Births and Deaths Registration Act 1874

4 Duty of registrar to, ascertain and register birth gratis

It shall be the duty of the registrar to inform himself carefully of every birth which happens within his sub-district, and upon receiving personally from the informant at any time within three months from the date of the birth of any child or the finding of any living new-born child information of the particulars required to be registered concerning the birth of such child, forthwith in the prescribed form and manner to register the birth and the said particulars (if not previously registered), without fee "or reward from the informant, except that if, in pursuance of a written requisition, he registers the same at the residence of the person making such requisition or at the house in which the birth took place, he shall, unless the birth took place in a public institution, be entitled to the appointed fee.