Tharston Parish Baptisms

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Information # 6

Title:	Civil Registration
Description:	Civil Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages
Detail:	Before 1837 only churches recorded birth, marriage, and death information in England. In the early 1800s, Parliament recognized the need for accurate records for voting, planning, taxation, and defense purposes and the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1836 was passed which affected England and Wales. The legislation created a civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths for England and Wales and, for registering the same for British subjects abroad. Registration began on 1 July 1837, and covered births, marriages, divorces and deaths. Initially the onus lay on registrars to discover and record events, so parents only had to supply information if and when asked. In 1875, the Births & Deaths Act 1874 came into force, whereby those present at a birth or death were required to report the event; marriages were recorded on the day they occurred. However one problem with English civil registration is that coverage was not universal, especially in the earlier years before tougher laws in 1874.
Other links	Civil Registration - Wikipedia
	Family Search - England Civil Registration
	Gov.UK - Research your family history using the General Register Office
	GenUKI
	FreeBDM

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