A
transcript of the Marriage Act, 1949
Parts I - III
An Act to consolidate certain enactments
relating to the solemnization and registration of marriages in England with
such corrections and improvements as may be authorised under the Consolidation
of Enactments (Procedure) Act, 1949.
[
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows :-
Part I.
Restrictions on Marriage.
1.-(I) A marriage solemnized between a man
and any of the persons mentioned in the first column of Part I of the First
Schedule to this Act, or between a woman and any of the persons mentioned in
the second column of the said Part I, shall be void.
(2) A marriage solemnized between a man and any of the persons mentioned in the
first column of Part II of the said First Schedule, or between a woman and any
of the persons mentioned in the second column of the said Part II, shall not be
void or voidable by reason only of affinity.
(3) A marriage which by virtue of the last foregoing subsection is not void or
voidable if solemnized after the decease of any person shall be void if
solemnized during the lifetime of that person.
2. A marriage solemnized between persons
either of whom is under the age of sixteen shall be void.
3.-(i) Where the marriage of an infant, not
being a widower or widow, is intended to be solemnized on the authority of a
certificate issued by a superintendent registrar under Part III of this Act,
whether by licence or without licence, the consent of the person or persons
specified in the Second Schedule to this Act shall be required :
Provided that-
(a) if the superintendent registrar is satisfied that the consent of any person
whose consent is so required cannot be obtained by reason of absence or
inaccessibility or by reason of his being under any disability, the necessity
for the consent of that person shall be dispensed with, if there is any other
person whose consent is also required; and if the consent of no other person is
required, the Registrar General may dispense with the necessity of obtaining
any consent, or the court may, on application being made, consent to the marriage,
and the consent of the court so given shall have the same effect as if it had
been given by the person whose consent cannot be so obtained ;
(b) if any person whose consent is required refuses his consent, the court may,
on application being made, consent to the marriage, and the consent of the
court so given shall have the same effect as if it had been given by the person
whose consent is refused.
(2) The last foregoing subsection shall apply to marriages intended to be
solemnized on the authority of a common licence, with the substitution of
references to the ecclesiastical authority by whom the licence was granted for
references to the superintendent registrar, and with the substitution of a
reference to the Master of the Faculties for the reference to the Registrar
General.
(3) Where the marriage of an infant, not being a widower or widow, is intended
to be solemnized after the publication of banns of matrimony then, if any
person whose consent to the marriage would have been required under this
section in the case of a marriage intended to be solemnized otherwise than
after the publication of the banns, openly and publicly declares or causes to
be declared, in the church or chapel in which the banns are published, at the
time of the publication, his dissent from the intended marriage, the
publication of banns shall be void :
(4) A clergyman shall not be liable to ecclesiastical censure for solemnizing
the marriage of an infant after the publication of banns without the consent of
the parents or guardians of the infant unless he had notice of the dissent of
any person who is entitled to give notice of dissent under the last foregoing
subsection.
(5) For the purposes of this section, "the court " means the High
Court, the county court of the district in which any respondent resides, or a
court of summary jurisdiction, and rules of court may be made for enabling
applications under this section-
(a) if made to the High Court, to be heard in chambers ;
(b) if made to the county court, to be heard and determined by the registrar
subject to appeal to the judge ;
(c) if made to a court of summary jurisdiction, to be heard and determined
otherwise than in open court, and shall provide that, where an application is
made in consequence of a refusal to give consent, notice of the application
shall be served on the person who has refused consent.
(6) Nothing in this section shall dispense with the necessity of obtaining the
consent of the High Court to the marriage of a ward of court.
4. A marriage may be solemnized at any time
between, the hours of eight in the forenoon and six in the afternoon.
PART II.
MARRIAGE ACCORDING TO RITES OF THE
Preliminary.
5. A marriage according to the rites of the Church of England may be
solemnized-
(a) after the publication of banns of matrimony ;
(b) on the authority of a special licence of marriage granted by the Archbishop
of Canterbury or any other person by virtue of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act,
1533 (in this Act referred to as a "special licence") ;
(c) on the authority of a licence of marriage (other than a special licence)
granted by an ecclesiastical authority having power to grant such a licence (in
this Act referred to as a "common licence") ; or
(d) on the authority of a certificate issued by a superintendent registrar
under Part III of this Act
Marriage by banns.
6.-(i) Subject to the provisions of this Act,
where a marriage is intended to be solemnized after the publication of banns of
matrimony, the banns shall be published-
(a) if the persons to be married reside in the same parish, in the parish
church of that parish ;
(b) if the persons to be married do not reside in the same parish, in the
parish church of each parish in which one of them resides :
Provided that if either of the persons to be married resides in a chapelry or
in a district specified in a licence granted under section twenty of this Act,
the banns may be published in an authorised chapel of that chapelry or district
instead of the parish church of the parish in which that person resides.
(2) In relation to a person who resides in an extra-parochial place, the last
foregoing subsection shall have effect as if for references to a parish there
were substituted references to that extra-parochial place, and as if for
references to a parish church there were substituted references to an
authorised chapel of that place.
(3) For the purposes of this section, any parish in which there is no parish
church or chapel belonging thereto or no church or chapel in which divine
service is usually solemnized every Sunday, and any extra-parochial place which
has no authorised chapel, shall be deemed to belong to any adjoining parish or
chapelry.
(4) Banns of matrimony may be published in any parish church or authorised
chapel which is the usual place of worship of the persons to be married or of
one of them although neither of those persons resides in the parish or chapelry
to which the church or chapel belongs :
Provided that the publication of banns by virtue of this subsection shall be in
addition to and not in substitution for the publication of banns required by
subsection (I) of this section.
7.-(I) Subject to the provisions of section
nine of this Act, banns of matrimony shall be published on three Sundays preceding
the solemnization of the marriage during morning service or, if there is no
morning service on a Sunday on which the banns are to be published, during
evening service.
(2) Banns of matrimony shall be published in an audible manner and in accordance
with the form of words prescribed by the rubric prefixed to the office of
matrimony in the Book of Common Prayer, and all the other rules prescribed by
the said rubric concerning the publication of banns and the solemnization of
matrimony shall, so far as they are consistent with the provisions of this Part
of this Act, be duly observed.
(3) The parochial church council of a parish shall provide for every church and
chapel in the parish in which marriages may be solemnized, a register book of
banns made of durable materials and marked in the manner directed by section
fifty-four of this Act for the register book of marriages, and all banns shall
be published from the said register book of banns by the officiating clergyman,
and not from loose papers, and after each publication the entry in the register
book shall be signed by the officiating clergyman, or by some person under his
direction.
(4) Any reference in the last foregoing subsection to a parochial church
council shall, in relation to an authorised chapel in an extra-parochial place,
be construed as a reference to the chapel warden or other officer exercising
analogous duties in the chapel or, if there is no such officer, such person as
may be appointed in that behalf by the bishop of the diocese.
8. No clergyman shall be obliged to publish
banns of matrimony unless the persons to be married, at least seven days before
the date on which they wish the banns to be published for the first time,
deliver or cause to be delivered to him a notice in writing, dated on the day
on which it is so delivered, stating the christian name and surname and the
place of residence of each of them, and the period during which each of them
has resided at his or her place of residence.
9.-(I) Subject to the provisions of this
section and of section fourteen of this Act, it shall not be lawful for any
person other than a clergyman to publish banns of matrimony.
(2), Where on any Sunday in any church or other building in which banns of
matrimony may be published a clergyman does not officiate at the service at
which it is usual in that church or building to publish banns, the banns may be
published-
(a) by a clergyman at some other service at which banns of matrimony may be
published ; or
(b) by a layman during the course of a public reading authorised by the bishop
of the diocese of a portion or portions of the service of morning or evening
prayer, the public reading being at the hour when the service at which it is
usual to publish banns is commonly held or at such other hour as the bishop may
authorise :
Provided that banns shall not be published by a layman unless the incumbent or
minister in charge of the said church or building, or some other clergyman
nominated in that behalf by the bishop, has made or authorised to be made the
requisite entry in the register book of banns of the said church or building.
(3)Where a layman publishes banns of matrimony by virtue of this section the
layman shall sign the register book of banns provided under section seven of
this Act and for that purpose shall be deemed to be the officiating clergyman
within the meaning of that section.
10.-(I) Where the publication of banns of
matrimony has been duly commenced in any church, the publication may be
completed in the same church or in any other church which, by virtue of the
Union of Benefices Measure, 1923, or the New Parishes Measure, 1943, has at the
time of completion taken the place of the first-mentioned church for the
purpose of publication of banns of matrimony either generally or in relation to
the parties to the intended marriage.
(2) Where the publication of banns of matrimony has been duly commenced in any
building which by virtue of a reorganisation scheme under the Reorganisation
Areas Measure, 1944, ceases to be a parish church or, as the case may be,
ceases to be licensed for marriages, the publication may be completed in such
other building, being either a parish church or a building licensed for
marriages, as may be directed by the bishop of the diocese to take the place of
the first-mentioned building for the purposes of the publication of banns.
11.-(I) Where a marriage is intended to be
solemnized after the publication of banns of matrimony and the persons to be
married do not reside in the same parish or other ecclesiastical district, a
clergyman shall not solemnize the marriage in the parish or district in which
one of those persons resides unless there is produced to him a certificate that
the banns have been published in accordance with the provisions of this Part of
this Act in the parish or other ecclesiastical district in which the other
person resides.
(2) Where a marriage is intended to be solemnized in a church or chapel of a
parish or other ecclesiastical district in which neither of the persons to be
married resides after the publication of banns therein by virtue of subsection
(4) of section six of this Act, a clergyman shall not solemnize the marriage
unless there is produced to him-
(a) if the persons to be married reside in the same parish or other
ecclesiastical district, a certificate that the banns have been published in
accordance with the provisions of this Part of this Act in that parish or
district ; or
(b) if the persons to be married do not reside in the same parish or other
ecclesiastical district, certificates that the banns have been published as
aforesaid in each parish or district in which one of them resides.
(3) Where banns are published by virtue of subsection (3) of section six of
this Act in a parish or chapelry adjoining the parish or parochial place in
which the banns would otherwise be required to be published, a certificate that
the banns have been published in that parish or chapelry shall have the like
force and effect as a certificate that banns have been published in a parish in
which one of the persons to be married resides.
(4) Any certificate required under this section shall be signed by the
incumbent or minister in charge of the building in which the the banns were
published or by a clergyman nominated in that behalf by the bishop of the diocese.
12-(I) Subject to the provisions of this Part
of this Act, where banns of matrimony have been published, the marriage shall
be solemnized in the church or chapel or, as the case may be, one of the
churches or chapels in which the banns have been published.
(2) Where a marriage is not solemnized within three months after the completion
of the publication of the banns, that publication shall be void and no
clergyman shall solemnize the marriage on the authority thereof.
13. Where a marriage is intended to be
solemnized in England, after the publication of banns of matrimony, between
parties of whom one is residing in England and the other is residing in
Scotland, Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, then, if banns have been
published or proclaimed in any church of the parish or place in which that
other party is residing according to the law or custom there prevailing, a
certificate given in accordance with that law or custom that the banns have
been so published or proclaimed shall as respects that party be sufficient for
the purposes of section eleven of this Act, and the marriage shall not be void
by reason only that the banns have not been published in the manner required
for the publication of banns in England.
14.-(I) Where a marriage is intended to be
solemnized in England, after the publication of banns of matrimony, between
parties of whom one is residing in England and the other is an officer, seaman
or marine borne on the books of one of His Majesty’s ships at sea, the banns
may be published on three successive Sundays during morning service on board
that ship by the chaplin, or, if there is no chaplain, by the captain or other
officer commanding the ship, and, where banns have been so published, the
person who published them shall, unless the banns have been forbidden on any
grounds on which banns may be forbidden, give a certificate of publication.
(2) A certificate issued under this section shall be in such form as may be
prescribed by the Admiralty and shall, as respects the party who is an officer,
seaman or marine as aforesaid, be sufficient for the purposes of, section
eleven of this Act, and all provisions of this Act (including penal provisions)
relating to the publication of banns and certificates thereof and all rules
required by section seven of this Act to be observed shall apply in the case of
banns published under this section subject to such adaptations therein as may
be made by His Majesty by Order in Council.
Marriage by Common Licence.
15.-(I) Subject to the provisions of this
Part of this Act, a common licence shall not be granted for the solemnization
of a marriage in any church or chapel other than-
(a) the parish church of the parish, or an authorised chapel of the
ecclesiastical district, in which one of the persons to be married has had his
or her usual place of residence for fifteen days immediately before the grant
of the licence ; or
(b) a parish church or authorised chapel which is the usual place of worship of
the persons to be married or of one of them.
(2) For the purposes of this section, any parish in which there is no parish
church or chapel belonging thereto or no church or chapel in which divine
service is usually solemnized every Sunday, and any extra-parochial place which
has no authorised chapel, shall be deemed to belong to any adjoining parish or
chapelry.
16.-(I) A common licence shall not be granted
unless one of the persons to be married has sworn before a person having
authority to grant such a licence-
(a) that he or she believes that there is no impediment of kindred or alliance
or any other lawful cause, nor any suit commenced in any court, to bar or
hinder the solemnization of the marriage in accordance with the licence ;
(b) that one of the persons to be married has had his or her usual place of residence
in the parish or other ecclesiastical district in which the marriage is to be
solemnized for fifteen days, immediately before the grant of the licence or
that the parish church or authorised chapel in which the marriage is to be
solemnized is the, usual place of worship of those persons or of one of them ;
(c) where one of the persons to be married is an infant and is not a widower or
widow, that the consent of the person or persons whose consent to the marriage
is required under section three of this Act has been obtained, that the
necessity of obtaining any such consent has been dispensed with under that
section, that the court has consented to the marriage under that section, or
that there is no person whose consent to the marriage is so required.
(2) If any caveat is entered against the grant of a common licence, the caveat
having been duly signed by or on behalf of the person by whom it is entered and
stating his place of residence and the ground of objection on which the caveat
is founded, no licence shall be granted until the caveat or a copy thereof is
transmitted to the ecclesiastical judge out of whose office the licence is to
issue, and the judge has certified to the registrar of the diocese that he has
examined into the matter of the caveat and is satisfied that it ought not to
obstruct the grant of the licence, or until the caveat is withdrawn by the
person who entered it.
(3)Where a marriage is not solemnized within three months after the grant of a
common licence, the licence shall be void and no clergyman shall solemnize the
marriage on the authority thereof.
(4) No surrogate deputed by an ecclesiastical judge who has power to grant
common licences shall grant any such licence until he has taken an oath before
that judge, or a commissioner appointed under the seal of that judge,
faithfully to execute his office according to law, to the best of his
knowledge, and has given security by his bond in the sum of one hundred pounds
to the bishop of the diocese for the due and faithful execution of his office.
Marriage under superintendent registrar’s
certificate.
17. A marriage according to the rites of the
Church of England may be solemnized on the authority of a certificate of a
superintendent registrar in force under Part III of this Act in any church or
chapel in which banns of matrimony be published :
Provided that a marriage shall not be solemnized as aforesaid in any such
church or chapel without the consent of the minister thereof or by any person
other than a clergyman.
18.-(I) Where any church or chapel in which
banns may be published and marriages solemnized is being or repaired, and on
that account is not being used for divine service, banns of matrimony which
could otherwise have been published therein and marriages which could otherwise
have been solemnized therein may be published or solemnized, as the case may
be,-
(a) in any building licensed by the bishop of the diocese for the performance
of divine service during the disuse of the church or chapel, being a building
within the parish or other ecclesiastical district in which the disused church
or chapel is situated ; or
(b) if no building has been licensed as aforesaid, in any such consecrated
chapel as the bishop of the diocese may in writing direct, being a chapel
within the said parish or district ; or
(c) if no building has been licensed as mentioned in paragraph (a) of this
subsection and no direction has been given by the bishop under the last
foregoing paragraph, in a church or chapel of any adjoining parish or other
ecclesiastical district, being a church or chapel in which banns may be
published and marriages solemnized. -
(2) Any fees paid in respect of marriages solemnized by virtue of paragraph (b)
of the last foregoing subsection in a consecrated chapel specified in a direction
given by the bishop of the diocese under that paragraph shall be applied as the
bishop, with the consent of the incumbent of the disused church or chapel, may
in writing direct.
(3) Any marriage solemnized by virtue of the said subsection in any licensed
building or consecrated chapel or in the church or chapel of an adjoining
parish or district shall be deemed for the purposes of Part IV of this Act to
have been solemnized in the disused church or chapel and shall accordingly be
registered in the marriage register books kept by the incumbent of the disused
church or chapel.
19. Where an order made by the Church Commissioners under section three of the
Diocesan Reorganisation Committees Measure, 1941, (which enables orders to be
made deferring the restoration of churches injured by war damage) is in force
as respects any church, banns of matrimony of persons entitled to be married in
that church may be published, and marriages of such persons may be solemnized,
in such other church, chapel or place of worship within the diocese as the
bishop of the diocese shall in writing direct.
Licensing of chapels for publication of
banns and solemnization of marriages.
20.-(I) Subject to the provisions of this
section, the bishop of the diocese in which a public chapel is situated may-
(a) if he thinks it necessary so to do for the due accommodation and
convenience of the inhabitants of any district ; and
(b) if the patron and incumbent of the church of the parish in which the public
chapel is situated have signified their consent under their respective hands
and seals, authorise by a licence under his hand and seal the publication of
banns and the solemnization of marriages in that public chapel between parties
both or either of whom reside or resides within a district of which the limits
shall be specified in the licence ; and any such licence may include such
provisions concerning the amount, appropriation or apportionment of dues and
such other particulars as the bishop thinks fit.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in the last foregoing subsection, the bishop of
the diocese may grant a licence under this section without the consent of the
patron and incumbent of the church of the parish in which the public chapel is
situate after two months notice in writing given to the patron and incumbent by
the registrar of the diocese :
Provided that where any patron or incumbent who refuses or withholds his
consent to the grant of a licence under this section delivers to the bishop
under his hand and seal a statement of the reasons for which the consent has
been refused or withheld, no licence shall be granted by the bishop until he
has inquired into the reasons contained in the statement.
(3) Where a bishop grants a licence under this section without the consent of
the patron and incumbent, the patron or incumbent may, within one month from
the grant of the licence, appeal to the archbishop of the province who shall
hear the appeal in a summary manner, and shall make such order confirming,
revoking or varying the licence as seems to him expedient.
(4) Any licence granted or order made under this section may at any time be
revoked in writing under the hand and seal of the bishop of the diocese with
the consent in writing of the archbishop of the province ; and the registrar of
the diocese shall notify the revocation in writing to the minister officiating
in the chapel concerned and shall give public notice of the revocation by
advertisement in some newspaper circulating within the county in which the
chapel is situated and in the London Gazette.
(5)There shall be displayed in some conspicuous part of the interior of any
chapel licensed under this section the words "Banns may be published and
marriages may be solemnized in this chapel".
(6) Every consent of a patron or incumbent delivered under subsection (I) of
this section, a copy of every notice given by the registrar of a diocese under
subsection (2) of this section, every statement of reasons delivered by a
patron or incumbent under the said subsection (2), together with the bishop’s
decision thereon under his hand and seal, every order made by an archbishop
under subsection (3) of this section and every revocation and consent made or
given under subsection (4) of this section, shall be registered in the registry
of the diocese.
(2) The district specified in a licence granted under this section may be taken
out of more than one parish ; and where any such licence specifies a district
taken out one parish the expressions "patron" and
"incumbent" shall for the purposes of this section mean the patron or
incumbent, as the case may be, of the church of every out of which the district
so specified is taken.
(8) In this section the expression "public chapel" means any public
chapel with or without a chapelry annexed thereto, or any chapel duly licensed
for the celebration of divine service according to the rites and ceremonies of
the Church of England, or any chapel the minister of which is duly licensed to
officiate therein according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of
England.
21.-(I) Where any extra-parochial place has
belonging to it or within it any church or chapel of the Church of England, the
bishop of the diocese in which the church or chapel is situated may, if he
thinks fit, authorise in writing under his hand and seal the publication of
banns and the solemnization of marriages by banns or licence in that church or
chapel between parties both or either of whom reside or resides in that
extra-parochial place.
(2) Every authorisation given under the last foregoing, section shall be
registered in the registry of the diocese.
Miscellaneous Provisions.
22. All marriages solemnized according to the
rites of the Church of England shall be solemnized in the presence of two or
more witnesses in addition to the clergyman by whom the marriage is solemnized.
23. Where two or more benefices are held in
plurality under the Pastoral Reorganisation Measure, 1949, the bishop of the
diocese in which the benefices are situated or, during a vacancy in the see,
the guardian of the spiritualities thereof, may in writing direct where banns
of matrimony of persons entitled to be married in any church of those benefices
may be published and where marriages of those persons may be solemnized :
Provided that-
(a) nothing in this section shall deprive a person of the right to be married
in any church in which he would have been entitled to be married if no
directions had been given under this section ; and
(b) a person may be married in a church in which he would have been entitled to
be married as aforesaid notwithstanding that the banns of matrimony have, by
virtue of this section, been published only in some other church.
24.-(I) Where any marriage has been
solemnized after the publication of banns of matrimony, it shall not be
necessary in support of the marriage to give any proof of the residence of the
parties or either of them in any parish or other ecclesiastical district in
which the banns were published, and no evidence shall be given to prove the
contrary in any proceedings touching the validity of the marriage.
(2) Where any marriage has been solemnized on the authority of a common
licence, it shall not be necessary in support of the marriage to give any proof
that the usual place of residence of one of the parties was for fifteen days
immediately before the grant of the licence in the parish or other
ecclesiastical district in which the marriage was solemnized, and no evidence
shall be given to prove the contrary in any proceedings touching the validity
of the marriage.
25. If any persons knowingly and wilfully
intermarry according to the rites of the Church of England (otherwise than by
special licence)-
(a) in any place other than a church or other building in which banns may be
published ;
(b) without banns having been duly published, a common licence having been
obtained, or a certificate having been duly issued under Part III of this Act
by a superintendent registrar to whom due notice of marriage has been given ;
or
(c) on the authority of a publication of banns which is void by virtue of subsection
(3) of section three or subsection (2) of section twelve of this Act, on the
authority of a common licence which is void by virtue of subsection (3) of
section sixteen of this Act, or on the authority of a certificate of a
superintendent registrar which is void by virtue of subsection (2) of section
thirty-three of this Act ;
(d) in the case of a marriage on the authority of a certificate of a
superintendent registrar, in any place other than the church or other building
specified in the notice of marriage and certificate ;
or if they knowingly and wilfully consent to or acquiesce in the solemnization
of the marriage by any person who is not in Holy Orders, the marriage shall be
void.
PART III.
MARRIAGE UNDER SUPERINTENDENT REGISTRAR'S
CERTIFICATE.
Issue of certificates.
26.-(I) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, the following
marriages may be solemnized on the authority of a certificate of a
superintendent registrar-
(a) a marriage in a registered building according to such form and ceremony as
the persons married see fit to adopt ;
(b) a marriage in the office of a superintendent registrar ;
(c) a marriage according to the usages of the Society of Friends (commonly
called Quakers) ;
(d) a marriage between two persons professing the Jewish religion according to
the usages of the Jews ;
(e) a marriage according to the rites of the Church of England.
(2) A marriage on the authority of a certificate of a superintendent registrar
may be either by a licence issued by the superintendent registrar or without a
licence :
Provided that a superintendent registrar shall not issue a licence for a
marriage in any church or chapel in which marriages may be solemnized according
to the rites of the Church of England, or in any church or chapel belonging to
the Church of England or licensed for the celebration of divine worship
according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England.
27.-(I) Where a marriage is intended to be
solemnized on the authority of a certificate of a superintendent registrar
without licence, notice of marriage in the prescribed form shall be given-
(a) if the persons to be married have resided in the same registration district
for the period of seven days immediately before the giving of the notice, by
either of those persons to the superintendent registrar of that district ;
(b) if the persons to be married have not resided in the same registration
district for the said period of seven days as aforesaid, by either of those
persons to the superintendent registrar of each registration district in which
one of them has resided for that period.
(2) Where a marriage is intended to be solemnized as aforesaid by licence,
then, whether the persons to be married reside in the same or in different
registration districts, notice of marriage in the prescribed form shall be
given by either of those persons to the superintendent registrar of the
registration district in which one of them has resided for the period of
fifteen days immediately before the giving of the notice, and it shall not be
required that notice of marriage shall be given to more than one superintendent
registrar.
(3) A notice of marriage shall state the name and surname, marital status,
occupation and place of residence of each of the persons to be married and the
church or other building in which the marriage is to be solemnized and-
(a) in the case of a marriage intended to be solemnized without licence, shall
state the period, not being less than seven days, during which each of the
persons to be married has resided in his or her place of residence ;
(b) in the case of a marriage intended to be solemnized by licence, shall state
the period, not being less than fifteen days,. during which one of the persons
to be married has resided in the district in which notice of marriage is given
:
Provided that if either of the persons to be married has resided in the place
stated in the notice for more than one month, the notice may state that he or
she has resided there or more than one month.
(4) The superintendent registrar shall file all notices of marriage and keep
them with the records of his office, and shall also forthwith enter the
particulars given in every such notice, together with the date of the notice
and the name of the person by whom the notice was given, in a book (in this Act
referred to as "the marriage notice book ") furnished to him for that
purpose by the Registrar General, and the marriage notice book shall be open
for inspection free of charge at all reasonable hours.
(5) If the persons to be married wish to be married in the presence of a
registrar in a registered building for which an authorised person has been
appointed, they shall, at the time when notice of marriage is given to the
superintendent registrar under this section, give notice to him that they require
a registrar to be present at the marriage.
(6) The superintendent registrar sha11 be entitled to a fee of one shilling for
every entry made in the marriage notice book under this section.
28.-(I) No certificate or licence for
marriage shall be issued by a superintendent registrar unless the notice of
marriage is accompanied by a solemn declaration in writing, in the body or at
the foot of the notice, made and signed at the time of the giving of the notice
by the person by whom the notice is given and attested as mentioned in
subsection (2) of this section-
(a) that he or she believes that there is no impediment of kindred or alliance
or other lawful hindrance to the marriage ;
(b) in the case of a marriage intended to be solemnized without licence, that
the persons to be married have for the period of seven days immediately before
the giving of the notice had their usual places of residence within the
registration district or registration districts in which notice is given, or,
in the case of a marriage intended to be solemnized by licence, that one of the
persons to be married has for the period of fifteen days immediately before the
giving of the notice had his or her usual place of residence within the
registration district in which notice is given ;
(c) where one of the persons to be married is an infant and is not a widower or
widow, that the consent of the person or persons whose consent to the marriage
is required under section three of this Act has been obtained, that the
necessity of obtaining any such consent has been dispensed with under that
section, that the court has consented to the marriage under that section, or
that there is no person whose consent to the marriage is so required.
(2) Any such declaration as aforesaid shall be signed by the person giving the
notice of marriage in the presence of the superintendent registrar to whom the
notice is given or his deputy, or in the presence of a registrar of births and
deaths or of marriages for the registration district in which the person giving
the notice resides or his deputy, and that superintendent registrar, deputy
superintendent registrar, registrar or deputy registrar, as the case may be,
shall attest the declaration by adding thereto his name, description and place
of residence.
29.-(I) Any person on payment of a fee of
five shillings may enter a caveat with the superintendent registrar against the
issue of a certificate or licence for the marriage of any person named therein.
(2) If any caveat is entered as aforesaid, the caveat having been signed by or
on behalf of the person by whom it was entered and stating his place of
residence and the ground of objection on which the caveat is founded, no
certificate or licence shall be issued until the superintendent registrar has
examined the matter of the caveat and is satisfied that it ought not to
obstruct the issue of the certificate or licence, or until the caveat has been
withdrawn by the person who entered it ; and if the superintendent registrar is
doubtful whether to issue a certificate or licence he may refer the matter to
the Registrar General.
(3) Where a superintendent registrar refuses, by reason of any such caveat as
aforesaid, to issue a certificate or licence, the person applying therefore may
appeal to the Registrar General, who shall either confirm the refusal or direct
that a certificate or licence shall be issued.
(4) Any person who enters a caveat against the issue of a certificate or
licence on grounds which the Registrar General declares to be frivolous and to
be such that they ought not to obstruct the issue of the certificate or
licence, shall be liable for the costs of the proceedings before the Registrar
General and for damages recoverable by the person against whose marriage the
caveat was entered.
(5) A For the purpose of enabling any person to recover any such costs and
damages as aforesaid, a copy of the declaration of the Registrar General
purporting to be sealed with the seal of the General Register Office shall be
evidence that the Registrar General has declared the caveat to have been
entered on grounds which are frivolous and such that they ought not to obstruct
the issue of the certificate or licence.
30. Any person whose consent to a marriage
intended to be so1emnized on the authority of a certificate of a superintendent
registrar is required under section three of this Act may forbid the issue of
such a certificate by writing, at any time before the issue of the certificate,
the word "forbidden" opposite to the entry of the notice of marriage
in the marriage notice book, and by subscribing thereto his name and place of
residence and the capacity, in relation to either of the persons to be married,
in which he forbids the issue of the certificate; and where the issue of a
certificate has been forbidden, the notice of marriage and all proceedings
thereon shall be void :
Provided that where, by virtue of paragraph (b) of the proviso to subsection
(I) of the said section three, the court has consented to a marriage and the
consent of the court the same effect as if it had been given by a person whose
consent has been refused, that person shall not be entitled to forbid the issue
of a certificate for that marriage under this section, and the notice of
marriage and the proceedings thereon shall not be void by virtue of this
section.
31.-(I) Where a marriage is intended to be
solemnized on the authority of a certificate of a superintendent registrar
without licence, the superintendent registrar to whom notice of marriage has
been given shall suspend or affix in some conspicuous place in his office, for
twenty-one successive days next after the day on which the notice was entered
in the marriage book, the notice of marriage, or an exact copy signed by him of
the particulars thereof as entered in the marriage notice book.
(2) At the expiration of the said period of twenty-one days the superintendent
registrar, on the request of the person by whom the notice of marriage was
given, shall issue a certificate in the prescribed form unless-
(a) any lawful impediment to the issue of the certificate has been shown to the
satisfaction of the superintendent registrar; or
(b) the issue of the certificate has been forbidden under the last foregoing
section by any person authorised in that behalf.
(3) Every such certificate shall set out the particu1ars contained in the
notice of marriage and the day on which the notice was entered in the marriage
notice book and shall contain a statement that the issue of the certificate has
not been forbidden as aforesaid.
(4) No marriage shall be solemnized on the production of a certificate of a
superintendent registrar Without licence until after the expiration of the said
period of twenty-one days.
(5) Where a marriage is to be solemnized in a registered building for which an
authorised person has been appointed and no notice requiring a registrar to be
present at the marriage has been given to the superintendent registrar under
subsection (5) of section twenty-seven of this Act, the superintendent
registrar shall, when issuing a certificate under this section, give to one of
the persons to be married printed instructions in the prescribed form for the
due solemnization of the marriage.
(6) A superintendent registrar shall be entitled to receive a fee of one
shilling for every certificate issued by him under this section.
32.-(I) Where a marriage is intended to be
solemnized on the authority of a certificate of a superintendent registrar, by
licence, the person by whom notice of marriage is given shall state in the notice
that the marriage is intended to be solemnized by licence, and the notice shall
not be suspended in the office of the superintendent registrar.
(2) Where a notice of marriage containing such a statement as aforesaid has
been received by a superintendent registrar, then, after the expiration of one
whole day next after the day on which it was entered in the marriage notice
book the superintendent registrar, on the request of the person whom the notice
was given, shall issue a certificate and a licence in the prescribed form
unless-
(a) any lawful impediment to the issue of the certificate has been shown to the
satisfaction of the superintendent registrar; or
(b) the issue of the certificate has been forbidden under section thirty of
this Act by any person authorised in that behalf.
(3) Every such certificate shall set out the particulars contained in the
notice of marriage and the day on which the notice was entered in the marriage
notice book, and shall contain a statement that the issue of the certificate
has not been forbidden as aforesaid.
(4) Where a marriage is to be solemnized in a registered building which an
authorised person has been appointed and no notice requiring a registrar to be
present at the marriage has been given to the superintendent registrar under
subsection (5) of section twenty-seven of this Act, the superintendent
registrar shall, when issuing a certificate and licence under this section,
give to one of the persons to be married printed instructions in the prescribed
form for the due solemnization of the marriage.
(5) A superintendent registrar shall be entitled to receive for every
certificate issued by him under this section a fee of one shilling, and for
every licence so issued the sum of one pound ten shillings over and above the
amount paid for the stamps necessary on the issue of the licence.
(6) A superintendent registrar shall not issue a licence under this section
until he has given security by his bond in the sum of one hundred pounds to the
Registrar General for the due and faithful execution of his office.
33.-(I) A marriage may be solemnized on the
authority of a certificate of a superintendent registrar, whether by licence or
without licence, at any time within three months from the day on which the
notice of marriage was entered in the marriage notice book.
(2) If the marriage is not solemnized within the said period of three months,
the notice of marriage and the certificate, and any licence which may have been
granted thereon, shall be void; and no person shall solemnize the marriage on
the authority thereof.
34. Subject to the provisions of the next
following section, a superintendent registrar shall not issue a certificate for
the solemnization of a marriage in a building which is not within a
registration district in which one of the persons to be married has resided, in
the case of a, marriage, without licence, for the period of seven days
immediately before the giving of the notice of marriage or, in the case of a
marriage by licence, for the period of fifteen days immediately before the
giving of that notice.
35.-(I) A superintendent registrar may issue
a certificate, or if the marriage is to be by licence, a certificate and a
licence, for the solemnization of a marriage in a registered building which is
not within a registration district in which either of the persons to be married
resides, where the person giving the notice of marriage declares by endorsement
thereon in the prescribed form-
(a) the religious appellation of the body of christians to which he or she
professes to belong and the form, rite or ceremony which the persons to be
married desire to adopt in solemnizing their marriage ;
(b) that, to the best of his or her belief, there is not within the
registration district in which one of them resides any registered building in
which .marriage is solemnized according, to that form, rite or ceremony ;
(c) the registration district nearest to the residence of that person in which
there is a registered building in which marriage may be so solemnized ; and
(d) the registered building in that district in which the marriage is intended
to be solemnized ;
and where any such certificate or certificate and licence is issued, the
marriage may be solemnized in the registered building stated in the notice.
(2) A superintendent registrar may issue a certificate or, if the marriage is
to be by licence, a certificate and a licence, for the solemnization of a
marriage in a registered building which is the usual place of worship of the
persons to be married, or of one of them, notwithstanding that the building is
not within a registration district in which either of those persons resides, so
long as the building is not more than two miles beyond the limits of the
registration district, or one of the registration districts, in which notice of
marriage has been given.
(3) A superintendent registrar may issue a certificate for the solemnization of
a marriage in any parish church or authorised chapel which is the usual place
of worship of the persons to be married, or of one of them, notwithstanding
that the church or chapel, is not within registration district in which either
of those persons resides.
(4) A superintendent registrar may issue a certificate or, if the marriage is
to be by licence, a certificate and a licence, for the solemnization of a
marriage according to the usages of the Society of Friends or in accordance
with the usages of persons professing the Jewish religion, notwithstanding that
the building or place in which the marriage is to be solemnized is not within a
registration district in which either of the persons to be married resides.
(5) Where a marriage is intended to be solemnized on the authority of a
certificate of a superintendent registrar issued under subsection (2) or
subsection (3) of this section, the notice of marriage given to the
superintendent registrar and the certificate issued by the superintendent
registrar shall state, in addition to the description of the registered
building or, as the case may be, the parish church or authorised chapel, in which
the marriage is to be solemnized, that it is the usual place of worship of the
persons to be married or of one of them and, in the latter case, shall state
the name of the person whose usual place of worship it is.
36. Subject to the provisions of the last
foregoing section, a superintendent registrar shall not issue a licence for the
solemnization of a marriage-
(a) in a registered building which is not within his registration district ;
(b) in the office of any other superintendent registrar.
37.-(I) Where a marriage is intended to be
solemnized in England on the authority of a certificate of a superintendent
registrar without licence between parties of whom one is residing in Scotland
and the other is residing in England, the following provisions shall have
effect -
(a) the party residing in Scotland may, subject to and in accordance with the
provisions of section seven of the Marriage Notice (Scotland) Act, 1878, give
notice of the intended marriage as if the parties were residing in different
parishes or districts in Scotland and as if the marriage were intended to be
contracted or celebrated in Scotland, and the provisions of that Act relating
to notices of intended marriages and the granting of certificates of due
publication thereof shall apply accordingly ;
(b) the party residing in England may, subject to and in accordance with the
provisions of sections twenty-seven and twenty-eight of this Act, give notice
of the intended marriage as if both parties were residing in different
registration districts in England, and the provisions of this Part of this Act
relating to notices of marriage and the issue of certificates for marriage
shall apply accordingly ;
(c) a certificate of due publication of a notice of the intended marriage
granted in Scotland by virtue of paragraph (a) of this subsection shall, for
the purpose of the marriage, have the like force and effect in all respects as
a certificate for marriage issued by a superintendent registrar under this Part
of this Act ;
(d) for the purposes of section thirty-three of this Act the notice given in
Scotland shall be deemed to have been entered in a marriage notice book by a
superintendent registrar in England on the day on which it was given.
(2) Where a marriage is intended to be solemnized as aforesaid between parties
of whom one is residing in Scotland and the other is residing in England and a
certificate of proclamation of banns in Scotland has been issued under the hand
of the minister or session clerk of the parish in which the proclamation was
made-
(a) the superintendent registrar of the registration district in which the
party residing in England is residing may accept notice of marriage given by
that party, subject to and in accordance with the provisions of sections
twenty-seven and twenty-eight of this Act, as if both parties were residing in
different registration districts in England, and the provisions of this Part of
this Act relating to notices of marriage and the issue of certificates for
marriage shall apply accordingly ;
(b) the production of the certificate of proclamation of banns to the person by
whom the marriage is to be solemnized shall be as valid for authorising that
person to solemnize the marriage as the production of a certificate for
marriage of a superintendent registrar of a registration district in England
would be in the case of a person residing in that district.
38.-(I) Where a marriage is intended to be
solemnized in England on the authority of a certificate of a superintendent
registrar without licence between parties of whom one is residing in Northern
Ireland and the other is residing in England, the party residing in Northern
Ireland may give notice of marriage in the form used for that purpose in
Northern Ireland or to the like effect, to the registrar of the district in
Northern Ireland in which he or she has resided for not less than seven days
immediately before the giving of the notice.
(2) Any such notice as aforesaid shall state the name and surname, marital
status, occupation, age and place of residence of each of the persons to be
married and the period, not being less than seven days, during which each of
them has resided in that place and the church or other building in which the
marriage is to be solemnized :
Provided that if either of the persons to be married has resided in the place
stated in the notice for more than one month, the notice may state that he or
she has resided there for more than one month.
(3) Any such notice as aforesaid shall be dealt with, and a certificate for
marriage issued by the registrar, in the manner prescribed by the Marriages
(Ireland) Act, 1844, as amended by the Marriages (Ireland) Act, 1846, and the
Marriage Law Amendment Act, 1863 :
Provided that the registrar shall not issue a certificate until the expiration
of twenty-one days from the day on which the notice was entered in the marriage
notice book required to be kept under the said Marriages (Ireland) Act, 1844.
(4) The production to the person by whom the marriage is to be solemnized of a
certificate issued under the last foregoing subsection shall be as valid for
authorising that person to solemnize the marriage as the production of a
certificate for marriage of a superintendent registrar of a registration
district in England would be in the case of a person residing in that district.
39:-(I) Where a marriage is intended to be
solemnized in England on the authority of a certificate of a superintendent
registrar without licence between parties of whom one is residing in England
and the other is an officer, seaman, or marine borne on the books of one of His
Majesty’s ships at sea, the last-mentioned party may give notice of his
intention to the captain or other officer commanding the ship, together with
the name and address of the other party to the marriage, and such other
information as may be necessary to enable the captain or other officer to fill
up a certificate under this section, and shall at the same time make and sign
such a declaration as is required by section twenty-eight of this Act, and the
captain or other officer may attest the declaration and thereupon issue a
certificate to the officer, seaman or marine giving the notice.
(2) A certificate issued under this section shall be in such form as may be
prescribed by the Admiralty and shall have the like force and effect as a
certificate issued by a superintendent registrar under this Part of this Act,
and all provisions of this Act (including penal provisions) relating to notices
and declarations for obtaining certificates from superintendent registrars and
to such certificates shall apply in the case of certificates issued under this
section, subject to such adaptations therein as may be made by His Majesty by
Order in Council.
(3) Where a marriage is intended to be solemnized in England as aforesaid and a
certificate has been issued to one of the parties under this section, the
superintendent registrar of the registration district in which the other party
is residing may accept notice of marriage given by that party, subject to and
in accordance with the provisions of sections twenty-seven and twenty-eight of
this Act, as if both parties were residing in different registration districts
in England, and the provisions of this Part of this Act relating to notices of
marriage and the issue of certificates for marriage shall apply accordingly.
40.-(I) The Registrar General shall furnish
to every superintendent registrar a sufficient number of forms of certificates
for marriage.
(2) In order to distinguish the certificates to be issued for marriages by
licence from the certificates to be issued for marriages without licence, a
watermark in the form of the word "licence," in Roman letters, shall
be laid and manufactured in the substance of the paper on which the
certificates to be issued for marriage by licence are written or printed, and
every certificate to be issued for marriage by licence shall be printed with
red ink and every certificate to be issued for marriage without licence shall
be printed with black ink, and such other distinctive marks between the two kinds
of certificates as the Registrar General may from time to time think fit shall
be used.
Marriages in registered buildings.
41.-(I) Any proprietor or trustee of a
separate building, which has been certified as required by law as a place of
religious worship may apply to the superintendent registrar of the registration
district in which the building is situated for the building to be registered
for the solemnization of marriages therein.
(2) Any person making such an application as aforesaid shall deliver to the
superintendent registrar a certificate, signed in duplicate by at least twenty
householders, stating that the building has been used by them for at least one
year immediately before the application as their usual place of public
religious worship and that they desire that the building should be registered
as aforesaid, and each certificate shall be counter-signed by the proprietor or
trustee by whom they are delivered.
(3) The superintendent registrar shall send both certificates delivered to him
under the last foregoing subsection to the Registrar General who shall register
the building in a book to be kept for that purpose in the General Register
Office.
(4) The Registrar General shall endorse on both certificates sent to him as
aforesaid the date of the registration, and shall keep one certificate with the
records of the General Register Office and shall return the other certificate
to the superintendent registrar who shall keep it with the records of his
office.
(5) On the return of the certificate under the last foregoing subsection, the
superintendent registrar shall-
(a) enter the date of the registration of the building in a book to be provided
for that purpose by the Registrar General ;
(b) give a certificate of the registration signed by him, on durable materials,
to the proprietor or trustee by whom the certificates delivered to him under
subsection (2) of this section were countersigned ; and
(c) give public notice of the registration of the building by advertisement in
some newspaper circulating in the county in which the building is situated and
in the London Gazette.
(6) For every entry, certificate and notice made or given under the last
foregoing subsection the superintendent registrar shall be entitled to receive,
at the time of the delivery of the certificates under subsection (2) of this
section, the sum of three pounds.
(7) For the purpose of being registered for the solemnization of marriages
under this section, any building which has been used for one year immediately
before registration for public religious worship as a Roman Catholic chapel
exclusively shall be deemed to be a separate building, notwithstanding at it is
under the same roof as another building, or forms part only of a building.
42.-(I) Where, on an application made by or
through the superintendent registrar of the registration district in which the
building is situated, it is shown to the satisfaction of the registrar General
that a registered building is no longer used for the purpose of public
religious worship by the congregation on whose behalf it was registered, he
shall cause the registration to be cancelled, and if it is proved to his
satisfaction that instead of using that building the congregation use for the
said purpose some other separate building which has been certified as required
by law as a place of public religious worship, he may register the said other
building in substitution for the disused building, notwithstanding that the
said other building has not been used as a place of public religious worship for
one year immediately before the application.
(2) Any application made under the last foregoing subsection for the
registration of a building in substitution for a disused building shall be
accompanied by a certificate, signed in duplicate by at least twenty
householders, stating that the first-mentioned building is used by them as
their usual place of worship and that they desire that that building should be
registered in substitution for the disused building, and each certificate shall
be countersigned by the proprietor or trustee of the first-mentioned building.
(3) Where the Registrar General cancels the registration of any building, or
registers any building in substitution for another, under this section, he
shall inform the superintendent registrar who shall enter that fact and the
date thereof in the book .provided for the registration of buildings, and shall
certify and publish the cancellation, or the substitution and registration, in
the manner provided by subsection (5) of the last foregoing section in the case
of the original registration of a building.
(4) Where any building is registered under this section in substitution for
another, the superintendent registrar shall be entitled to receive, at the time
of the delivery of the certificates under subsection (2) of this section, the
sum of three pounds.
(5) Where the registration of any building has been cancelled, or any building
has been registered in substitution for another, under this section, it shall
not be lawful to solemnize any marriage in the disused building, unless the
building has been registered again in accordance with the provisions of this
Part of this Act.
43.-(I) For the purpose of enabling marriages
to be solemnized in a registered building without the presence of a registrar,
the trustees or governing body of that building may authorise a person to be
present at the solemnization of marriages in that building and, where a person
is so authorised in respect of any registered building, the trustees or
governing body of that building shall, within the prescribed time and in the
prescribed manner, certify the name and address of the person so authorised to
the Registrar General and to the superintendent registrar of the registration
district in which the building is situated.
(2) Any person whose name and address have been certified as aforesaid is in
this Act referred to as an "authorised person".
(3) Nothing in this section shall be taken to relate or have any reference to
marriages solemnized according to the usages of the Society of Friends or of
persons professing the Jewish religion.
44.-(I) Subject to the provisions of this
section, where a notice of marriage and certificate issued by a superintendent
registrar state that a marriage between the persons named therein is intended
to be solemnized in a registered building, the marriage may be solemnized in
that building according to such form and ceremony as those persons may see fit
to adopt :
Provided that no marriage shall be solemnized in any registered building
without the consent of the minister or of one of the trustees, owners, deacons
or managers thereof, or in case of a registered building of the Roman Catholic
Church, without the consent of the officiating minister thereof.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this section, a marriage in a registered
building shall be solemnized with open doors in the presence of two or more
witnesses and in the presence of either-
(a) a registrar of the registration district in which the registered building
is situated, or
(b) an authorised person whose name and address have been certified in
accordance with the last foregoing section by the trustees or governing body of
that registered building or of some other registered building in the same
registration district.
(3) Where a marriage is solemnized in a registered building each of the persons
contracting the marriage shall, in some part of the ceremony and in the
presence of the witnesses and the registrar or authorised person, make the
following declaration :-
"I do solemnly declare that I know not of any lawful impediment why I, AB,
may not be joined in matrimony to CD"
and each of them shall say to the other :-
"I call upon these persons here present to witness that I, AB, do take
thee, CD, to be my lawful wedded wife [or husband]" :
Provided that if the marriage is solemnized in the presence of an authorised
person without the presence of a registrar, the persons to be married, instead
of saying each to the other the last mentioned form of words, may say :-
"I, AB, do take thee, CD, to be my wedded wife [or husband]".
(4.) A marriage shall not be solemnized in a registered building without the
presence of a registrar until duplicate marriage register books have been
supplied by the Registrar General under Part IV of this Act to the authorised
person or to the trustees or governing body of the building.
(5) If the Registrar General is not satisfied with respect to any building
registered or proposed to be registered for the solemnization of marriages
therein that sufficient security exists for the due registration of marriages
by an authorised person under Part IV of this Act and for the safe custody of
marriage register books, he may in his discretion attach to the continuance of
the registration, or to the registration, of the building a condition that no
marriage may be solemnized therein without the presence of a registrar.
Marriages in register offices.
45.-(I) Where a marriage is intended to be
solemnized on the authority of a certificate of a superintendent registrar, the
persons to be married may state in the notice of marriage that they wish to be
married in the office of the superintendent registrar or one of the
superintendent registrars, as the case may be, to whom notice of marriage is
given, and where any such notice has been given and the certificate or
certificate and licence, as the case may be, has or have been issued
accordingly, the marriage may be solemnized in the said office, with open
doors, in the presence of the superintendent registrar and a registrar of the
registration district of that superintendent registrar and in the presence of
two witnesses, and the persons to be married shall make the declarations and
use the form of words set out in subsection (3) of the last foregoing section
in the case of marriages in registered buildings in the presence of a
registrar.
(2) No religious service shall be used at any marriage solemnized in the office
of a superintendent registrar.
46.-(I) If the parties to a marriage
solemnized in the office of a superintendent registrar desire to add the
religious ceremony ordained or used by the church or persuasion of which they
are members, they may present themselves, after giving notice of their
intention so to do, to the clergyman or minister of the church or persuasion of
which they are members, and the clergyman or minister, upon the production of a
certificate of their marriage before the superintendent registrar and upon the
payment of the customary fees, (if any), may, if he sees fit, read or celebrate
in the church or chapel of which he is the regular minister the marriage
service of the church or persuasion to which he belongs or nominate some other
minister to do so.
(2) Nothing in the reading or celebration of a marriage service under this
section shall supersede or invalidate any marriage previously solemnized in the
office of a superintendent registrar, and the reading or celebration shall not
be entered as a marriage in any marriage register book kept under Part IV of
this Act.
(3) No person who is not entitled to solemnize marriages to the rites of the
Church of England shall by virtue of this section be entitled to read or
celebrate the marriage service in any church or chapel of the Church of
England.
Marriages according to usages of Society
of Friends.
47.-(I) No person who is not a member of the
Society of Friends shall be married according to the usages of that Society
unless he or she is authorised to be so married under or in pursuance of a
general rule of the said Society in England.
(2) A marriage solemnized according to the said usages not be valid unless
either-
(a) the person giving notice of marriage declares, either verbally or, if so
required, in writing, that each of the parties to the marriage is either a
member of the Society of Friends or is in profession with or of the persuasion
of that Society ; or
(b) there is produced to the superintendent registrar, at the time when notice
of marriage is given, a certificate purporting to be signed by a registering
officer of the Society of Friends in England to the effect that any party to
the marriage who is not a member of the Society of Friends or in profession
with or of the persuasion of that Society, is authorised to be married
according to the said usages under or in pursuance of a general rule of the
said Society in England.
(3) Any such certificate as aforesaid shall be for all purposes conclusive
evidence that any person to whom it relates is authorised to be married
according to the usages of the said Society, and the entry of the marriage in a
marriage register book under Part IV of this Act, or a certified copy thereof
made under the said Part IV, shall be conclusive evidence of the production of
such a certificate.
(4) A copy of any general rule of the Society of Friends purporting to be
signed by the recording clerk for the time being of the said Society in London
shall be admitted as evidence of the general rule in all proceedings touching
the validity of any marriage solemnized according to the usages of the said
Society.
Miscellaneous Provisions.
48.-(I) Where any marriage has been
solemnized under the provisions of this Part of this Act, it shall not be
necessary in support of the marriage to give any proof-
(a) that before the marriage either of the parties thereto resided, or resided
for any period, in the registration district stated in the notice of marriage
to be that of his or her place of residence ;
(b) that any person whose consent to the marriage was required by section three
of this Act had given his consent ;
(c) that the registered building in which the marriage was solemnized had been
certified as required by law as a place of religious worship ;
(d) that that building was the usual place of worship of either of the parties
to the marriage ; or
(e) that the facts stated in a declaration made under subsection (I) of section
thirty-five of this Act were correct ;
nor shall any evidence be given to prove the contrary in any proceedings
touching the validity of the marriage.
(2) A marriage solemnized in accordance with the provisions of this Part of this
Act in a registered building which has not been certified as required by law as
a place of religious worship shall be as valid as if the building had been so
certified.
49. If any persons knowingly and wilfully
intermarry under the provisions of this Part of this Act-
(a) without having given due notice of marriage to the superintendent registrar
;
(b) without a certificate for marriage having been duly issued by the
superintendent registrar to whom notice of marriage was given ;
(c) without a licence having been so issued, in a case in which a licence is
necessary ;
(d) on the authority of a certificate which is void by virtue of subsection (2)
of section thirty-three of this Act ;
(e) in any place other than the church, chapel, registered building, office or
other place specified in the notice of marriage and certificate of the
superintendent registrar ;
(f) in the case of a marriage in a registered building (not being a marriage in
the presence of an authorised person), in the absence of a registrar of the
registration district in which the registered building is situated ; or
(g) in the case of a marriage in the office of a superintendent registrar, in
the absence of the superintendent registrar or of a registrar of the
registration district of that superintendent registrar ;
the marriage shall be void.
50.-(I) Where a marriage is intended to be
solemnized on the authority of a certificate of a superintendent registrar, the
certificate or, if notice of marriage has been given to more than one
superintendent registrar, the certificates shall be delivered to the following
person, that is to say :-
(a) if the marriage is to be solemnized in a registered building in the
presence of a registrar, that registrar ;
(b) if the marriage is to be solemnized in a registered building without the
presence of a registrar, the authorised person in whose presence the marriage
is to be solemnized ;
(c) if the marriage is to be solemnized in the office of a superintendent
registrar, the registrar in whose presence the marriage is to be solemnized ;
(d) if the marriage is to be solemnized according to the usages of the Society
of Friends, the registering officer of that Society for the place where the
marriage is to be solemnized ;
(e) if the marriage is to be solemnized according to the usages of persons
professing the Jewish religion, the officer of a synagogue by whom the marriage
is required to be registered under Part IV of this Act ;
(f) if the marriage is to be solemnized according to the rites of the Church of
England, the officiating clergyman.
(2) In the application of the last foregoing subsection to a marriage
solemnized otherwise than according to the rites of the Church of England, the
reference therein to a certificate shall, if the marriage is by licence, be
construed as a reference to the certificate and licence.
(3) Where a marriage is solemnized in a registered building without the
presence of a registrar, the certificate or certificate and licence, as the
case may be, shall be kept in the prescribed custody and shall be produced with
the marriage register books kept by the authorised person under Part IV of this
Act as and when required by the Registrar General.
51. A registrar shall be entitled to receive
from persons married under this Part of this Act in his presence the sum of ten
shillings if the marriage is by licence and, in any other case, the sum of five
shillings.
52. The Registrar General shall furnish to
every registrar in Wales and in every place in which the Welsh language is
commonly used a true and exact translation into the Welsh language of the
declaration and form of words required to be used under section forty-four of
this Act, and the said translation may be used in any place in which the Welsh
language is commonly used in the same manner as is prescribed by the said
section forty-four for the use of the declaration and form of words in the
English language.
Copyright
Guy Etchells Ó 2002 All rights reserved. Permission is granted for all free personal and non-commercial
uses. It is my intention to make all data contained herein freely available
for all private, non-profit and non-commercial uses. Commercial use of any
portion contained herein is expressly prohibited. |
||
|