Registry of Deeds (Ireland) Act 1832

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REGISTRY OF DEEDS (IRELAND) ACT 1832

CAP. LXXXVII.

An Act to regulate the Office for registering Deeds, Conveyances, and Wills in Ireland. [4th August 1832.]

6 Ann. (I).

9G. 4. c. 57.

Recited Act 9 G. 4. c. 57. repealed;

and certain Treasury Minutes rescinded.

Appointments not to be vacated by the Repeal of that Act.

WHEREAS by an Act of Parliament made in Ireland in the Sixth Year of the Reign of Queen Anne, intituled An Act for the public registering of all Deeds, Conveyances, and Wills that shall be made of any Honors, Manors, Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments, a Public Register Office was established in the City of Dublin; and by other Acts of Parliament made in Ireland, and by certain Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom, various Provisions have from Time to Time been made in respect of such Register Office, and particularly by an Act of the Ninth Year of the Reign of His late Majesty King George the Fourth, intituled An Act to provide for the Regulation if the Public Office for registering Memorials of Deeds, Conveyances, and Wills in Ireland: And whereas Lord Viscount Kilwarden, who at the Time of passing the said last-mentioned Act was by Patent Registrar of the said Office, has since died, and thereupon George Moore Esquire, One of His Majesty’s Counsel in Ireland, who had for many Years been Deputy Registrar, was, by the Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury, under the Authority of the said last-mentioned Act, on or about the Twenty-seventh Day of July in the Year One thousand eight hundred and thirty appointed Registrar of the said Office, and he now is Registrar of the same; and certain other Appointments in the said Office were then also made: And whereas Doubts have arisen as to the Construction of certain of the Provisions made by the said Acts in respect to the said Register Office; and some of the Provisions of the said Act of the Ninth Year of His late Majesty King George the Fourth have been found inconvenient, and others to occasion an unreasonable Expence to Parties resorting for Information to the said Register Office, at the remaining. Provisions to require Alterations and Amendments be made therein: For Remedy whereof it is requisite that the said last-mentioned Act should be repealed, but without invalidating that aforesaid Appointments; and also that other Provisions should be made for the future Regulation of the said Register Office: Be therefore enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That the said recited Act of the Ninth Year of the Reign of His late Majesty King George the Fourth shall be, from the Thirty first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two and the same is hereby from that Day, repealed; and also that Three several Treasury Minutes founded upon the said Act, and dated respectively, Two of them the Twenty-seventh Day of July, and the other the Seventeenth Day of December, in the Year One thousand eight hundred and thirty, and which Minutes were all of them laid before Parliament on the Twenty-third Day of the said Month of December, be rescinded: Provided always, that no Appointment made or Security given under the said Act shall by such Repeal be vacated or rendered, invalid, but every such Appointment and Security shall be and continue a good and valid Appointment and Security, subject however to the Provisions of this Act.

Register Office to consist of certain Officers.

Filling up Vacancies in the said Office.

II. And be it further enacted, That the Establishment of the Said Register Office shall consist of a Registrar, Two Assistant Registrars, a First Clerk, and Two other Clerks, as named, and with the yearly Salaries mentioned in the Schedule, marked (A.) to this Act annexed, and of such a Number of additional Clerks and other Persons as the Service of the Office shall require; and that hereafter upon the happening of any Vacancy such Registrar and Assistant Registrars, and also the said First Clerk and Two other Clerks, shall be appointed by the Lord High Treasurer, or Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury, or any Three or more of them; and that the said Registrar and Assistant Registrars shall, previously to their entering upon the Duties of their respective Offices, each enter into a Recognizance in the Manner prescribed by the said Act or the Sixth Year of the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Anne, jointly with One or Two Sureties; and such Recognizance in respect of every future Registrar shall be in the Sum of Ten thousand Pounds, conditioned for the true and faithful Execution of the Duties Office, and with regard to each of the Assistant Registrars in Two thousand Pounds, with a like Condition, and with a further Condition to indemnify the Registrar against any Loss to be sustained by him through the Default or Negligence of such Assistant Registrars in the Execution of their Duties, or of the Orders or Directions given by the Registrar to them respectively; and such Recognizance in Ten thousand Pounds shall, at and from the next Vacancy, be in place and instead of the Recognizance theretofore required of the Registrar.

Registrar to have the Direction of the Office.

Assistant Registrars to take Affidavits and sign Documents.

III. And whereas it is right that the Directions of the said Register Office should be confided to the Registrar; be it therefore enacted, That the Direction, Management, and Superintendence of all Departments in the Office shall devolve as his Duty upon the said Registrar: Provided always, that in order to facilitate the Business of the said Register Office, but nevertheless without in anywise diminishing the Responsibility of the Registrar for any Act to be done as next herein-after mentioned, that the Assistant Registrars respectively be and each Assistant Registrar is hereby empowered, for and on behalf of the Registrar, to take Affidavits, sign official Documents, and do all official Acts necessary in the Execution of the Duties of the Office; which Power shall continue after a Vacancy shall happen in the Office of Registrar until the said Office shall be again filled up, in as full and ample a Manner as if no Vacancy had occurred; and that the said Registrar shall, at his Pleasure, remove any or either of the Three Clerks or other Clerks or Persons employed on the Establishment, and also that he shall retain and employ such a Number of additional Clerks and other Persons as from Time to Time may be necessary for the due and punctual Discharge of the Duties of the said Office, and pay them weekly according to the Work done by them respectively, and also make to any of such supernumerary Clerks and other Persons such further occasional or temporary Allowances in Money as the Lord High Treasurer, or any Three of the Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, by any Treasury Minute made in respect of a particular Case, or for the Purpose of constituting a general Scale of Allowance applicable to all Cases that may occur in the said Register Office, shall in that Behalf from Time to Time order or direct; and the said Assistant Registrars, and all the Clerks and other Persons employed, shall obey the Orders and Directions of the Registrar, as well with respect to Attendance as to the Duties which they respectively may be required to perform; and the Registrar and all Persons employed in the said Register Office shall perform the Duties of their respective Offices in Person; and the Assistant Registrars and Clerks shall not be absent from the said Office without Permission of the Registrar.

Account to be kept of Monies received for Fees.

IV. And be it enacted, That Accounts shall be kept of all Sums of Money received and paid in the said Office; and that from and be after the Thirty-first Day of December next ensuing the passing of this Act there shall be kept in the said Registry Office a Book or Books wherein all Fees and Sums of Money whatsoever which shall be received in the said Office shall from Time to Time be truly entered as and when the same shall be received, which Book or Books shall be produced by the Registrar, or by some Person on the Establishment of the Office, whenever the same shall be required by any Person interested in demanding such Production, or by any Order of any of His Majesty’s Courts, or any Judge of either of such Courts, or of the said Lord High Treasurer, or Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury; and the Entries, therein, or any particular Entry, shall, if required by any such Order, be verified upon Oath; and also that the said Registrar shall keep a regular Account of all Sums of Money disbursed in Payment of the Salaries by this Act authorized to be paid, and of all other the necessary Expences and Payments whatsoever incident to the Execution of the said Office; which Accounts shall be made up every Three Calendar Months, and be signed by the said Registrar and by One or both of the Assistant Registrars; and moreover the said Registrar shall, within Thirty Days next after the Expiration of every Quarter of a Year, render true Copies of such Accounts to the Vice Treasurer of Ireland, and shall at the same Time pay into the Bank of Ireland, to the Credit of the Consolidated Fund, the Balance upon or Difference between such Accounts then remaining in the Hands of the said Registrar, subject however to the Direction, in respect of the Application of such Balance or Surplus, herein-after contained.

No Fees to be taken but what are specified in Schedule (B.) to be paid.

V. And be it further enacted, That from and after the said Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two there shall be paid and payable in the said Office the several Fees only which are specified in the Schedule marked (B.) to this Act annexed, and no other Fee or Fees whatsoever; and if any Person on the Establishment of the said Office, or employed in the said Office, shall demand or receive, or cause to be demanded or received, any greater or other Fees, and the same shall be proved against him, he shall forthwith be discharged from his Place or Employment in the said Office: Provided always, that if shall be lawful for the Registrar of the said Office to require, in all Cases where he shall think it proper so to do, that the said Fees, or a reasonable Sum on account thereof, shall be paid or deposited in advance, together with the Amount of the Stamps, when Stamps shall be required to be used.

Hours of Business in the said Office.

VI. And be it further enacted, That after the said Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two the said Register Office shall be kept open for Business from the Hour of Ten in the Forenoon until the Hour of Four in the Afternoon of every Day in the Year, excepting only Sundays, Christmas Day, and Good Friday, and Days of Public Fast or Thanksgiving.

All Persons may search Books and Indexes, and take Notes thereof, upon paying Daily Fee.

VII. And be it further enacted, That after the Thirty-first Day of December, during the said Hours for Business, all Persons interested in making Searches in the said Register Office shall have full Liberty to search and to examine the Index, Abstract, and Transcript Books thereof, and to take Abstracts or other short Notes of any of the Matters in such Books, and also to inspect, in the Presence of some Person belonging to the said Office, any original Memorial to which Reference shall be obtained in such Searches, upon every such Person paying daily the Fee for searching in the said Office, and also, where such Inspection shall be had, the inspecting Fee by this Act appointed, and no more.

Head Clerk’s or Common Search revived.

VIII. And whereas heretofore a Description of Search was made in the said Register Office called a Head Clerk’s or Common Search, and it is desirable that this Form of searching should be revived; be it therefore enacted, That from and after the said Thirty-first Day of December, upon, a Request in Writing by any Person desirous of the same being left in the said Register Office, a Head Clerk’s or Common Search shall be made, and a Copy of the Abstract of every Memorial found to come within the Terms of the said Request shall be transcribed upon Paper, and shall be signed by One of the Clerks upon the Establishment of the said Office with his Name, and also by One of the Assistant Registrars with the Initial Letters of his Name, and with all convenient Expedition the same shall be delivered to the Party making the Request: Provided always, that it shall be lawful for the Person making such Request to except thereout any and every Instrument of which he shall specify the Date, Description of Instrument, and Parties Names, in a List at the Foot of such Request.

Present Form of keeping Indexes to cease on the 31st of December 1832.

IX. And whereas it is desirable that some Change should be made in the Method required by Law for keeping the Indexes of Parties Names and Lands in the said Office; be it therefore enacted, That the Form and Manner of keeping such Indexes now in use shall be continued to be followed, up to and including the said Thirty-first Day of December and no longer, to which Time the Entries and Registry of all Memorials then already brought into the Office shall be completed as soon after that Day as may be; and all Books theretofore at any Time used or kept in the said Registry Office, containing Transcripts of Memorials, Abstracts of the Contents of Memorials, or Indexes to Memorials registered in the said Office, shall be public Property, and be preserved in the said Office, and not be removed therefrom.

Numbering Memorials.

X. And whereas it is desirable that a different System of making and keeping Indexes to the Memorials should henceforth be adopted and followed, and in order thereto, that, instead of continuing to number the Memorials in One continued Series from the establishing of the said Register Office, a different Mode should be introduced; be it therefore enacted, That from and after the said Thirty-first Day of December all the Memorials that shall be registered in the said Office shall be numbered in different Series of not more than Three hundred Memorials in any One Series.

Manner of keeping the Day Book and numbering and filing Memorials.

XI. And be it further enacted, That from and after the said Thirty-first Day of December there shall be kept in the said Office a Book to be called, the “Day Book,” in which Book the first Entry of every Memorial received into the said Office shall be made, and in the same Order in which the Memorial shall be received in the Office; and such Entries shall be in the Form or to the Effect of the Model of such a Book set forth in the Schedule marked (C.) to this Act annexed; and the Number, of every such first Entry shall be the Number of the Memorial, and such Number, shall also forthwith be marked upon the Memorial itself, and shall ever after, in association with the Year and the Volume in which the Memorial shall be transcribed, remain the Number of that Memorial; and moreover, that as soon as Three hundred Memorials shall have been received, that Number of Memorials shall form the First Series of Memorials of the current Year, and shall be made up into One File, on which File there shall be indorsed in very legible Characters the Year in which the Memorials therein contained were, received, and also the Number of the Volume in which the Transcripts of the same Memorials shall be entered; and the Files of all the Memorials received in each Year shall be deposited and kept in a separate Press, or Shelf, on which Press or shelf the Year shall be distinctly marked; and further, that so soon as one Series of Three hundred Memorials shall have been received, another Series, to consist of a like Number, and to be numbered in like Manner from One to Three hundred, shall be begun, and so on in all Time to come, except the last Series of each Year, which shall terminate with whatever Number the last Memorial received on the last Office Day in the Year may bear, and the first Memorial received in every new Year shall be marked and entered as Number One of the First Series of Memorials which shall be received in that Year.

Manner of keeping the Abstract Book.

XII. And be it further enacted, That from and after the said Thirty-first Day of December, progressively as the said Memorials shall be received in the said Office, there shall be made and entered into a Parchment Book, to be called the “Abstract Book,” an Abstract or short Statement of the Effect of the Instrument set forth in every such Memorial, which Abstract shall contain the Year and Day of registering, the Volume and Number of the Memorial, the Name of the Instrument, the Date of die Instrument as given in the Memorial, the Names and Descriptions of all the Grantors and of One or more of die Grantees, the Consideration, the Term, the Rent, the Renewal Fines, the Name and Description of the Premises, and the County and Barony and Parish wherein the Premises are situated, the Nature of the Instrument, that is to say, whether a Trust, Marriage Settlement, Mortgage, or absolute or other Conveyance, or such and so many of the foregoing Particulars as are contained in the Memorial of such Instrument; and the Abstract shall be entered in the Abstract Book in the Form or to the Effect of the Model contained in the Schedule distinguished by the Letter (D.) to this Act annexed; and the said Abstracts shall be entered in the said Abstract Book in the same Order that the first Entries of the Memorials to which they relate were made in the Day Book, and each Abstract shall have prefixed to it the very same Number as the Memorial, and as the Day Book Entry of the Registration of the Memorial, of which it is an Abstract, shall have had put upon them; and the Abstract Books of each Year shall be kept separate, and such Books shall be divided into Parts to correspond with the Files and Volumes of Transcripts of such Year; and there shall be One at least Duplicate Copy of such Abstract Book made, wherein the Entries shall be continually kept up.

Every Memorial to be transcribed, and the Day and Hour of Registry inserted in the Margin.

XIII. And be it further enacted, that as soon as the said Abstracts shall have been made the Memorials shall forthwith be faithfully and legibly transcribed upon Parchment in the same Order in which the Memorials shall have been numbered in the Day Book; and in the Margin of every Transcript there shall be inserted a Memorandum of the Hour and Day on which the Memorial of which it is a Copy was registered, and also the Number of the Memorial; and the Transcripts of every Three hundred Memorials shall be bound together and form One Volume time, with the Exception of any Number less than Three hundred at the End of the Year, which shall make the last Volume of that Year; and on every Volume of Transcripts there shall be indorsed the Year in which the Memorials transcribed into it were received, and also the proper Number of that Volume in the Series of Volumes of Transcripts in that Year; and further, that every Memorial received to be registered in the said Office shall be fully and completely transcribed as aforesaid within the Space of Sixty Days next after the Day on which the same shall be so received.

Alphabetical Indexes of the Persons and Lands affected by the Memorials to be made.

The aforesaid Series of Books to be continued for Three Years, and then a new Series to be begun, and afterwards to be quinquennial;

XIV. And whereas it is expedient that more adequate Provision than has heretofore been made by Law should be made for the Preparation and Reduction of well-compiled and sufficient Alphabetical Indexes of the Persons and Lands affected by the Memorials; registered therein; for Remedy whereof be it further enacted, That previously to the said Thirty-first Day of December there shall be provided in the said Register Office a Series of Parchment Books of sufficient Size, which Series of Books shall be called the “Index of Names,” and One Book of the Series shall be appropriated to the Letter (A.), another Book to the Letter (B.), and so on through the Alphabet; provided that any One such Book may have a Second of even a Third unfrequently used Letter assigned to it, at the Discretion of the Registrar; and upon the Pages of every Book in such Series there shall, before the Year in which it is to be used begins, be distributed an Alphabet with the Letters of a Second Alphabet to each Letter, in the following Manner; (that is to say,) the Letters A A at the Head of a Page at the Beginning of the Book, A B at the Head of a Page next to or not more than a few Pages subsequent to the Page in which the Two former Letters were inserted and so on throughout a whole Alphabet preceded by the Letter (A.); then B A, and to the End of a Second Alphabet; then C A, and following the like Course until every Letter of the Alphabet, thus repeated with a consecutive Letter of a Second Alphabet, shall have been inserted, each as the Head of a separate Page of the Book; provided that any One or more of such Combinations of Letters, of which no Example of a Name beginning with such Letters had occurred in the said Register Office, may, at the Discretion of the Registrar, be omitted; into which Book there shall be entered, by and under the Two first Letters of the Name, the Surname, and if ennobled, the Title of Honour, of the Grantor in every Memorial registered in the Office; and to the said Surname of the Grantor there shall be subjoined the Christian Name of such Grantor, and also the Surname and the Christian Name of the Grantee, followed, where there shall be more than One Grantee, by the Words “and another,” or the Words “and others,” as the Case may be, and also the first Denomination of the Lands, and the Names of the County and Barony, or of the City of Town being a County of itself, and Parish, wherein the Lands affected by the Instrument of which the Memorial is registered is situated, and the Year of Registration, the respective Numbers of the Abstract and Transcript Books in which the Memorial shall have been entered, and the Number and File of the Memorial; and where there shall be more than One Grantor there shall be subjoined to the Name of the First Grantor the Words “and another,” or, as the Case may be, the Words “and others;” and the Name of the Second Grantor shall form a Second Head of Entry in the said Index, and be followed by like Words; and such last-mentioned Entry shall be accompanied with the like Particulars as last aforesaid; and where there shall be a Third Grantor, or any greater Number of Grantors, then in either of the said Cases there shall also be a further like Entry under the Name of such Third and every other Grantor; and all such Entries shall be made and completed before the Time of opening the Office for Business on the Morning next but Two after the Day on which such Memorial shall have been delivered into the Office for Registry; and the Series of Books last aforesaid shall be continued Three Years, and the Entries in that Series shall then be closed, and a new Series in a new Set of Books shall be begun; and this Second Series of Books shall be continued Four Years, and the Entries in that Series shall then be closed, and a new Series in a new Set of Books shall be begun in like Manner; (that is to say,) the First or Triennial Series of current Indexes shall continue to the End of the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five; and the Second or Quadrennial Series shall commence with the First Day of January One thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, and shall end with the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine; and the next or Quinquennial Series shall begin with the First Day of January One thousand eight hundred and forty, and shall continue to the End of the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and forty-four; and so in like Manner shall each subsequent Series contain Five Years and no more.

and to be reduced into Decennial Indexes, with Duplicates.

XV. And be it further enacted, That as soon as the Second Series of such Indexes shall be closed the First and Second of such Indexes shall forthwith be consolidated into One Index, in alphabetical Order, under One Alphabet, and also One or more Duplicates of such Index shall be forthwith made; and as soon as a Fourth Series shall be closed, the Third and Fourth Series shall be consolidated into One Decennial Index, and One or more Duplicates be made thereof; and in like Manner in all Time to come every Two Quinquennial current Indexes shall be reduced into a Decennial Index, with One or more Duplicates thereof.

Duplicate Copy of the Index of Names to be made for Use in the Office.

XVI. And whereas it is material that no Delay or Impediment whatsoever that can be avoided should be suffered by Persons desirous of consulting the aforesaid Index, and at the same Time it is very necessary that the Clerks and other Persons employed in the said Office should have Time and fair Opportunity to write up such Index, both of which Objects may in a far greater Degree be obtained by having a Duplicate Copy of such Index made; be it therefore further enacted, That from the said Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two there shall be in all respects One at the least complete Duplicate Copy of the said Index of Names made in the said Office, the Entries wherein shall be continually kept up, and be in all respects the same as the Entries in the said original Index.

Index of Lands to be provided.

The current Indexes to be in Periods of Five Years; and to be consolidated decennially.

XVII. And be it further enacted, That previously to the said Thirty-first Day of December there shall be provided in the said Office another Series of sufficiently large Parchment Books, to be called the “Index of Lands;” and One Book of such Series shall be appropriated to each County, and One to each City being a County of itself, and One Book to every such Number of Towns, being Counties of themselves, as heretofore it has been customary to index together, and One Book to every such Number of other Towns as heretofore it has been customary to index apart from the Counties in which they are situated; and every Book appropriated to a County shall be divided into Baronies, and every Book appropriated to a City, being a County of itself, or to a Number of Towns, shall be divided into Parishes or Streets; and each such Book for Counties shall contain separate Divisions under the Heads of Baronies, and for Cities or Towns under the Heads of Parishes or Streets, arranged alphabetically, with alphabetical Subdivisions for Denomination of Lands; into which Books there shall be entered, by the Initial Letter of each Name, the Names of all Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments specified in every Memorial registered in the Office, and to the Name of the Land, Tenement, or Hereditament there shall be subjoined the Name of the Parish or the Place respectively in which the same shall be described to be situated, and also the Year of Registry, and the Page of the Day Book, and the Number and Volume respectively of the Abstract and Transcript Books, and the Number and File of the Memorial relating thereto; and all such Entries also shall be made and completed before the Time of opening the Office for Business on the Morning of the Seventh Day after the Day on which such Memorial shall have been delivered into the Office for Registration; and further, that such last-mentioned Series of Books shall, concomitantly with the Index of Names herein-before mentioned, be continued Three Years, and the Entries in that Series shall then be closed, and a new Series in a new Set of Books shall be begun; and the Series of Books last aforesaid shall terminate at the End of the Fourth Year, and thereupon in like Manner a new Series, in a new Set of such Books, shall be begun and be confirmed during a Period of Five Years; and a similar Arrangement shall be made at the End of every subsequent Period of Five Years; and at the End of Seven Years there shall be made a consolidated Index of the Two first Periods; and subsequently, at the End of every second Period of Five Years, a Decennial-like Consolidation of such Indexes of Lands, and for the same Times as sis herein-before provided for the Indexes of Names, shall be made; and opposite to every such Entry of Lands there shall also be entered the Surname and Christian Name of the Grantor; and also the Surname and Christian Name of the Grantee; but where there shall be more than One Grantor the Name of the first Grantor only shall be so entered, with the Word “another,” or others, and where more than One Grantee in like Manner the Name of the first Grantee only, with the Word “other,” or “others:” Provided always, that whenever and so often as it shall happen to be impracticable ticable to make and complete all said Entries within the Time aforesaid, the Registrar shall cause a public Notice to be posted in some conspicuous Part of said Office to be assigned for the Purpose of such Notices by the Registrar, stating to what Day such Entries are then made and completed.

Duplicate Copies of the Index of Lands to be prepared.

XVIII. And be it further enacted, That at the least One Duplicate Copy of the said Index of Lands shall be prepared, and used in like Manner, as nearly as may be, as the Duplicate Copy of the Index of Names herein-before mentioned.

No Books containing Entries of Mortgages to be kept.

XIX. And be it also enacted, That no Book whatsoever, other than the common Books of the Office containing Entries or Abstracts of registered Mortgages or Annuity Deeds, shall be kept in the said Register Office, for the private Use or Benefit or Inspection of any Bankers, Merchants, or other Persons.

6 Anne, c. 2. (I.)

8 G.1.c. 15. (I.)

Recited Act 25 G. 3. (I.) in part repealed.

XX. And whereas by the Tenth Section of the aforesaid Act of the Sixth Year of the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Anne Provision was made that the Registrar or his Deputy should, as often as required, make Searches concerning all Memorials registered in the said Office, and give Certificates concerning the same; and a Doubt having arisen whether thereunder the Registrar was obliged to give Negative Certificates in Cases where the Result of the Search was that no Memorial was found to have been registered, it was by the Second Section of an Act made in the Parliament of Ireland in the Eighth Year of the Reign of His Majesty King George the First enacted, that upon a Requisition called a Note being left with the Registrar or his Deputy in the Form and Manner therein mentioned the said Registrar should give Negative Certificates; which Act was in part repealed, and another Form of Note substituted, by an Act made in the Parliament of Ireland in the Twenty-fifth Year of His late Majesty King George the Third: And whereas a further Doubt has arisen, whether the Person requiring such a Certificate may in the said Note exclude by Name from the Search thereby required to be made any Instrument of which he is already aware, or any Instrument in respect of which he is in want of no further Information, and at the same Time retain a Right to the Remedy against the Registrar and his Deputy provided by that Act, and it is right that such last-mentioned Doubt should likewise be removed; be it therefore enacted, That so much of the said Act of the Twenty-fifth Year of His Majesty King George the Third as relates to the Form of a Requisition for a Search and Negative Certificate, and to the filing of the Certificate, and to the Form of such Search, and the witnessing the same, be and the same is hereby repealed.

Requisition for Search and Certificate.

XXI. And be it also enacted, That from and after the said Thirty-first Day of December every Person who shall require such Search and Certificate to be made as aforesaid shall deliver unto or leave with the Registrar or One of the Assistant Registrars of the said Office a Note or Requisition, fairly written on Parchment, in the Words or to the Effect following; (that is to say,)

Form of Requisition.

Exception.

‘I DESIRE to have an Abstract of every Memorial registered in the Office for registering Deeds, Conveyances, and Wills in Ireland, of the Acts of [here insert the Name of the Person] affecting [here insert the Denomination of the Manors, Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments] in the County of on and from the Day of up to the Time of making Certificate upon this Requisition : Except of the Memorial of the following Instrument [here insert the Name and Date of the Instrument, and the Name of the Party or Testator.] Dated at the Day of One thousand eight hundred and (Signed) A.B. [the Person making the Requisition.]’

Persons making Requisitions may vary the Terms of the same.

XXII. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That the Person making such Requisition may limit or extend the Search and Certificate to One or several Names of Persons, and to a general Period only, or to any particular Period in respect of each Name, and to One or several Denominations of Land, and for a general Period, or for separate Periods in respect of each Denomination, or to both a Name or Names and a Denomination or Denominations, as he or she shall think fit, and may also vary the Terms of such Requisition and Exception, or either of them, to suit any Number and Variety of Instruments, Dates, Parties Names, Denominations of Land, Counties, Baronies, and Parishes, and in place of requiring an Abstract of every registered Memorial may require a full Copy of a particular Memorial, or of any Number of particular Memorials, or of every Memorial within any Period or Periods, and only an Abstract of every other Memorial coming within the Terms of such Requisition, and, further, may make and lodge such Requisition by any Attorney or Solicitor of One of the superior Courts in Ireland, but in that Case such Attorney or Solicitor shall sign the Requisition with his own Name, as Attorney for such Person.

Requisitions to be filed in the Order received.

XXIII. And be it further enacted, That the Registrar or Assistant Registrar shall, upon the Delivery of such Requisition, file the same in the Order in which it shall be received, and shall with all Diligence give to the Person making such Requisition a Certificate in the Words or to the Effect following; (that is to say,)

Form of Negative Certificate.

‘AFTER diligent Search made in the Office for registering Deeds, Conveyances, and Wills in Ireland, upon a Requisition of which the following is a Copy [here insert the whole Requisition and Exception], I certify, That there is not any Memorial registered in the said Office which comes within the Terms of the said Requisition whereof an Abstract is not in this Certificate truly set forth. Dated the Day of One thousand eight hundred and

‘(Signed) G. H. Registrar.

[or, I.K. Assistant Registrar.]’

Certificate also to be varied.

XXIV. Provided always, and be it enacted, That in every Case wherein the Requisition aforesaid shall, under the Provision last herein-before contained, be varied, that the said Certificate also shall be varied to meet the Terms of the Requisition.

Form of Memorial.

XXV. And be it further enacted, That the Abstract of each Memorial inscribed in such Certificate shall be in or to the Effect of the Form of Abstract given in the Schedule marked (C.) to this Act annexed, and shall set forth, as far as may be done from the Memorial, the Particulars mentioned in that Form.

Certificate shall be Evidence against the Registrar.

XXVI. And be it further enacted, That such Certificate shall, according to the Contents thereof, be Evidence against the Registrar and the Assistant Registrar signing the same, as well of the Extent and Nature of the Requisition as of the Execution of the Search; and the Registrar, whether he shall personally have signed such Certificate or not, and also the Assistant Registrar who may have signed such Certificate, shall each of them be liable in Damages and full Costs to the Party aggrieved or injured by any Fraud, Collusion, or Neglect in making such Search and Certificate.

Vendor to furnish only a Negative Search, with an Abstract of every Memorial not excepted.

XXVII. And be it also enacted, That where any Purchaser or Party acquiring an Interest in any Manors, Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments shall be entitled to require of a Vendor, or Party parting with such Interest, a Negative Search, the latter shall only be obliged to provide and furnish to the former a Negative Certificate of Search, with an Abstract in or to the Effect of the Form given in the Schedule marked (C.) hereunto annexed, or as near thereunto as may be, of every Memorial registered in the said Office within the Period comprised in such Search: Provided always, that in every such Case the Requisition for such Search shall contain no Exception, unless the Purchaser or Party acquiring such Interest, or his, her, or their Attorney, shall have agreed in Writing that an Exception of a particular Memorial or Memorials shall be made in such Requisition.

Summary Mode of hearing Complaints against Officers.

XXVIII. And whereas it is expedient that a summary Mode of hearing any Complaint against any Person in the said Register Office should be provided; be it therefore enacted, That upon any Complaint made on Oath, before any of His Majesty’s superior Courts of Law or Equity in Dublin, of any Neglect, Default, or Misconduct of the Registrar or any Assistant Registrar or Clerk employed in the said Register Office, it shall be lawful for such Court, or any of the Judges or a Judge thereof, and the said Court, Judges or Judge, are hereby required in open Court to hear and determine such Complaint in a summary Manner; and the said Court, Judges or Judge, if they or he shall think proper, may examine upon Oath the Party complaining and the Party complained against, and dismiss the Complaint, with reasonable Costs, if the Complaint shall appear frivolous or vexatious, or award Compensation to the Complainant, or impose a pecuniary Penalty or Fine upon the Party complained against to any Amount not exceeding the Sum of One hundred Pounds, or adjudge the Party complained of to be a moved from his Place in the said Office, as the Case may require, and shall forthwith cause a Copy of the Judgment pronounced upon such Complaint to be laid before the Lord Lieutenant or other Chief Governor or Governors of Ireland and thereupon it shall be lawful for the said Lord Lieutenant or other Chief Governor or Governors of Ireland to order the Person upon the Complaint against whom such Judgment was given to pay such Penalty, Fine, or Compensation, or to be removed from his Office or Employment in the said Register Office, or to order the said Registrar, out of any Salary that may be due or that shall accrue to the Person against whom such Judgment shall have been given; to pay and discharge such Penalty, Fine, or Compensation aforesaid; and where such Penalty or Fine shall be imposed, the Amount of such Penalty shall be paid into the said Register Office, and shall be applied as if the same had accrued from Fees paid in the said Office; and in case of Nonpayment of the Damages aforesaid, the Person to whom such Compensation shall be ordered to be paid may sue for the same in an Action of Debt in any Court of Record in the City of Dublin.

Memorial to state where the Lands affected thereby are situate.

XXIX. And whereas great Difficulties have occasionally been experienced in the said Register Office from a Want of a sufficiently full Description being inserted in the Memorial of the Place in which the Lands are situated, and it is fitting that in future Memorials such Omissions should not be left unsupplied; be it therefore enacted, That from the said Thirty-first Day of December, in every Memorial of any Deed or Instrument dated after the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, brought into the said Office to be registered, there shall be specified the County and Barony, or the Town or County of a City, and Parish, or the Town and Parish, in which the Lands and every of them to be affected by registering such Memorial are by such Deed or Instrument stated to be situated; and where the Lands lie in Two or more Counties, or Baronies or Parishes or Streets, or partly in One Barony, Parish, or Street, and partly in another, the same shall be distinctly stated in the Memorial from the Deed; and further, that where the Instrument to which the Memorial relates shall contain a Plan of the Lands or of any Part thereof, there may, if it be the Pleasure of the Party requiring the Registration of the Memorial, be inserted in or be annexed on Parchment to the Memorial of such Instrument to be registered a Copy of such Plan; and moreover, that every Memorial brought into the said Office to be registered shall be there compared with the Instrument of which it purports to be a Memorial, and if the several Particulars required by Law to be in the Memorial shall be contained therein, or such of the Particulars by this Act required to be set forth in the Abstract Book herein-before mentioned as shall be contained, therein shall be found to be truly stated from the Instrument, then the Memorial shall be registered, but not otherwise.

In case the Barony or Parish should be omitted.

XXX. Provided always, and be it enacted, That where a Memorial shall be required to be registered of any instrument whatsoever, other than a Will, which Instrument shall bear Date on or before the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, or a Memorial of any Will of any Date whatsoever, in which Instrument or Will the Barony or Parish in which the Land is situated is not mentioned, then and in that Case, upon the Fact being stated and verified in the Affidavit of the Execution of such Memorial, in what Barony or Parish any Manors, Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments comprised in such Instrument or Will, but of which the Barony or Parish has been omitted to be mentioned are situated, such Memorial shall in like Manner be registered, and all the like Entries shall be made in the said Register Office, from such Affidavit, in respect of the omitted Barony or Parish, as if such Barony or Parish had been stated in the Instrument or Will and in the Memorial thereof.

Number of Folios to be indorsed on each Memorial.

XXXI. And be it further enacted, That upon every Memorial brought into the said Office to be registered there shall be indorsed the Number of Grantors, the Number of Denominations of Land, and also the Number of Folios, each of Seventy-two Words, contained in such Memorial, which Indorsement shall be signed by the Person bringing such Memorial to be registered; and if such Indorsement shall be untrue, the Person subscribing the same shall forfeit Five Pounds, to be recovered, by Civil Bill, by any Officer in the said Registry Office who will sue for the same.

Office Copies of Memorials to be received in Evidence.

XXXII. And whereas it is convenient that Office Copies of the Memorials registered in the said Register Office should under certain Limitations be received in Evidence; be it therefore enacted, That in all Proceedings before any Court of Justice for all Purposes whatsoever, an Office Copy of any Memorial registered in the said Office shall, upon such Office Copy being proved in like Manner as an Office Copy of any other Record, be received and taken as Evidence of the Contents of the Memorial of which it purports to be an Office Copy, without the Production of the original Memorial: Provided always, that the Party producing such Office Copy shall, if out of Dublin Ten Days, and if in Dublin Eight Days before producing the same, give Notice in Writing to the adverse Party thereof; and provided also, that such adverse Party shall not within Four Days after receiving such Notice demand by a counter Notice that the original Memorial shall be produced; and in every Case in which such counter Notice shall be given, the Costs of producing the original Memorial shall be paid by either Party, as the Court in which the Proceeding shall take place, or the Taxing Officer of such Court, may determine.

Indexes to be prepared.

XXXIII. And whereas the Indexes or Calendars of the said Register Office in former Years are many of them in a dilapidated State, and some of the Indexes have been compiled upon an ineligible Plan; and, for the Benefit of all Persons requiring to make Searches in the said Office in the Years hitherto elapsed, it is very desirable that better and more complete Indexes and that Abstract Books should be prepared of all Memorials registered in the said Office, and to be registered therein, up to and including the said Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two; be it therefore enacted, That like Indexes, and also Abstract Books, as and when the Funds of the Office will permit the same, Abstract Books also in respect of such last-mentioned Memorials as by this Act are required with regard to all Memorials to be registered after the said Thirty-first Day of December, shall, as far as the same may be practicable, be constructed, and the same shall be arranged in such Periods as to the Registrar shall seem most convenient and eligible, and in such Manner that when the same shall be completed the whole shall, with the Abstract Books and Indexes of Memorials registered after the said Thirty-first Day of December, form entire and consecutive Sets of Abstracts and Indexes to all Memorials in the said Office, having each Set respectively constructed throughout upon the same Plan.

Commissioners of the Treasury may advance Money for defraying the Expence of making Indexes.

XXXIV. And for the more expeditiously forming of such Abstracts and Indexes of all Memorials which are and shall be registered in the said Office up to and including the said Thirty-first Day of December, be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Lord High Treasurer, or Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury, or any Three or more of them, from Time to Time to order or direct an Appropriation of the Whole or any Part or Parts of all the surplus Receipts of the said Register Office which at the Time of passing this Act shall have been paid into the Bank of Ireland to the Credit of the Consolidated Fund, which shall be necessary for defraying the Expences of compiling, transcribing on Parchment, and completing such Abstracts and Indexes as last aforesaid; and moreover, that the said Lord High Treasurer, or Commissioners of the Treasury aforesaid, shall also be at liberty to order and direct the Appropriation, out of the Balances on the Accounts of the said Registrar in respect of the said Register Office, and before such Balances shall be paid over as herein-before directed, of such further Sum and Sums of Money as may appear to him or them to be requisite for effecting the aforesaid Purpose.

Register Office to be placed under the Controul of the Commissioners of the Treasury.

XXXV. And whereas it is of Importance to the Public that the Business of the said Register Office should be carried on with all possible Order, Punctuality, and Dispatch, and also that no greater Fees should be charged in the said Office than will amount annually to a Sum of Money sufficient to discharge the current Expences of the Establishment, when efficiently appointed, and to leave a certain Excess to be applied to the particular Purposes herein-before authorized, and the better to insure that these Purposes shall be effected it is expedient that the said Register Office should be placed under the Controul next herein-after provided; be it therefore enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Lord High Treasurer, or Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury, or any Three or more of them, from Time to Time, as to him or them shall appear needful, or conducive to public Convenience, to regulate the said Register Office, and as well to determine what Number of Persons shall be employed in discharging the Duties to be performed therein, as what the Duty to be performed by each Individual so employed shall be, and likewise to fix the respective Amount of Salary to be paid to each Individual for his Services in the said Office, and, further, to dispense with the Services of all or any One of the Individuals now appointed or employed or hereafter to be employed in the said Register Office, or any Part of such Services, or to reduce the Salary of any such Individual; and in any of the said Cases to make a reasonable Compensation or annual Allowance to such Individual or Individuals, as the said Lord High Treasurer or Commissioners shall deem proper, and to direct the Payment thereof out of the Fees of the said Office, or to authorize the Registrar, in Cases approved of and limited by the said Lord High Treasurer or Commissioners, to make such Advances; and, moreover, to order and direct all or any Part of any Surplus of the Fees and Monies received by the Registrar of the said Office to be laid out or expended in rendering the said Register Office more useful and convenient to the Public, and to reduce, alter, or vary any of the Fees, Regulations, Orders, or Directions established or at any Time hereafter to be established in the said Register Office, and to establish any other Fees, Regulations, Orders, or Directions: Provided always, that every Regulation, Order, or Direction so made or given by the said Lord High Treasurer or Commissioners aforesaid under this Act shall be forthwith laid before both Houses of Parliament, if Parliament shall then be sitting, and if Parliament shall not then be sitting, in that Case within Fourteen Days after the next Meeting of Parliament; and that the same shall not be carried into effect or become and be binding and conclusive until after the End of the Session in which the same shall be so laid before both Houses of Parliament; and also provided that nothing herein contained shall be construed to authorize any Reduction of the Salary of the present Registrar, or to alter the Tenure by which the said present Registrar holds his Office.

Registrar not to sit in Parliament.

XXXVI. And be it declared and enacted, That no Person holding the said Office of Registrar of Deeds in Ireland shall be capable of being elected a Member of or of sitting or voting in Parliament.

SCHEDULES to which the Act refers.

SCHEDULE (A.)

SCHEDULE (B.)

FEES to be taken in the PUBLIC REGISTER OFFICE in DUBLIN.

SCHEDULE (C.)

The First Column is for the Day of the Week; the Second, the Hour; the Third, the Day of the Month; the Fourth, the Names of the Grantors; the Fifth, the Names of the Grantees; the Sixth, the first Denomination of the Lands, the County City, or Town, and Barony or Parish, in which they are stated to be situated; the Seventh, the Number of the Volume of that Year’s Registry, and likewise the Number of the File of that Year in which the Memorial is deposited; the Eighth, the Number of the Memorial upon the Registry, as well in the Transcript and all other Rooks as in the File the Memorial is put away in; the Ninth, the Name of the Party, or the Attorney or Solicitor, bringing the Memorial into the Office.—All the Entries in the foregoing Nine Columns are made by the Officer; and the Tenth, the Signature, by way of Receipt of the Person taking away the Instrument after the Memorial of it has been registered, and a Certificate of the Registration has been indorsed upon the Instrument, which Person must be the Person who brought the Deed to be registered, or his Clerk.—The Marks or short cross Lines show that the Indexes have been completed from the Entries which precede them.

SCHEDULE (D.)

FORM of the ABSTRACT BOOK.

The Figure 4. signifies the Number of the Volume in the Year in which the Transcript of the Memorial is to be found, and also the Number of the original Memorial on the File on which it is kept; and 140. the Number of the Memorial on the File, and of the Transcript of the Memorial in the Transcript Book.