deed was actually produced and proved in such Courts, by the oath or affirmation of one of the subscribing witnesses to the execution of the same: Provided, however, that when the acknowledgment or proof of any such deed, as aforesaid, shall have been taken before one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the said United States, or before a Chief Justice of any of the said States, or before a notary public, as aforesaid, no certificate of such acknowledgment or proof shall be valid, so as to entitle the holder of such deed to record the same, as aforesaid, or to use the same in evidence, as aforesaid, unless to such certificate there be annexed a further certificate, from His Majesty's Consul-General for the said United States, or some other Consul or Vice-Consul of His Majesty residing in one of the said United States, or a certificate under the Great Seal of the said United States, or of one of the said States, certifying the said Judge, Chief Justice, or notary public to be such, and that full faith and credit is due to his acts as such; any thing in this Act hereinbefore contained to the contrary notwithstanding. II. That the probate of any last will and testament taken before any officer authorized to take probates of wills in any of the said States, and exemplified under the seal of the State where such probate shall have been taken, shall be, and the same is hereby declared to be as good and effectual in the law as if such probate had been taken before the ordinary of these islands; any law, custom, or usage to the contrary notwithstanding. No. 2. Act 2 G. 4, c. 32. Proviso. Probate of fied under be valid. III. That all conveyances, letters of attorney, or other deeds Deeds recorded heretofore recorded in the proper office established by law in these previous to islands, which shall have been executed agreeably to the provisions this Act to be now pointed out by this Act, shall be valid in law, to all intents and purposes whatever. IV. Suspends 36 Geo. 3, ch. 8. valid. No. 3.-ORDINANCE No. 3 of 1852. An Ordinance to provide for the Public Registering and Recording of WH Caicos Islands should be revised and amended; May it, &c. regu No. 3. Ord. No. 3, 1852. PREAMBLE. I. That all deeds and conveyances, gifts, grants, releases, bar- Deeds, &c., to gains, sales, mortgages, powers of attorney, wills, or other writings be registered. whatsoever already made and executed, or which, from and after the allowance of this Ordinance shall be made and executed, of or concerning, or whereby any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, vessels, or other estate may be in any way affected in law or equity, as also any agreement, letter, account, or other writing (except promissory notes or bills of exchange) not under seal may, at the election of the party or parties concerned, be lawfully registered, enrolled, and recorded in such manner as is hereinafter directed and required. II. That the public office for the registering and recording such deeds and other papers shall be established and kept at the office of the Colonial Secretary at Grand Turk, and be managed and executed by the said secretary for the time being, who shall be exofficio registrar of deeds and other writings for the Turks and Caicos Islands, or by his sufficient deputy; and that before any deed, conveyance, or other writing shall be entered, registered, and recorded as aforesaid, the due execution thereof shall be proved before the said registrar or his deputy by the acknowledgment of the party or parties executing the same, or by the oath of one or more subscribing witness or witnesses, or, if such witness or witnesses happen to be of the people called " Quakers," then by the solemn affirmation of such witness or witnesses, and if such witness or witnesses is or are dead, or absent from these islands, then upon proof being made before such registrar or his deputy, of such death or absence, by oath or solemn affirmation as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for such registrar or his deputy to receive proof of the handwriting of such subscribing witness or witnesses, and also of the signature or handwriting of the party or parties executing such deed, conveyance, or other writing by the oath or solemn affirmation of one or more creditable witness or witnesses in manner aforesaid; and upon such proof so made and given, the said registrar shall be authorized to record the deed, conveyance, or writing so proved. III. And be it further ordained, That whenever any letters testamentary, or letters of administration, shall be granted by the Ordinary of these islands, it shall be the duty of the said Ordinary to have the will of the deceased and probate thereof (where there is a will), and the inventory and appraisement of the estate of the deceased recorded in the said office, and the certificate of the said Ordinary indorsed upon any such will, that the same was duly proved before him, and upon any such inventory and appraisement, that the same was duly executed and filed with him, shall be sufficient to authorize the said registrar or his deputy to record the same. IV. That the said registrar or his deputy shall indorse a certificate on every such deed, conveyance, or other writing, and therein mention the certain day, hour, and time on which such deed is so entered, registered, and recorded, expressing also in what book, page, and number the same is inserted, and that the said registrar or his deputy shall sign the said certificate when so indorsed; which certificate shall be taken and allowed as evidence of such respective registries in all Courts of Record whatsoever within these islands; and that every page of such register books, and every deed, conveyance, and other writing that shall be entered therein shall be numbered, and the day of the month, year, hour, or time of day when the same is registered and recorded, shall be entered in the margins of the said registrar's books, and of the said deed, or conveyance, or other writing; and that the said registrar shall duly enter, register, and record the said deeds, conveyances, or other writings in the same order that they shall respectively come to his hand; and that he shall, before he enters upon the execution of the said office, be sworn before two or more members of the Council of these islands in these words: "You shall truly and faithfully perform and execute the office and duty that is required by Ordinance No. 3 of 1852, in entering, registering, and recording 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. V. That every such registrar shall give due attendance at his office, 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. No. 3. Ord. No. 3, 1852. Form of oath. Hours of attendance. Colony to be 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 or being in any part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or other her Majesty's dominions; or in any foreign stato, 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 Registrars 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 seal, 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. No. 3. Ord. No. 3, 1852. Deeds, &c., first recorded to have preference. cates. XIII. That if any person shall at any time forge or counterfeit Penalty for the certificate of the registrar, or the signature of any deputy or forging certifiJustice 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 |
