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[http://www.archive.org/stream/churchinmadrasbe03penn#page/60/mode/2up ''The Church in Madras, Chapter 4 , Bishop Spencer and his Episcopate 1838-1847''], page 61 by Rev Frank Penny sets out the back ground to the establishment in 1842 of civil registrars in every District with the power to conduct civil marriages. One section of the new Act validated all marriages hitherto performed by laymen if not otherwise invalid. This was followed in 1851 by another Act. It is not known whether this applied only in Madrid, or in the other Presidencies.
'''Registrar marriages''' took place in [[British India]] and as far away as the [[Straits Settlements]] and [[Peking]] from 1852. A common misconception regarding these marriages is that they equate to today's 'registry office marriages' and were a secular ceremony. The vast majority of Registrar marriages took place according to non-conformist Christian rites and were often in places of Christian worship.
