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well to give, for the edification of those who are unacquainted with the
nature of the arrangements made for the Registration of Births and
Deaths, a sketch of the machinery provided for the purpose of carrying
on this work in Bethnal Green, and I will do so as concisely as I can.
The parish is divided into four sub-districts severally denominated:
" Hackney Road," "Green," " Church," and " Town," and the Officers
in charge of these divisions are Messrs. Collins, Bradbrook, East, and
Ashford, in the order in which they are here given. The regulations
respecting
BIRTHS
directs that within six weeks after the occurrence of the event, one of
the parents, occupier of the house, or a person present at the birth, shall
attend at the office of the Registrar for the District in which they reside,
and within certain specified hours, then and there to give particulars as to
the name, occupation (if any), and address of the father and mother, the
date of birth, and the name by which the child is to be called; all of
which is entered in a book kept for the purpose. In every case it is
required that the signature of the person by whom the information is
supplied shall be attached to the official record at the time. The child
can be registered later under certain rules.
DEATHS.
The same forms must be gone through as in the case of births, and this
must be done prior to burial, as no interment can legally take place
without a certificate from the Registrar for the Sub-District in which the
death took place. This can be obtained by any one who was present at
the time of the occurrence, provided that they can produce a certificate
of the cause of death, signed by a properly qualified medical practitioner.
Now the Registrar of each Sub-District is required to enter upon a
printed form, supplied to him for the purpose, the number of children
registered by him week by week, and shewing the proportion of males
and females ; also each cause of death brought under his cognizance, with
particulars as to the cause of such deaths, and giving, in every instance,
the age, sex, occupation (if any) during lifetime of the persons to whom