By the said act for marriages in England | registering Births, Deaths, and Marriages in provision is made for the transmission of no- England, and for Marriages in England," to tices of marriage to the clerk to the guardians be made and delivered to the superintendent of the poor law union, or of the parish or registrar, and also the certificates to be made place comprising the district of a superinten- and delivered to the superintendent registrar dent registrar, and for the reading of the same that there has been no birth, death, or marat certain meetings of such guardians; and riage registered since the delivery of the last whereas it may happen in certain superinten- certificate, shall in every case be made up and dent registrar's districts that there may be no refer respectively to the last days of March, such guardians; be it therefore enacted, that June, September, and December then next in every such case, but only until the election preceding, and not to the time of the making of such board of guardians and of a clerk to or delivery of such certified copy or certificate their board, every notice of marriage given when made on any subsequent day. (s. 26.) according to the provisions of the said act for marriages, or a true and exact copy thereof, under the hand of the superintendent registrar, shall be suspended in some conspicuous place in the office of the superintendent registrar during seven successive days, if the marriage is to be solemnized by licence, or twenty-one successive days if the marriage is to be solemnized without licence, before any marriage shall be solemnized in pursuance of such notice; and the particulars of every such notice shall be sent by the superintendent registrar to every registrar of marriages within his district, and shall be open to the inspection of every one who shall apply at reasonable times to such registrar to inspect the same. (s. 24.) By the said act for registering births, deaths, and marriages it is provided that the costs of all marriage register books and forms for certified copies thereof, furnished to the rector, vicar, or curate, of every church and chapel in England wherein marriages may lawfully be solemnized shall be paid by the churchwardens and overseers of the parish or chapelry out of the monies in their hands as such churchwardens or overseers, and that the costs of register books of births and of register books of deaths and of forms for certified copies thereof, shall be paid by the guardians or by the churchwar. dens and overseers (as the case may be) out of the monies coming to their hands or controul as such guardians or churchwardens and overseers; it is enacted, for removing doubt as to the fund chargeable therewith, that the costs of all such books and forms shall be borne by the union, parish or place, in and for which the superintendent registrar is appointed who superintends the registrar for whose use such books were provided, or to whom such rector vicar, or curate, is by the said act directed to deliver one copy of such register; and such costs shall be paid to the said superintendent registrar by the guardians or by the churchwardens and overseers, as the case shall be, out of the monies coming into their hands as such guardians or such churchwardens and overseers for the relief of the poor. (s. 25.) Quarterly Returns.-The certified copies of the entries of births, deaths, and marriages required by the said acts for marriages, and for registering births, deaths, and marriges, or by an act passed in this session of parliament, intituled, "An Act to suspend for a limited Time the Operation of Two Acts passed in the last Session of Parliament, for Registers kept by the Clergy.-It is required by the said act for registering births, deaths, and marriages, that every rector, vicar, and curate shall register in duplicate the particulars of every marriage solemnized by him, one of which registers he is also required to deliver when filled to the superintendent registrar of the district in which such church or chapel may be situated, and also four times in every year to deliver to the said superintendent registrar a true copy, certified by him under his hand, of all the entries of marriages in the register book kept by him since the last certificate; it is enacted, that the said superintendent registrar shall pay or cause to be paid to the said rector, vicar, or curate the sum of sixpence for every entry contained in such certified copy, which sum shall be reimbursed to the said superintendent registrar by the guardians or overseers of the union, parish, or place for which he shall be appointed superintendent registrar as aforesaid, in like manner as by the said act is provided for the payment of the registrar on production of his accounts to the superintendent registrar. (s. 27.) Every person who under the provisions of the said acts for marriages, and for registering births, deaths, and marriages, or either of them, as amended by this act, is required to make and deliver to any superintendent registrar a certified copy of the entries of any births, deaths, or marriages registered by him, or the certificate required by the said acts as amended by this act, that there have been no entries since the last certificate, and who after being auly required to deliver such certified copy or such certificate as aforesaid shall refuse or during one calendar month neglect so to do, shall be liable for every such offence to forfeit a'sum not exceeding ten pounds, to be recovered as other penalties for offences against the said acts are made recoverable: Provided always, that in such case a moiety of the penalty shall not go to the informer, but the whole shall go to the registrar general, or such other person as the Commissioners of the Treasury shall appoint, for the use of her Majesty. (s. 28.) In every case in which any rector, vicar, or curate is required by either of the said acts for marriages, and for registering births, deaths, and marriages, or by this act to, give or deliver any notice, certificate, or certified copy to any superintendent registrar, it shall he sufficient for such rector, vicar, or curate, to give or deliver the same to some registrar under the superin 174 Immediate Operation of the Marriage and Registration Acts. tendance of some superintendent registrar; and every registrar on receiving any such notice, certificate, or certified copy, shall give or deliver the same to the superintendent registrar; and each superintendent registrar shall direct the registrars of births and deaths under his superintendance quarterly, or oftener if he shall think fit, or shall be so ordered to do by the registrar general, to collect the notices, certificates, and certified copies from every rector, vicar, and curate within his district. (s. 29.) For removing of all doubt with regard to the administration of oaths, it is enacted, that every person before whom by the said acts or either of them an oath is directed to be taken, is hereby authorized to administer the same. (s. 30.) The prosecution for every offence punishable upon summary conviction by virtue of the said acts or this act shall be commenced within three months after the commission of such office. (s. 31.) No stamp duty shall be required, nor shall any duty be chargeable, on any licence under the hand and seal of any bishop, or any other instrument necessary for authorising the solemnization of marriages in any chapel according to the provisions of the said act for marriages. (s. 32 ) Roman Catholic chapel exclusively, shall be taken to be a separate building for the purpose of being registered for the celebration of inarriages, notwithstanding the same shall be under the same roof with any other building, or shall form a part only of a building. (s. 35.) Notice in lieu of Banns.-It is enacted in the said recited act for marriages in England, that where by any law or canon in force before the passing of the said act it is provided that any marriage may be solemnized after publication of banns, such marriage may be solemnized in like manner on production of the registrar's certificate as therein-after provided by the present act it is enacted, that the giving of notice to the superintendent registrar, and the issue of the superintendent registrar's certificate, as in the act and by this act provided, shall be used and stand instead of the publication of banns to all intents and purposes where no such publication shall have taken place; and every parson, vicar, minis ter, or curate, in England shall solemnize marriage after such notice and certificate as aforesaid in like manner as after due publication of banns: Provided always, that the church wherein any marriage according to the rites of the church of England shall so be solemnized shall be within the district of the superintendent registrar by whom such certificate as aforesaid shall have been issued. (s. 35.) Banns. The banns of marriage of any persons may be published in any chapel licensed by the bishop, according to the provisions of the said act for marriages, for the solemnization of marriages, in which those persons might lawfully be married; and instead of the notice re- IMMEDIATE OPERATION OF THE quired by the said act the words "Banns may be published and marriages may be solemnized in this chapel" shall be placed in some conspicuous part in the interior of every such chapel. (s. 33.) Doubts may arise whether under the said recited acts it is lawful for the bishop to license chapels for marriages between parties one only of whom resides within the district specified in such licence; it is therefore enacted and declared, that all such licences shall be construed to extend to and authorise marriages in such chapels between parties one or both of whom is or are resident within the said district; Provided always, that where the parties to any marriage intended to be solemnized after publication of banns shall reside with in different ecclesiastical districts, the banns for such marriage shall be published as well in the church or chapel wherein such marriage is intended to be solemnized as in the chapel licensed under the provisions of the said recited act for the other district within which one of the parties is resident, and if there be no such chapel, then in the church or chapel in which the banns of such last-mentioned party might be legally published if the said recited act had not been passed. (s. 34.) Roman Catholic Chapel.-Certain provisions are made in the act intituled "An Act for Marriages in England," relating to the celebration of inarriages in separate buildings; it is enacted, that any building which shall have been licensed and used during one year next before gistration for public religious worship as a MARRIAGE AND REGISTRATION THESE acts, the 6 & 7 W. 4, cc. 85, 86, 1st, As to Marriages. In the Church of England.-Persons desirous of solemnizing marriage according to the rites of the Church of England, may be so married after publication of banns, or by licence, or by special licence as heretofore; or they may be married (without publication of banns, or by licence, or special licence), according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, on production of a certificate from the superintendent registrar of the district. One of the parties intending marriage must give notice under his or her hand to the superintendent registrar of the district, within which the parties shall have dwelt for not less than seven days then next preceding; or if they dwell in different districts, they must give the like notice to the superintendent registrar of each district. The notice a See 1 Vict. c. 22, s. 35, supra, Immediate Operation of the Marriage and Registration Acts. 175 must be in the form of a schedule, which for other lawful hindrance to the said marthe superintendent registrar will furnish, and must be filled up with the following particulars : The name and surname of each of the parties; whether bachelor or widower, spinster or widow ;- their respective rank, profession, or calling:whether minors, or of full age;-their respective dwelling places ;-whether they have resided within the district more than one calendar month, or if not, how long;-in what church or building the marriage is to be solemnized; the district and county in which the other party resides, when they dwell in different districts. A copy of such notice will be entered by the superintendent registrar in a book called "The Marriage Notice Book," which will be open at all reasonable times, without fee, to all persons desirous of inspecting the same. riage, and that one of the said parties hath for the space of fifteen days immediately before the day of the grant of such licence had his or her usual place of abode within the district within which such marriage is to be solemnized, and where either of the parties, (not being a widower or widow), shall be under the age of twenty-one years, that the consent of the person or persons whose consent to such marriage is required by law has been obtained thereto, or that there is no person having authority to give such consent. At the Registrar's Office.-Persons objecting to be married according to the rites of the Church of England, or in any registered building, may after notice and certificate, celebrate marriage at the office of the superintendent registrar, with open doors between the hours of eight and twelve in the forenoon, in the presence of the superintendent registrar and some registrar of In registered Buildings.-Persons (exthe district, and in the presence of two witcept Quakers and Jews) desirous of solem-nesses, making the declaration, and using nizing marriage, not according to the rites of the Church of England, may be married according to other rites and ceremonies, on production of a certificate obtained as above mentioned, in a registered place of worship, provided that every such marriage shall be solemnized with open doors, between the hours of eight and twelve in the forenoon, in the presence of some registrar of the district in which such registered building is situate, and of two or more credible wit nesses. Persons may be married after seven days from the entry of the notice, if by licence, and after twenty-one days if without licence, provided it be within three calendar months after notice; otherwise it must be renewed. A licence may be granted by the superintendent registrar, but only for marriage in a registered building within his district, or in his office; but before any licence can be granted by him, one of the parties intending marriage must appear personally before him, and in case he shall not be the superintendent registrar to whom notice of such intended marriage was given, shall deliver to him the certificate of the superintendent registrar, or superintendent registrars, to whom such notice shall have been given; and such party shall make oath, or shall make his or her solemn affirmation or declaration instead of taking an oath, that he or she believeth that there is not any impediment of kindred or alliance, the form of words required in the case of marriage in a registered building. Quakers may contract and solemnize marriage according to the usages of their society, provided both parties are of that society, and that notice shall have been given to the superintendent registrar, and a certificate shall have been issued as before mentioned. Jews may likewise contract and solemnize marriage according to the usages of the Jewish religion under similar provisions. If any valid marriage shall be had under the provisions of the act for Marriages in England by means of any wilfully false notice, certificate, or declaration made by either party to such marriage, as to any matter to which a notice, certificate or declaration, is therein required, his Majesty's Attorney General or Solicitor General may sue for a forfeiture of all estate and interest in any property accruing to the offending party by such marriage; and the proceedings and the consequences will be the same as are provided in the like case with regard to marriages by licence before the passing of these acts. 2d. As to the Registration of Births. The father or mother of a child, born after 1st July, 1837, or the occupier of the house in which such birth shall happen, may give notice of such birth to the registrar of the district, within forty-two days next after the day of such birth; and it is imperative on them to give information to the registrar on 176 Immediate Operation of the Marriage and Registration Acts.-Practical Points. being requested to do so, of the day of birth | PRACTICAL POINTS OF GENERAL of the child; the name (if any is given); INTEREST. the sex; the name and surname of the father; the name, and maiden surname of the mother; the rank, profession, trade or calling of the CONCEALMENTS ON EFFECTING POLICIES OF father. The person giving such information must also sign the register: and unless this be done no register can be given in evidence. No fee is payable; and the entry in the register, being signed, will be evidence of such birth in any Court of Law or Equity. 3rd. As to the Registration of Deaths. Some person present at a death, or in attendance during the last illness, the occupier, or some inmate of the house in which a death shall have happened, may, within five days after the death, give notice to the registrar of the district, and must within eight days give information to the registrar, on being requested to do so, of the day of death; the name and surname of the person who has died; the sex; the age; the rank, profession, trade, or calling; the cause of death. The person giving information must sign the register; and the entry which the registrar will make, will be evidence of such death. INSURANCE. WE lately called attention to the important subject of concealments on effecting policies of insurance, and stated the recent cases relating to it (12 L. O. 89–90); and we now add another late decision at nisi prius on the point. We conceive that actions raising questions of this nature should be discouraged, or those very useful institutions-life insurance societies-will materially suffer. If a person having effected an insurance is to be liable on his death to have the whole history of his private life dragged before the public, it appears to us that he will hesitate a little before he runs this risk. Unless in cases of very gross fraud, the insurance societies will act wisely in paying the sum secured, even when there is reason to doubt the right to recover it. We would have the strictest investigation before the policy be entered into; but once made, let it be binding on all parties. The following is the case to which we allude: Chattock v. Shave, 2 Moo. & Rob. 498. Every person who shall bury or perform any funeral or any religious service for the burial of any dead body, for which no certiAssumpsit. This was an action on a policy ficate shall have been made and delivered of insurance effected by the plaintiff, and either by the registrar or (in cases of inquest) Eagle Insurance Company, in July 1831, upon signed by the defendants as directors of the by the coroner, and who shall not within the life of Lieutenant Colonel Greswolde. seven days, give notice thereof to the regis- Plea, the general issue. The policy recited trar, will be liable to forfeit ten pounds. And that the plaintiff had delivered to the office a no certificate can be given (except by the certain statement or declaration, touching the coroner when an inquest has been held) un-said Lieutenant Colonel Greswolde, wherein it less the death has been registered by the rewas (amongst other things) alleged, that the assured " gistrar of the district. is now in a sound and perfect state of health, and has not been afflicted with, nor is subject to, gout, vertigo, fits, hemorrhage, dropsy, asthma, consumption, or to any disease, ailment, or bodily infirmity, or symptoms of any disease, ailment, or bodily infirmity, nor accustomed to any intemperate habits, which can tend to the shortening of life;" and the policy be valid only in case the declaration above recontained a proviso, that the insurance was to ferred to contained a true and faithful representation of the facts therein mentioned. Colonel Greswolde died in January 1833. For the defendants it was attempted to be shewn that the policy was void on two grounds: first, because at the time it was effected, Colonel Greswolde was accustomed to very intemperate habits of drinking, which tended to the shortening of life; secondly, because he had been afflicted with and was subject to fits. In respect of the fits, it was admitted in the plaintiff's opening, that in the year 1827 the Colonel Every person wilfully making or causing to be made, any false statement touching any of the particulars required to be known and registered, for the purpose of such statement being inserted in any register of birth, death, or marriage, will be subject to the same pains and penalties as if guilty of perjury. Persons failing to do that which is by an act of parliament enjoined, are indictable for a misdemeanor, although no specific penalty is imposed by the act which they have so disobeyed. Practical Points.-Notices of New Books: Rouse's Practical Man. had been attacked by a seizure, said to be of an epileptic character, whilst quartered at Mac NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 177 clesfield, and by a second seizure of the same The Practical Man: or Pocket Companion for Solicitors, Estate Agents, Valuers, and Owners of Property; comprising Precedents, Rules, Tables, Calculations, &c. in those matters of Professional and General Business, requiring attention when reference cannot be had to the Library. By Rolla Rouse, of the Middle Temple, Esq. Second Edition. London: Published for the Proprietors of The Legal Observer," by Richards & Co. 1837. THIS is a Second Edition of Mr. Rouse's "Practical Man." The rapidity with which the first edition has been taken by the Profession, justifies the favourable opinion we formerly expressed of the useful labours of the author. The present edition is greatly extended; with the Introduction of a complete System of Valuations, on a plan never before attempted, and which will enable any person acquainted with common Arithmetic, to value with ease and exactness, all the more complicated Interests in Property, Copyhold Enfranchisements, Life Policies, &c. kind a few days after; it was also attempted to be shewn on the part of the defendants, that the Colonel had been frequently afflicted with similar seizures between the occurrence at Macclesfield and the date of the policy, and from thence to the time of his death, the inmediate cause of which was stated to be a fit of some kind, at the time when he was keeping his bed, and labouring under a dangerous attack of some species of cholera. The evidence as to the fits, (except the two at Macclesfield, and that which took place immediately before the Colonel's death,) was, however, of a very doubtful, and frequently of a contradictory, nature; and as to the Macclesfield fits, the plaintiff gave evidence that they were the immediate result of an accident which happened to the Colonel in a scuffle, in the course of which he either fell, or was cast down, some stone steps, and received a very severe injury in the head; the Colonel having been free from all tendency to fits up to this time, and never having experienced any recurrence of them (as the plaintiff contended) since. Lord Abinger, C. B., in his address to the jury, after commenting on the evidence as to the alleged intemperate habits of Colonel G., proceeded thus:-If the only fits of which proof were given had been the Macclesfield The first part contains Forms, &c. infits, I should have said, there was no breach of tended more particularly for the legal Practhis warranty; for the interpretation I put on titioner:-Considerable additions have been a clause of this kind is, not that the party never accidentally had a fit, but that he was not, at the time of the insurance being made, a person habitually or constitutionally afflicted with fits; a person liable to fits from some peculiarity of temperament, either natural, or contracted, from some cause or other, during life. You are to say whether the evidence has satisfied you that these fits at Macclesfield were the result of accident, and did not lead to any recurrence of fits in after life, or whether you think that the defendants have shewn that the Colonel was attacked by other seizures of the same kind after the Macclesfield fits; because if the evidence as to those seizures is to be depended upon, they not being pretended to be the result of any accident, would seem to shew that the party was, from the date of the Macclesfield fits, a person subject to that disorder, within the meaning of the The third part, which in the first edition proviso. In that case your verdict will be for only comprised a few of the mere simple the defendant.-Verdict for the plaintiff. values in property, is extended so as to form In Michaelmas Term following a rule nisi a complete System of Valuations;-emfor a new trial was obtained, on the ground that the verdict was against evidence. No bracing Freeholds and Copyholds, Advowobjection was made to the direction of the sons, next and successive Presentations, Chief Buron, and in the course of the argu-Life Annuities, Church, Collegiate and other ment, Parke, B., expressed his concurrence therein. The rule was afterwards discharged. made in Affidavits, Agreements, Bankruptcy, Notices, Stamps, and Wills; -Tithe Commutation, and general Release Forms, with the Distribution of an Intestate's Personal Estate, have also been added. The second part comprises Measurements, Contents, Weights, and general computations; embracing Land and Superficial Measure generally; and applied to Roofs, Thatching, Artificers' Work, &c. :-Cubic Measure generally, and applied to Stacks, Manure, Timber, Cisterns, Casks, Coppers, &c.-Weight, of Cast Iron, Sheet Lead, Bar Iron, Lead Pipe, Copper, Wood, Stone, &c. &c. This part has also been greatly extended. renewable and Common Leaseholds; Rents equal to Premium, Beneficial Value, renewing or extending Leases ;-renewal of a Life in Copyholds for Lives; Accumulations, Copyhold Enfranchisements, Life Policies; difference between value and amount of yearly, half-yearly, and quarterly Pay |