VPRS 15254 Register of Registered Premises

These volumes, which were commonly known as 'health registers', provided a record of the registration of all properties and businesses required to be registered under the Health Act 1919 (No. 3041) and subsequent legislation including the Health Act 1958 (No. 6270). Under this legislation a range of enterprises including food premises, eating houses, apartment houses, dairies, boarding houses, hairdressers' shops, beauty parlours and enterprises deemed to be 'offensive trades' were required to be registered annually by the municipal council. The proprietor was required to apply for registration and pay a registration fee which was stipulated in regulations drawn up under the health acts. The local council could, if it chose to, inspect the premises and order any improvements to be made before it granted registration.The content and the layout of the register was prescribed by regulations laid down under the Health Acts. Within each volume separate sections were used for each category of registration (e.g., food premises and egg chilling stores, apartment houses, etc.). Within each section, entries were arranged in alphabetical order by the name of the street, and where there was more than one registered premise in a street, in street number order. Each entry usually gave details of the date of application for registration, name of the proprietor, whether the proprietor were the owner, occupier or both, the specific purpose for which the premises were used, the address, date registration was granted, the ward in which the premises were situated, details of the transfer of registration to another proprietor and the private address of the proprietor. In some, but not all, volumes a registration number was also noted. These numbers were not sequential within the registers, nor do they reflect the date order in which the applications were received.Proprietors were required to apply for registration each year. Registration was usually effective for a calendar year.There may be variations in the details captured in the register over time.These records have been identified as permanent under section 7.12.0. of the Public Record Office's General Disposal Schedule for Local Government Records (PROS 84/25) and subsequently under section 12.3.1 in PROS 98/01.