British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914
This legislation came into force on 1 January 1915. British subject status was acquired as follows:
- birth within His Majesty's dominions
- naturalisation in the United Kingdom or a part of His Majesty's dominions which had adopted Imperial naturalisation criteria
- descent through the legitimate male line (child born outside His Majesty's dominions to a British subject father). This was limited to one generation although further legislation in 1922 allowed subsequent generations born overseas to be registered as British subjects within one year of birth.
- foreign women who married British subject men
- former British subjects who had lost British subject status on marriage or through a parent's loss of status could resume it in specific circumstances (e.g. if a woman became widowed, or children immediately upon turning 21).
British subject status was normally lost by:
- naturalisation in a foreign state, such as the United States of America or France
- in the case of a woman, upon marriage to a foreign man. Prior to 1933, British subject status was lost even if the woman did not acquire her husband's nationality.
- a child of a father who lost British subject status, provided the child also had the father's new nationality.
- renunciation.
Read more about this topic: History Of British Nationality Law
Famous quotes containing the words british, nationality, status, aliens and/or act:
“Gorgonised me from head to foot,
With a stony British stare.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“If nationality is consent, the state is compulsion.”
—Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881)
“A genuine Left doesn’t consider anyone’s suffering irrelevant or titillating; nor does it function as a microcosm of capitalist economy, with men competing for power and status at the top, and women doing all the work at the bottom.... Goodbye to all that.”
—Robin Morgan (b. 1941)
“You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land in one of your towns. You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset, because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the LORD against you, and you would incur guilt.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Deuteronomy 24:14,15.
“It is a great act of cleverness to be able to conceal one’s being clever.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)