 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Births and Deaths Registration Act 1874 (37 & 38 Vict. c. 88) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated enactments relating to the registration of births and deaths in England and Wales and at sea.

The act closed loopholes within the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1836 (6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 86) and provided that it was the responsibility of parents to register births.[1]

As of 2026 parts of the act remains in force in England and Wales, although the majority of the act was repealed by the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 (1 & 2 Eliz. 2. c. 20) and the Registration Service Act 1953 (1 & 2 Eliz. 2. c. 23).

Provisions

Repealed enactments

Section 54 of the act repealed 7 enactments, listed in the fifth schedule to the act.[2]

Citation Short title Description Extent of repeal
6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 86 Births and Deaths Registration Act 1836 An Act for registering births, deaths, and marriages in England. Sections one, four, twelve, and sixteen, section eighteen from “as herein-” after provided at a reasonable price “to the end of the section, sections nineteen to twenty-eight, section thirty-six, section thirty-nine from ” ac-“cording to the pro-” visions of" to the end of the section, so much of sections forty - one, forty-two, and forty-four as relates to registrars or registers of births and deaths, sections forty-five and fifty, and schedules (E.), (P.), and (G)
7 Will. 4. & 1 Vict. c. 22 Births and Deaths Registration Act 1837 An Act to explain and amend two Acts passed in the last session of Parliament, for-marriages, and for registering births, deaths, and marriages in England. Sections two, four, six, thirteen, sixteen, twenty-one, twenty-five, and thirty-one.
17 & 18 Vict. c. 80 Registration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1854 An Act to provide for the better registration of births, deaths, and marriages in Scotland. Sections thirty and forty-three.
17 & 18 Vict. c. 104 Merchant Shipping Act 1854 The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854. Sections two hundred and seventy-three and two hundred and eighty-two, so far as they relate to the entry of any birth or death.
18 & 19 Vict. c. 119. Passengers Act 1855 Passengers Act, 1855 Section sixteen from “and ” the said master shall “note in writing ” down to “An Act for registering ”births, deaths, and marriages in England,“and section one hundred from ” such emigration or customs officer " to the end of the section.
21 & 22 Vict. c. 25. Births and Deaths Registration Act 1858 An Act to amend the Act concerning non-parochial registers, and the Acts for marriages, and for registering births, deaths, and marriages in England, and concerning vaccination. The whole Act, except sections one to four.
26 & 27 Vict. c 11 Registration of Births and Deaths (Ireland) Act 1863 An Act for the registration of births and deaths in Ireland. Sections thirty-nine and forty.

Notes

  1. ^ Section 53.
  2. ^ Section 51.
  3. ^ Section 50.

References

  1. ^ Research, Lifelines (20 January 2019). "1874 And All That". Lifelines Research. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
  2. ^ "Births and Deaths Registration Act 1874", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, Vict/37-38 c. 88
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.