Registrar’s Certificate Necessary.

A principal feature of the new law is, that in every case of intended marriage, it will be necessary, previous to the solemnization of the marriage, to obtain a certificate from the duly appointed Registrar of the district in which the persons intending marriage dwell; or if they dwell in different districts, from the Registrar of each district. (Clause 6.) This certificate will not oblige any officiating minister to solemnize any marriage, but it will be indispensable as an authority for its solemnization according to law. Any marriage solemnized without such certificate,—both the persons knowingly and wilfully intermarrying without it,—will be null and void (Clause 20); and any person solemnizing matrimony without the required certificate, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour (Clause 38).

Notice of Intended Marriage.

In every case of intended marriage, it will be requisite that one of the persons intending marriage give notice, under his or her hand (in the form specified in Schedule A annexed to the Act), to the Registrar of the district in which one of the persons shall have dwelt for not less than three days; and if they dwell in different districts, notice must be given to the Registrar of each district. The notice must state the age, name and surname, calling or profession, condition (whether bachelor or widower, spinster or widow), and dwelling-place of each of the persons; also the time that each of them has dwelt in the district, and the church, building, or place in which the marriage is intended to be solemnized. The person giving the notice will be required to give a solemn declaration to the truth of the particulars, and to pay a fee of two shillings and sixpence. True copies of all such notices are to be immediately entered by the Registrar in a “Notice Book,” which shall be open to all persons desiring to inspect it, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on all lawful days, a fee of one shilling being payable for every such inspection (Clauses 6—9). This notice will be good for three months only (Clause 14).

Declaration.

After the notice shall have been given, and before the granting of the Registrar’s certificate, one of the persons intending marriage must personally appear before the Registrar, and make his or her solemn declaration “that he or she believes that there is not any impediment of kindred or alliance, or other lawful hindrance to the said marriage; and that one of the persons has, for the space of three days immediately before the day of making such declaration, had his or her place of abode within the district wherein such marriage is to be solemnized: and where either of the persons, not being a widow, or widower, shall be under the age of twenty-one years, such declaration shall further state that the consent of the person or persons whose consent to such marriage is by law required, has been obtained thereto, or that there is no person resident in the colony having authority to give such consent, as the case may be.” (Clause 12.) Making a false declaration will be deemed a misdemeanour (Clause 35.)

Issue of Registrar’s Certificate.

Immediately after such notice and declaration, the Registrar may issue a certificate authorising the marriage; Provided that the persons intending marriage are both of the full age of twenty-one years,—or, where the person under age is not a widow or a widower, that the consent of the parent or guardian of such minor shall appear upon the notice, signed by such parent or guardian before the Registrar at his office, or before a Justice of the Peace, or a Solicitor of the Supreme Court, and attested by such Registrar, Justice, or Solicitor. The fee when a certificate is immediately issued will be twenty shillings.

In all other cases, the certificate shall not be issued until after the expiration of fourteen days after notice, when the fee will be five shillings (Clause 10.)

The certificate, like the notice, will be void if the marriage be not solemnized within three months after the notice shall have been given (Clause 14.)

Consents, Caveats, &c.

The father, if resident within the colony, of any person under twenty-one years of age, such person not being a widower, or widow,—or, if the father be dead, the lawfully appointed guardian or guardians, or one of them,—or, in case the father shall not be resident within the colony, then the mother if resident within the colony,—and if there be no mother resident within the colony, then the guardian or guardians (if any) appointed by the Supreme Court, or one of them,—shall have authority to give consent to the marriage: and such consent will be required for the marriage of a person so under age, unless there shall be no person within the colony authorised to give such consent (Clause 16.)

In case, however, the parent or guardian shall be non compos mentis, or shall unreasonably or from undue motives refuse or withhold consent to a proper marriage, the persons desirous of marrying may apply by petition to a Judge of the Supreme Court in a summary way, and if the marriage should appear to the Judge to be proper, he may make a judicial declaration that it is so, which shall be as good and effectual as if the consent of the parent or guardian had been given (Clause 17.)

The issue of the Registrar’s certificate may be forbidden by any person whose consent is required as aforesaid (Clause 18); but any person who shall forbid the issue of the certificate, by falsely representing himself or herself to be a person whose consent is required by law, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour.

Any person, having just and reasonable cause, may, on payment of five shillings, enter a caveat with the registrar against the issue of the certificate. In case, however, of the registrar refusing to grant the certificate, the person applying for it shall have a right to appeal to a Judge of the Supreme Court, who shall either confirm the refusal, or direct the grant of the certificate. If the Judge shall declare the grounds on which the caveat has been entered to be frivolous and vexatious, and that they ought not to obstruct