produce a record of birth or baptism from some official register, under which term may be included the parochial registers of baptisms, the non-parochial registers of baptisms and births deposited at Somerset House under Acts of Parliament, the register kept at the India Office of persons born in India, &c., &c. This regulation applies— 1. To all candidates not born in England or Wales. 2. To candidates born in England or Wales on or before the 30th June, 1837. 3. To candidates who, though born in England or Wales after the 30th June, 1837, cannot produce the Registrar-General's certificate. The Civil Service Commissioners reserve to themselves the right of deciding, in each case, upon the sufficiency of the evidence produced, but they subjoin the following general rules for the guidance of candidates:: (a.) The declaration should specify precisely the date and place of birth, and should, if possible, be made by the father or mother of the candidate. If made by any other person, it should state the circumstances which enable the declarant to speak to the fact. If an entry in a Bible or other family record be referred to, the Bible or other record must be produced at the time of making the declaration, and must be mentioned in the declaration as having been so produced. (b.) If the candidate was born in England or Wales after the 30th June, 1837, the declaration must contain a statement, that after due inquiry no entry has been found in the books of the Registrar-General; or a separate declaration containing that statement must be made. (c.) N.B.—If no extract from any register is produced, the declaration must contain a statement, that after due inquiry no such record is believed to exist; or a separate declaration containing that statement must be made. (d.) Statutory declarations must be exactly in the form prescribed by the Act of 5 & 6 William IV. c. 62. N.B.-Clergymen, as such, are not qualified to take declarations. HANDBOOK ΤΟ GOVERNMENT SITUATIONS. ORDER IN COUNCIL of 4th June, 1870. THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY IN COUNCIL. WHEREAS it is expedient to continue, with certain amendments, the existing provision for testing according to fixed rules the qualifications of persons who may from time to time be proposed to be appointed, either permanently or temporarily, to any situation or employment in any of Her Majesty's Civil Establishments, except as hereinafter mentioned: I. Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, doth order, and it is hereby ordered, that the Right Honourable Sir Edward Ryan, now First Commissioner under Her Majesty's Orders in Council of the 21st of May, 1855, and the 26th of April, 1862, and George Webbe Dasent, Esq., Doctor of Civil Law, or such other persons as Her Majesty may from time to time approve in the stead of them, or either of them, shall be Her Majesty's Civil Service Commissioners for testing the qualifications of the persons so proposed to be appointed to any situation or employment in the Civil Establishments as aforesaid, and shall hold their offices during the pleasure of Her Majesty; the said Sir Edward Ryan continuing to be the First Commissioner, and the said George Webbe Dasent being the Second Commissioner; and shall have power, subject to the approval of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, to appoint from time to time such assistant examiners and others as may be required to assist them in the performance of the duties hereinafter assigned to them. II. And it is hereby ordered, that (except as may be excepted under Clause VII. of this Order, and in the Schedule marked B, annexed hereto) the qualifications of all such persons as may be proposed to be appointed, either permanently or temporarily, to any situation or employment in any department of the Civil Service shall, before they are employed, be tested by or under the directions of the said Commissioners; and no person (except as afore B said) shall be employed in any department of the Civil Service until he shall have been reported by the said Commissioners to be qualified to be admitted on probation to such situation or employment. III. No person shall be appointed to any office or employment in any of Her Majesty's Civil Establishments until he shall be reported by the said Commissioners to have satisfied them— 1st. That he is within the limits of age prescribed for the situation or employment to which he desires to be admitted; 2nd. That he is free from any physical defect or disease which would be likely to interfere with the proper discharge of his duties; 3rd. That his character is such as to qualify him for such situation or employment; and 4th. That he possesses the requisite knowledge and ability to enter on the discharge of his official duties. IV. The rules applicable to each department, under each of the above heads, shall be settled, subject to the approval of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, by the said Civil Service Commissioners and the chief authorities of the department. V. Except as hereinafter is excepted, all appointments which it may be necessary to make, after the 31st day of August next, to any of the situations included or to be included in Schedule A to this Order annexed, shall be made by means of competitive examinations, according to regulations to be from time to time framed by the said Civil Service Commissioners, and approved by the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, open to all persons (of the requisite age, health, character, and other qualifications prescribed in the said regulations) who may be desirous of attending the same, subject to the payment of such fees as the said Civil Service Commissioners, with the consent of the said Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, may from time to time require; such examinations to be held at such periods, and for such situations, or groups of situations, in the same or different departments, as the said Civil Service Commissioners, with the approval of the said Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, shall from time to time determine, and to have reference either to the vacancies existing at the time of the examinations respectively, or to the number which may be estimated to occur within any period not exceeding six months after the commencement of the examinations, as the said Civil Service Commissioners, after consultation with the chief authorities of the various departments, and with the approval of the said Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, may deem expedient. VI. After the candidate, reported as aforesaid by the Commissioners, has been appointed to an office or employment, he shall enter on a period of probation, during which his conduct and capacity in the transaction of business shall be subjected to such tests as may be determined by the chief of the department to which he is attached, and he shall not remain in the Public Service after six months from the date of his appointment, unless satisfactory proofs of his fitness shall have been furnished to the chief of such department, and a certificate of his qualification shall have been issued by the Civil Service Commissioners. A formal record of the particulars and of the result of such probation, signed by the chief of the department, shall be furnished to the Civil Service Commissioners, and filed in their office, and they shall thereupon, and not sooner, if such record should be satisfactory, issue their certificate of the candidate's qualification for employment. The candidate after, no less than before, the issue of such certificate shall hold his office at the pleasure of the chief of his department. VII. In case the chief of a department to which a situation belongs and the Lords of the Treasury shall consider that the qualifications in respect of knowledge and ability deemed requisite for such situation are wholly or in part professional or otherwise peculiar, and not ordinarily to be acquired in the Civil Service, and the said chief of the department shall propose to appoint thereto a person who has acquired such qualifications in other pursuits, or in case the said chief of the department and the Lords of the Treasury shall consider that, either for the purpose of facilitating transfers from the Redundant List, or for other reason, it would be for the public interest that examination should be wholly or partially dispensed with, the Civil Service Commissioners may dispense with examination, wholly or partially, and may grant their certificate of qualification upon evidence satisfactory to them that the said person possesses the requisite knowledge and ability, and is duly qualified in respect of age, health, and character. VIII. And it is lastly hereby ordered, that the situations mentioned or referred to in the Schedule marked B, hereto annexed, shall be wholly excepted from the operation of this Order, provided that the chief authorities of any department, with the concurrence of the Lords of the Treasury, by notice in the 'London Gazette,' may from time to time add situations to either of the said Schedules, or withdraw situations therefrom, or restore thereto situations which may have been withdrawn. EDMUND HARRISON. SCHEDULE A. DEPARTMENTS to which the principle of Open Competition, provided in Clause V. of this Order, is to be applied. Registry of Joint-Stock Com panies. Emigration Office. University of London.* Science and Art Department. London Gazette Office. County Courts Judgments Re- Office of Examiners of Criminal Queen's and Lord Treasurer's Re- Office of Inspectors-General of General Register Office (Ireland). Inspectors of Lunatic Asylums' Registry of Deeds (Ireland). SCHEDULE B. SITUATIONS altogether excepted from the operation of this Order. 1. All situations to which the holder is appointed directly by the Crown. 2. All situations included in any Order or Warrant made by the Commissioners of the Treasury under Section 4 of the Superannuation Act, 1859. 3. All situations which are filled, in the customary course of promotion, by persons previously serving in the same department. [NOTE.-Messengers and similar officers in offices in Schedule A are not selected by open competition, but are nominated and examined as before. The limits of age for Messengers in the various offices are given in the following pages. The subjects of examination are Writing, Spelling, the first four Rules of Arithmetic, and in some cases Reading.] * Since removed from Schedule A. |