A case involving an Anglican archdeacon's bid to have his date of birth recognized as eight years earlier than the date on his birth certificate has been discontinued, with a judge setting aside an earlier order that acknowledged his birth year as 1945 and not 1937.

Archdeacon Etienne Bowleg had sought to have the public record altered, which could have resulted in him holding onto his Stapledon Gardens parish for a few more years.

The retirement age of Anglican priests is 65, but the Anglican bishop has the authority to extend service for another five years.

Under church law, an Anglican priest cannot serve beyond 70, even with the bishop's sanction.

With a 1937 birth certificate, Bowleg's age would be 72 next month.

Bowleg also teaches at The College of The Bahamas where the mandatory retirement age is 65.

Although the Anglican Church was not a party to the action before the Supreme Court, The Nassau Guardian understands a letter was written on behalf of Anglican Archbishop Drexel Gomez (now retired) complaining to the Office of the Attorney General after Justice Cheryl Albury previously granted an ex parte order declaring that Bowleg's date of birth be recorded as December 18, 1945, and not 1937.

Yesterday, Bowleg was at the church and conducted mass.

"As far as I know, I am still the rector of Holy Trinity," he told The Guardian.

Justice Albury had originally ordered that the public record be altered to reflect the 1945 date of birth.

The Guardian understands that Gomez had been concerned that the public record was being altered without the court hearing from the Office of the Attorney General on the matter.

As indicated, Justice Albury has now set aside her original order.

Bowleg was represented in the matter by attorney Sir Orville Turnquest, a former chancellor of the Anglican Church.

Sir Orville said yesterday that the original order was set aside because the parties agreed that the matter should be discontinued.

As a result, he said it is as if the case never even happened. He said the fact that the judge set aside her earlier order recognizing Bowleg's year of birth as 1945 does not mean there is an acknowledgment by the judge that his year of birth is in fact 1937.

In an affidavit sworn May 26, 2008, Bowleg states that he was born on December 18, 1945 to Clement Alexander Bowleg and Ida Calesla Wilson (nee) Lockhart.

He said in the 2008 affidavit that he was 62 years old.

Bowleg contended that when his birth was registered it was registered with the wrong date, namely, December 18, 1937, and his father did not sign the registration particulars.

The archdeacon said he was unaware of this wrong date of the registration of his birth until he went to live with his father in Nassau at an early age, and sought to obtain a birth certificate on or about June 1956.

He said it was discovered at this time that either his birth was not registered or if it was, it was done so with the incorrect date and last name.

According to Bowleg, sometime in 1962 his father and mother swore an affidavit correcting his name and date of birth.

He said that because the affidavit was made sometime in 1962 or thereabout, the Registrar General's Department could not make the corrections to his name and date of birth to its records, which cannot be corrected after three years from the date of birth.

Bowleg said the affidavit of birth became the source of his personal identification from May 1962 to present.

He said he used that affidavit to obtain all of his personal documents such as school records, medical records, passport, voting registration, driver's licenses, children's identification records and insurance records.

"In short, the said affidavit is the basis of who I am as a Bahamian," Bowleg stated.

But he said he has misplaced the affidavit of birth and had searched for it for six months but was unable to locate it.

Bowleg had sought the court's assurance that his name be known as Etienne Everette Edison Bowleg and his date of birth December 18, 1945.

He stated that "because of the important nature of this matter and the fact that my identity might come into question, I wish and pray that this honorable court would make a declaration that my date of birth is December 18, 1945, and that my last name is Bowleg and that my passport would form the basis of my identity."

Not long after, Justice Albury granted the order.

But the attorney general and registrar general soon requested that they be joined as parties to the matter.

Acting Registrar General Shane Miller said in an affidavit sworn August 20, 2008 that Bowleg's birth was duly recorded by his mother as December 18, 1937.

According to Miller, a further search of the records revealed that a female by the name of Lois Moraine was born to Bowleg's mother on May 28, 1945 in Ragged Island.

"It should be noted that this birth was seven months prior to the alleged birth of [Bowleg] on December 18, 1945," Miller stated.

He added that Bowleg's marriage at age 34 to Cheryl Margarita Bowleg age 24 on August 10, 1974 was recorded in the Marriage Register.

In an affidavit responding to Miller, Bowleg stated that he knows of no child born to his mother by the name of Lois Moraine.

"As far as I am aware, and I assert that I am the only child conceived by my mother in the year 1945," Bowleg said.

"I have no sister or half sister by the name of Lois Moraine. I also have no sister born to my mother on May 28, 1945."

Bowleg said another mistake must have been made when the entry for Lois Moraine was made.

The archdeacon also said that a mistake was made by the person who prepared the marriage document.

He said that his wife was 23 at the time of their marriage and he was 28.

In his affidavit, Bowleg said, "that in the affidavits of Shane Miller and Ingrid Cooper-Brooks they assert that I was born in 1937, 1938 and 1939.

"I submit to this honorable court that I only could have been born once, and therefore unless the attorney general can show conclusively which day I was born then I humbly request that the application of the attorney general be dismissed."

The attorney general contended that in seeking the ex parte order, Bowleg failed to disclose certain material information, which the court should have had sight of before granting its order.

These documents reportedly included Bowleg's baptismal records, records related to his employment with the Treasury Department and a declaration in 1966 for a passport.

Bowleg asserted that he must have made a mistake when preparing the application form for his passport.

The Office of the Attorney General submitted that in addition to the issue of material non-disclosure, Bowleg's birth was recorded in 1937 and it is now 66 years after the mandatory statutory period for the correction of any errors to the Birth Register has expired.

Anglican Bishop Laish Boyd could not be reached on Friday for comment. The Guardian was advised he was off the island.

Bowleg said yesterday he is scheduled for retirement next year December based on what he insists is his year of birth - 1945.