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deeds, conveyances, wills, and other writings within the Turks and Caicos islands so long as you shall continue in the said office:

"SO HELP YOU GOD;" which oath shall be administered

in like manner to his deputies, to be by him appointed.

No. 3. Ord. No. 3, 1852.

Form of oath.

tendance.

V. That every such registrar shall give due attendance at his Hours of atoffice, by himself or deputy, between the hours of ten and three, every day in the week (Sundays and holydays excepted), for the despatch of all business belonging to the said office; and that every such registrar or his deputy, as often as required, shall make search concerning all deeds that are registered as aforesaid, and give copies thereof and certificates under his hand, if required by any person, for which he shall receive a fee, at and after the rate hereinafter specified; and if any such registrar or his deputy shall neglect to perform his or their duty in the execution of the said office, according to the rules and directions in this Ordinance mentioned, or commit, or suffer to be committed, any undue or fraudulent practice in the execution of the said office, and be thereof lawfully convicted, that then such registrar shall pay treble damages, with full costs of suit, to every such person or persons injured thereby, to be recovered by a special action on the case in the Supreme Court of these islands.

recorded.

VI. That all deeds and conveyances, gifts, grants, releases, bar- Deeds made gains, sales, mortgages, powers of attorney, wills, or other writings out of the whatsoever, made and executed by any person or persons residing Colony to be or being in any part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or other her Majesty's dominions; or in any foreign state, city, town, or place, and acknowledged, or to be acknowledged by the party or parties executing the same, or proved by one of the subscribing witnesses thereto, under oath or by affirmation, where the witness is a Quaker, before any Mayor or Chief Magistrate of any city, borough, or town corporate in the said United Kingdom or other Her Majesty's dominions, or before any Consul or ViceConsul of Her Majesty resident in such foreign state, city, town, or place; and if there shall be no Consul or Vice-Consul so resident, then before the Chief Judge, or Magistrate, or Notary Public of such foreign state, city, town, or place, and certified and transmitted under the common seal of such city, borough, or town corporate, or the seal of the office of such Mayor or other Chief Magistrate, or under the seal of such Consul, or Vice-Consul, or of such Chief Judge, or Magistrate, or Notary Public of such foreign state, city, town, or place, may lawfully be recorded by the said registrar or his deputy in the said office upon the production of the same, without any further or other proofs of the execution thereof: Provided, Probate thereof however, that when the acknowledgment or proof of any such deed, conveyance, or other writing as aforesaid shall have been taken before the Chief Judge, Magistrate, or Notary Public of any foreign state, city, town, or place, no certificate of such acknowledgment shall be valid for the purpose aforesaid, unless to the certificate of such Chief Judge, Magistrate, or Notary Public there be annexed a further certificate from one of Her Majesty's Consuls or other representative of the British Government residing within such foreign state, city, town, or place, setting forth that the said Chief Judge, Magistrate, or Notary Public is the holder of such office, and that full faith and credit is due to his acts as such.

No. 3. Ord. No. 3, 1852.

VII. And be it further ordained, That the probate of any last will and testament taken in any foreign state, city, town, or place, by or before the officer authorized to take the same, and exemplified under the seal of such officer, and certified as directed in the Wills in foreign proviso to the last preceding clause, shall be, and the same is hereby declared as good and effectual in law as if such probate had been taken before the Ordinary of these islands.

Probate of

States, &c.

Records of deeds taken in evidence.

Discharge of mortgages to be

recorded.

Oaths to be

VIII. That all grants for land or other letters patent under the great seal of the Colony, may lawfully be recorded in the said office by the said registrar or his deputy on production of the same; and that the records of such grants or other letters patent as shall be so recorded, as also of such grants or other letters patent as are already recorded in the said office, or any copy of such records; as also of all conveyances, gifts, grants, releases, bargains, sales, mortgages, powers of attorney, wills, or other deeds whatsoever as are already recorded, or which may be hereafter recorded, shall be allowed and received as evidence in any Court of Law or Equity within these islands in as full and ample a manner as if the original grants or other letters patent under seal as aforesaid were actually produced and shown therein, and as if the original deeds respectively were actually produced and proved therein by the oath or affirmation of the subscribing witness or witnesses to the execution of the same, and that the record of any agreement, letter, account, or other writing, shall have the same force and effect in such Court as aforesaid as the original agreement, letter, account, or writing would have if produced and proved therein: Provided, nevertheless, that the copy of such records as aforesaid, intended to be given in evidence, shall be certified under the hand of the said registrar or his lawful deputy, otherwise it shall not be received in evidence.

IX. That in the case of mortgages, judgments, and recognizances, if a certificate shall be brought to the registrar signed by the mortgagors and mortgagees, plaintiffs and defendants, cognizer and cognizees respectively, their executors, administrators, or assigns, and attested by two witnesses, whereby it shall appear that all moneys due have been paid in discharge thereof, which witness or witnesses shall, upon oath before the said registrar, prove such money to be satisfied, and that they saw such certificate signed, the registrar shall make an entry in the margin of the registrar's books against the enrolment of such mortgage, judgment, or recognizance, that the same was satisfied, and shall file such certificate upon record in the said office, for which he shall receive and be paid the sum of one shilling lawful money of these islands.

X. That the said registrar or his deputy shall, and they and each administered by of them is hereby authorized and empowered to administer the Registrar. oaths or affirmations by this Ordinance required to be made and given previously to the recording of any deed or other writing, and that if any person or persons making or giving such proof upon oath or solemn affirmation before the said Secretary or his deputy shall be wilfully guilty of swearing falsely or making a false affirmation, such person or persons so offending being thereof fully convicted, shall incur the same penalties and forfeitures as by law are provided against persons convicted of wilful and corrupt perjury.

Deputy Regis

trars may be appointed.

XI. That it shall and may be lawful for the registrar of records, subject to the approval of the officer administering the government, to depute, and, in his place and stead, to appoint, under his hand and

scal, at any of the out-islands of this government, a fit and proper person to prove the execution of deeds, conveyances, gifts, grants, mortgages, releases, bargains, sales, powers of attorney, or other deeds whatsoever made and executed, or to be made and executed at any island within the colony, and in the event of there being no such deputy at any such island, or in the event of the death or absence from any such island of any such deputy, then any resident Justice of the Peace may lawfully act therein, and he and any deputy shall, and they and each of them is hereby enjoined and required to attend to and observe in all respects the provisions, directions, and regulations in this Ordinance contained for the probate of deeds and other writings before the said Secretary or his deputy at Grand Turk; and upon the production of any deed or other writing, proved in manner as last aforesaid, the registrar or his deputy shall record the same, and the record of all such deeds or other writings, or any copy of the records thereof, certified under the hand of the registrar of records or his deputy at Grand Turk, shall be allowed and received in evidence in the same and like manner as is hereinbefore provided with respect to other deeds.

XII. That if any person or persons, after having made and executed any conveyance, gift, assignment, grant, release, bargain, sale, or mortgage of any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, or of any goods or other effects within these islands, or of any estate, right, or interest therein, shall afterwards make and execute any other conveyance, gift, assignment, grant, release, bargain, sale, or mortgage of the same real or personal estate, or any part thereof, or of any estate, right or interest therein, such of the said conveyances, gifts, assignments, grants, releases, bargains, sales, or mortgages, the same being for good or valuable consideration, as shall be first recorded in the said office pursuant to the directions of this Ordinance, shall have and take priority or preference, and the estate, right, title, or interest of the vendee, grantee, or mortgagee, claiming under such conveyance, gift, assignment, grant, release, bargain, sale, or mortgage so first recorded, provided the same shall have been executed for good or valuable consideration, and not otherwise, shall be deemed and taken to be good and valid, and shall in nowise be defeated or affected by any such previous conveyance, gift, assignment, grant, release, bargain, sale, or mortgage, so made and executed, but not recorded without any manner or reference whatever to the dates of the execution of such deeds respectively, any law, usage, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.

XIII. That if any person shall at any time forge or counterfeit the certificate of the registrar, or the signature of any deputy or Justice of the Peace as aforesaid, with intent thereby to cause the deed or deeds concerning the acknowledgment or proof of which such forgery is committed, to be recorded by the registrar of records for the time being or his deputy in the said office at Grand Turk, or shall forge or counterfeit any certificate or certificates purporting to certify that any such deed or deeds has or have been registered or recorded in the office of the said Colonial Secretary and registrar of records at Grand Turk, such person or persons so offending being fully convicted thereof, shall incur or be liable to such pains and penalties as by Act of Parliament are imposed upon

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No. 3.

persons for forging or publishing of false deeds, charters, or Ord. No. 3, writings, sealed Court rolls, or wills, whereby the freehold or inheritance of any person or persons, of, in, or to any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, shall or may be molested, troubled, or charged.

1852.

Witnesses to deeds, &c., to attend when demanded.

Penalty for refusing to attend.

Fees to Regis

XIV. That all and every person whomsoever being the subscribing witness or witnesses to any conveyance, gift, grant, release, bargain, sale, mortgage, power of attorney, or other deed whatsoever, or to any agreement not under seal, which under this Ordinance may be recorded, shall upon request or demand, personally made or served upon him, her, or them, in writing in the forenoon by any party or parties to such conveyance, gift, grant, release, bargain, sale, mortgage, power of attorney, or other deed, or agreement, or by any person or persons, on his, her, or their behalf attend and wait upon the said registrar or his deputy at the said office, or upon any of his deputies or Justices at the outislands, and make or give such proof upon oath or affirmation as by this Ordinance is required to be made or given preparatory to the recording thereof; and every such witness who shall neglect or refuse for the space of twenty-four hours after such request or demand so made or served upon him, her, or them, as aforesaid, unless prevented by sickness, disability, or other sufficient cause, to attend the said registrar or his deputy at the office or any of his deputies or Justices at the out-islands for the purpose aforesaid, shall forfeit the sum of Twenty pounds, to be recovered with cost in the Supreme Court of these islands by action of debt or information, wherein no imparlance, protection, or non vult ulterius prosequi shall be allowed or entered; one moiety of the said penalty to be to the use of the informer, or to him, her, or them who shall sue for the same, and the other moiety to our Sovereign Lady the Queen, her heirs, and successors, to go in aid of the expenses of this government, and shall moreover be liable to any action which the party or parties aggrieved may think fit to bring in the said Supreme Court against such witness for any damage or injury which such party or parties shall or may sustain, by or in consequence of such neglect or refusal as aforesaid.

XV. That the following fees shall be taken by the said regis

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every deed or writing of and under eight folios each
searching the registrar's books for each document

,, every certified copy thereof at the rates aforesaid
recording every common plat or diagram

recording an irregular plat or diagram

,, recording every satisfaction of a mortgage, judgment, &c. 1 0 And that for every acknowledgment, oath, or affirmation which shall or may be made or taken before any deputy, registrar, or Justice of the Peace by virtue of this Ordinance, and for the extending of every such acknowledgment, oath, or affirmation, and for indorsing the same on every deed, and for certifying and signing the same, such deputy, registrar, or Justice of the Peace shall and may lawfully demand, take, and receive the sum of Two shillings and no

more: Provided always, that so soon as a fixed salary shall be provided for and allowed to the Colonial Secretary, all fees payable to him under this Ordinance shall cease to be demanded and received by him, to and for his own use and benefit, but the same shall be by him nevertheless demanded, received, taken, and paid into the Public Treasury of these islands in aid of the expenses of the Government.

No. 3.

Ord. No. 3, 1852.

XVI. That all fees payable for any matter, act or thing to be Fees to be performed by the said registrar of records under the provisions of demanded bethis Ordinance, whether for his own use or benefit, or in aid of the fore a deed is registered. expenses of this Government, shall be demandable and payable before the particular act in respect of which such fees are chargeable is performed; and it shall not be lawful for the Colonial Secretary and registrar of records for the time being, or any deputy, or acting secretary or Justice of the Peace to perform, or cause to be performed, any act or service in respect of which any such fee or fees as aforesaid is or are demandable, until the amount of such fee or fees has been paid to him by and on behalf of the person requiring such act to be performed: Provided always that nothing herein contained shall be construed to require the payment of fees on recording grants of land for religious, charitable, or educational purposes.

XVII. That after the allowance of this Ordinance, the President or officer administering the Government shall notify a day on which the registrar shall be prepared to receive deeds and other writings under this Ordinance, and that after such notification three months shall be allowed during which all deeds and other writings may be lodged for record in the said office, and all deeds lodged during the said period shall be recorded and take precedence according to their respective dates, and not otherwise: Provided, however, that if two or more deeds or other writings having reference to the same property, whether real or personal, and bearing date upon the same day shall be lodged for record during the said three months, the first of such deeds which shall be so lodged and proven shall take the precedence over the others.

XVIII. And whereas several deeds and conveyances are already recorded in the Secretary's Office, Be it therefore ordained that such deeds and conveyances as are already entered, registered, or recorded, shall be held, deemed and taken as good and valid, and have the preference over any which may or shall be recorded under this Ordinance: Provided always that nothing in this Ordinance contained shall extend to the precluding or depriving any infant or other person of and from any right, claim, title, and interest which such infant or other person may have under or by virtue of any deed or conveyance, in or to any estate, whether real or personal, and who by reason of non-residence at these islands, or other impediment, without any neglect or default on the part of such infant or other person, may be unable to cause such deed or conveyance to be registered and recorded as is herein before provided.

Deeds made prior to the

allowance of this Ordinance may be received three months after.

Deeds recorded

prior to this be held valid.

Ordinance to

XIX. That it shall and may be lawful for the President or other Record books officer administering the government, and he is hereby authorized to be furnished. and requested to provide a set of books for the office of the said registrar, to be uniformly bound and lettered as may be necessary: the expense of which shall be by him paid out of the Public Treasury of these islands in the usual manner.

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