outh in April 1621 and continued Governor thereof from that date
excepting between the years 1635 and 1637 up to 1650 and that the last
five pages of the said Manuscript which is in the handwriting of the
said William Bradford contain what in Law is an authentic Register
between 1620 and 1650 of the fact of the Marriages of the Founders of
the Colony of New England with the names of their respective wives and
the names of their Children the lawful issue of such Marriages and of
the fact of the Marriages of many of their Children and Grandchildren
and of the names of the issue of such marriages and of the deaths of
many of the persons named therein And after hearing Counsel in support
of the said application the Judge being of opinion that the said
Manuscript Book had been upon the evidence before the Court presumably
deposited at Fulham Palace sometime between the year 1729 and the year
1785 during which time the said Colony was by custom within the Diocese
of London for purposes Ecclesiastical and the Registry of the said
Consistorial Court was a legitimate Registry for the Custody of
Registers of Marriages Births and Deaths within the said Colony and that
the Registry at Fulham Palace was a Registry for Historical and other
Documents connected with the Colonies and possessions of Great Britain
beyond the Seas so long as the same remained by custom within the
Diocese of London and that on the Declaration of the Independence of the
United States of America in 1776 the said Colony had ceased to be within
the Diocese of London and the Registry of the Court had ceased to be a
public registry for the said Colony and having maturely deliberated on
the Cases precedents and practice of the Ecclesiastical Court bearing on
the application before him and having regard to the Special
Circumstances of the Case Decreed as follows--(1) That a Photographic
facsimile reproduction of the said Manuscript Book verified by affidavit
as being a true and correct Photographic reproduction of the said
Manuscript Book be deposited in the Registry of Our said Court by or on
behalf of the Petitioner before the delivery to the Petitioner of the
said original Manuscript Book as hereinafter ordered--(2) That the said
Manuscript Book be delivered over to the said Honorable Thomas Francis
Bayard by the Lord Bishop of London or in his Lordship's absence by the
Registrar of the said Court on his giving his undertaking in writing
that he will with all due