REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES (NAVY, MARINES AND SERVICE CIVILIANS) (OVERSEAS) BILL (Hansard, 8 July 1957)

LORD GIFFORD
My Lords, I am particularly glad to have the opportunity of introducing this Bill to your Lordships' House as I believe that it will be of assistance to the officers and men of the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines—my old Service—and their families and will remove the disadvantage under which they suffer in relation to the other two Services. The Bill seeks to amend the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Army) Act of 1879. At that date the structure of the Navy was, of course, very different from what it is to-day, and naval officers' and ratings serving overseas were almost invariably afloat in one of Her Majesty's ships, whereas now there are many naval shore establishments, naval airfields and so forth. Section 2 of the Act of 1879 made provision for records of births, deaths and marriages occurring in the Army outside the United Kingdom to be kept at Somerset House and, in appropriate cases, by the Registrar-General in Scotland and in Northern Ireland. These 805 records have the same standing as other records kept by registrars-general and are admissible in evidence, and it is, of course, a great convenience to have them readily available at Somerset House or at the appropriate registry.
Section 37 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act of 1874 made provision for naval forces but only in the case of births and deaths occurring in naval vessels. If this Bill is passed, officers and men of the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines, and their families, will be in exactly the same position as those of the other Services. I should mention here that the Act of 1879 was extended to cover the Royal Air Force by an order of 1918. In these days, there are often considerable numbers of civilians attached to the various Services overseas. Here I might add that members of the Women's Royal Naval Service are technically civilians, and this Bill extends similar facilities for registration to civilians attached to any one of the three Services. There is an exception to this in that it is intended to cover only civilians with connections in the United Kingdom. The Bill would not cover local civilians engaged abroad as they will be excepted from the Bill by regulation.
The foregoing is covered by Clause 1 of the Bill. To turn to Clause 2, in the past the deaths of certain Royal Naval and Royal Marines personnel which have occurred ashore (mainly during the war) have been registered sometimes by mistake and sometimes with the concurrence of the Registrar-General, who was asked to do so to assist them because of conditions during the war, particularly in regard to cases from Singapore and Malaya where a considerable number of deaths occurred. Clause 2 validates these registrations which were previously without statutory authority. Similarly non-statutory entries have sometimes been made in Army and R.A.F. registers, and these also are validated by this clause, provided that the persons concerned come within the categories I have already mentioned as covered by Clause 1.
I do not think it is necessary to say much about Clause 3 except that it revokes the order of 1918 relative to the R.A.F., which Service is now covered by Clause 1 (3). It also makes provision for the effect of the Bill to extend to Northern Ireland. I am sure your Lordships will 806 agree that this Bill is entirely non-controversial. I understand that it has the blessing of the three Registrars-General in the United Kingdom. It will remove a slight disadvantage under which officers and men of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines have suffered in the past, and I therefore commend it to your Lordships and beg to move that it be read a second time.

§ LORD SILKIN
My Lords, this Bill has the support of all Parties, and the noble Lord, Lord Gifford, has explained its purpose to your Lordships very clearly. This is the last of the measures before us to-day for the purpose of clearing up what might be called "minor anomalies". This minor anomaly has now existed for some eighty years without, so far as I know, anybody being much the worse for it. But I am all in favour of tidiness in legislation, and if this Bill clears up the position of the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines as compared with the other Services I think it is right that it should be done. We therefore welcome the Bill.

§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (THE EARL OF SELKIRK)
My Lords, I rise to say that Her Majesty's Government support this Bill, and I should also like to thank the noble Lord, Lord Gifford, for the clear way in which he has explained its provisions. The noble Lord, Lord Silkin, said he did not think anyone had suffered much in the last eighty years because of the fact that a Bill like this, had not been passed, but it is fair to say that he will find in Clause 2 fairly extensive provisions for validation of registrations which have taken place but which have not had the statutory backing of registration in this country; and, for all I know, there may be many more cases of that character. In fact, I am amazed that a Bill like this has not been introduced before.
On the Committee stage I shall suggest to the noble Lord, Lord Gifford, fairly extensive Amendments to the Bill—extensive in form, that is, although, in fact, they will not make much difference to the substance of the Bill itself. May I very shortly refer to them? In the first clause, I am going to propose that action be 807 taken by Order in Council instead of by regulation, as at present laid down. That will necessitate fairly extensive re-drafting, but the advantage is that the procedure will then be the same for all three Services, which I believe is desirable. I am also going to suggest Amendments providing for the registration of deaths on board ship and in aircraft belonging to the Crown or used by Her Majesty's Forces which are not registered in the United Kingdom. This Bill is a convenient opportunity to make that provision. Up to the present time there has been no adequate provision for deaths occurring in those circumstances, and it is a convenient moment to provide for that under this Bill. Frankly, that will mean a slight extension of the Title of the Bill.
The only other small point on which I shall suggest an Amendment is in regard to children of persons affected by this Bill who are illegitimate. In certain cases these illegitimate children can be legitimised by subsequent marriage. At present, there is no provision for the registration of such births in this country, and the Amendment which I shall propose will be intended to cover that point. I should like to support the Motion of the noble Lord, Lord Gifford.