sign here for happiness . Judith Simons meets a woman who shares our happiest and our saddest moments . life &apos;s greatest dramas - they &apos;re all in a day &apos;s work for Dorothy Taylor Horrocks . back in world war one an excited young mother entered the Registrar &apos;s office at Ramsbottom in Lancashire . I &apos;ve had triplets , she announced proudly . I &apos;d like to call them France , Belgium and Russia - after our allies . the deputy Registrar , pretty young Miss Dorothy Taylor Horrocks , looked startled , but her voice stayed calm . does your husband like those names ? I have n&apos;t asked him . he &apos;s serving in France . well , do write and see what he says before deciding , Miss Horrocks advised gently . when the boys grow up , those names might be an embarrassment . but of course , if your husband approves , we &apos;ll register the babies as you wish . a lesson in tact . a week later the mother came back . I &apos;m glad you made me tell my husband before naming the boys , she said gratefully . we &apos;ve decided to call them Frank , Charles and Richard . today , Dorothy Taylor Horrocks - now Registrar for Radcliffe , Whitefield and Prestwich - still remembers that early exercise in common sense and tact . though there are not many women registrars yet , I think we can give men registrars a lead in some ways , she told me with a smile . men may be more efficient and businesslike , but on the personal side of births , deaths and marriages women have a more sympathetic approach . I could see Miss Horrocks &apos; point . neither her conventional , impersonal office nor her plain black suit could deflect from the warm personality of this woman who records the greatest dramas of our lives . with Miss Horrocks , her job is not just a matter of making an entry in an official book , issuing an official certificate . when a woman who is newly widowed comes to register her husband &apos;s death , Miss Horrocks can sense at once if she needs a friendly ear . do n&apos;t worry , she will say with gentle patience . I &apos;m here to help you . now sit down and tell me about it &amp;hellip; . with a girl registering an illegitimate birth , her manner is similarly sympathetic . one such girl expressed the feelings of many : when I walked in here and saw the registrar was this kind lady I was so relieved . one reason , perhaps , why Miss Horrocks has this work at her finger-tips is that she was born into the business ! her father , too , was a registrar , and though she had originally hoped to be a nurse , Miss Horrocks found herself following in his footsteps . it &apos;s in registering births that our real test comes , especially when the mother chooses an impossible name . incidentally , it &apos;s always the Mums who are fanciful ! back to old names . if the father is in doubt about the name , or perhaps does n&apos;t even know the wife &apos;s choice if he is away , often I can influence the balance of opinion . but if both parents approve I must comply with their wishes . one wife wanted to name her baby daughter Rowena - Ophelia - Elvira - Cardetta - Osberga - after the ships on which her sailor husband had served . in this case the husband was thrilled with the names , so I could do no more ! Miss Horrocks smiled . lately I &apos;ve registered very few strange names . even the fashion of calling babies after film stars is n&apos;t so popular these days . we seem to be having a swing back to the old-fashioned , tried and trusted names - especially Mark for boys and Jane for girls . the next step on the path of life - marriage - is a routine job for Miss Horrocks , but it occupies most of her time ! apart from ceremonies conducted in her office by the superintendent Registrar , each Saturday she &apos;s off on a round of Roman catholic and other non-conformist churches where it is necessary for a registrar to be present at a marriage ceremony . I &apos;ve spent more time waiting at the church than any other woman in Lancashire , laughs Miss Horrocks . when a bride is late I &apos;m on tenterhooks - wondering if I &apos;ll be in time for my next wedding . but I do n&apos;t really mind . it &apos;s the bride &apos;s great day . I have never been married myself , but if I had , I know I &apos;d have been late , too ! I always enjoy watching a wedding . today a great many of the girls are wearing those pretty Princess Margaret style bridal headdresses , and they wear more elaborate dresses than they used to do . but the grooms are usually more nervous . only one hitch in years . in her long career Miss Horrocks has known only one marriage hitch - last summer , when ex-assistant-hangman Brian Allen and his Spanish bride Angela Corillo went through a marriage ceremony at a Roman catholic church , but forgot to inform Miss Horrocks . they were therefore not legally married ! Miss Horrocks told me . still , it was all put right . they delayed their honeymoon and came to me for a special licence . Miss Horrocks holds another record . one morning she attended a wedding , two and a half hours later she was informed the bride had given birth to twins and that one of the babies had died . so in the space of a day she had registered a marriage , two births and a death - all in one family ! and what of Miss Horrocks &apos; own life ? it is very much drama-free , she admits . she shares a house with a retired headmistress , belongs to an exclusive women &apos;s club , does n&apos;t do much in the way of hobbies because she has n&apos;t the time . but after my daily panorama of the highlights in other people &apos;s lives , I &apos;m perfectly content with a quiet life of my own , she smiled . did you know the part a registrar plays in your life ? births . the birth of a baby should be reported to the registrar within forty-two days . there is a fee of 3 s 9 d for a certified copy and 9 d for short birth certificate . if you later regret your choice of Christian names and want to change them or make an addition , this can be done at the Registrar &apos;s office within a year of first registering the birth . the birth certificate will then be amended for a fee of 1 s 6 d . a Christian name or names can be changed , through baptism , at any time . marriages . for a marriage by certificate ( the usual form of marriage ) the registrar requires twenty-one clear days &apos; notice . the fee is 3 s if the couple wishing to be married live in the same district , 6 s if they live in different districts . the fee for marriage at three days &apos; notice is &amp;pound;2 8 s . this covers the cost of a licence only . the licence for a church wedding without the waiting time for banns to be called costs &amp;pound;2 15 s . ( not under a registrar &apos;s jurisdiction . ) contrary to popular belief , a special licence is not one which enables a couple to marry quickly . this special licence is granted by the appropriate Bishop only in exceptional circumstances ( for example , when a couple wish to marry in a district where they neither live nor worship or in a place which is not licensed for marriage - a college chapel , etc ) . there is no set waiting period before a special licence wedding takes place , and it costs &amp;pound;25 . deaths . when a doctor has issued a certificate showing the cause of death , this must be taken to the registrar , who will then issue an official burial or cremation certificate . this is needed before burial or cremation can take place and is issued free of charge . all certificates for personal purposes must be paid . the fee charged is according to the purpose for which the certificates are needed . most of us have lived through it - that moment when all hope of happiness seems lost for ever . they said they &apos;d never love again . never ! I &apos;ll never get over him . I know I &apos;ll never love again . the girl threw herself , sobbing , on the bed . for hours - or so it seemed - she lay there , the victim of a bleak all-enveloping despair . for the moment , at any rate , she knew that this man , who had so recently gone out of her life , would be in her heart for ever . she would never get over him &amp;hellip; . this scene , which surely every woman has lived through herself , goes on everywhere , all the time . the broken romance , the terrible grief when you realise that the one you love has gone out of your life for ever &amp;hellip; . but here is a heartening thing : to almost everyone who has ever loved and lost , there comes , in time , another love , another day when the heart sings through joy of loving &amp;hellip; . time , it is true , heals even the most bruised hearts . time , and a second love . those unlucky enough to be going through just this sad phase in life right now , may look at some of the great loves of recent years , loves that have come to nothing or have ended tragically and yet whose partners have gone on to love again - and take heart ! look first at the most ill-fated romance of the century . that of Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend . if ever there was a modern fairy-tale that went wrong , then Margaret &apos;s and Peter &apos;s must surely be it . after two long years . they knew each other for thirteen years , first met when Margaret was a boisterous schoolgirl and Peter the new boy at the Palace . when it was discovered in royal circles that they were in love , Peter was posted to Brussels as an air attach&amp;eacute; . they had to be apart for two years , perhaps to test if their love was strong enough to bear the separation . it was . in the autumn of 1955 , Peter Townsend flew back home and went straight to Clarence House to meet Margaret . in New York the papers headlined the news : only a matter of hours now . but the hours spun out into days , the days into weeks . indeed it was eighteen days before Margaret finally decided . during that time they were constantly in each other&apos;s company . either at Clarence House or in the homes of their friends . four private dinner parties were given for them in London . twice they spent the weekend as guests of close friends in the country . they walked hand in hand under the trees aglow with autumn colours , and went over the problem endlessly , again and again and again &amp;hellip; . it was no good , and they both knew it . Peter Townsend had been the innocent party in a divorce case . and that was enough to make him unsuitable by royal standards . their first meeting . alone in the Clarence House drawing-room on the day when she made public the renunciation of her love , Margaret read through once more the draft of a personal message , which in a hundred and fourteen words , told the world of her decision : I would like it to be known that I have decided not to marry group Captain Townsend &amp;hellip; . few of us will forget the heartbreaking pictures of Margaret that were in the papers the following day . bravely , she tried to show a face of composure to the world in true royal family tradition . but no camera could fail to record her grief . a little later came the story that Margaret and Peter had sworn never to wed . the group Captain was quoted as having said : as we can not marry each other , then neither of us will ever marry anyone else . but it was not to be . and a good thing , too . nobody would wish these two young people to go through life alone for the rest of their days . within five years from that fateful October evening , both of them had married other people . Peter Townsend , a pretty French girl , who looked so remarkably like the Princess ; and Margaret the good-looking photographer , Tony Armstrong-Jones . it had been three years though before she had found another love . three years , while she nursed her broken heart and looked sadly on all the young men who asked to take her out . then on the night of March 31 , 1958 , she went to a Hallowe&apos;en ball at London &apos;s Dorchester Hotel with Billy Wallace and other friends . 