Marriage Act 1823
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1823 c. 76 |
| Year | 1823 |
(4 Geo. 4) C A P. LXXVI.
[18th July 1823]
'WHEREAS it is expedient to amend the Laws respecting the Solemnization of Marriages inEngland;' 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, That from and after the First Day of November next ensuing the passing of this Act, so much of an Act passed in the Twenty sixth Year of the Reign of KingGeorge the Second, intituled An Act for the better preventing of Clandestine Marriages , as was in force immediately before the passing of this Act; and also an Act passed in the present Session of Parliament, intituledAn Act to repeal certain Provisions of an Act passed in the Third Year of His present Majesty, intituled 'An Act to amend certain Provisions of the Twenty sixth of George the Second, for the better preventing of Clandestine Marriages ;' shall be and the same are hereby repealed; save and except as to any Acts, Mattersor Things done under the Provisions of the said recited Acts, or either of them, before the said First Day ofNovember , as to which the said recited Acts shall respectively be of the same Force and Effect as if this Act had not been made; save also and except so far as the said recited Acts, or either of them, repeal any former Act, or any Clause, Matter or Thing therein contained.
II Banns, where, when and how published, and Marriage to be solemnized where Banns published.
II. And be it further enacted, That from and after the First Day ofNovember all Banns of Matrimony shall be published in an audible Manner in the Parish Church, or in some Public Chapel, in which Chapel Banns of Matrimony may now or may hereafter be lawfully published, of or belonging to such Parish or Chapelry wherein the Persons to be married shall dwell, according to the Form of Words prescribed by the Rubrick prefixed to the Office of Matrimony in the Book of Common Prayer, upon Three Sundays preceding the Solemnization of Marriage, during the Time of Morning Service, or of Evening Service, (if there shall be no Morning Service in such Church or Chapel upon the Sunday upon which such Banns shall be so published,) immediately after the Second Lesson; and whensoever it shall happen that the Persons to be married shall dwell in divers Parishes or Chapelries, the Banns shall in like Manner be published in the Church or in any such Chapel as aforesaid belonging to such Parish or Chapelry wherein each of the said Persons shall dwell; and that all other the Rules prescribed by the said Rubrick concerning the Publication of Banns and the Solemnization of Matrimony, and not hereby altered, shall be duly observed; and that in all Cases where Banns shall have been published, the Marriage shall be solemnized in one of the Parish Churches or Chapels where such Banns shall have been published, and in no other Place whatsoever.
III Bishop, with Consent of Patron and Incumbent, may authorize Publication of Banns in any Public Chapel.
III. And be it farther enacted, That the Bishop of the Diocese, with the Consent of the Patron and the Incumbent of the Church of the Parish in which any public Chapel, having a Chapelry thereunto annexed, may be situated, or of any Chapel situated in an Extra parochial Place, signified to him under their Hands and Seals respectively, may authorize, by Writing under his Hand and Seal, the Publication of Banns and the Solemnization of Marriages in such Chapel for Persons residing within such Chapelry or Extra parochial Place respectively; and such Consent, together with such written Authority, shall be registered in the Registry of the Diocese.
IV Notice to be placed in such Chapel.
IV. Provided always, and be it enacted, That in every Chapel in respect of which such Authority shall be given as aforesaid, there shall be placed in some conspicuous Part of the Interior of such Chapel a Notice In the Words following: ‘Banns may be published and Marriages solemnized in this Chapel.’
V Provisions relative to Marriage Registers extended to Chapels so authorized as aforesaid.
V. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That all Provisions now in force, or which may hereafter be established by Law, relative to providing and keeping Marriage Registers in any Parish Churches, shall extend and be construed to extend to any Chapel in which the Publication of Banns and Solemnization of Marriages shall be so authorized as aforesaid, in the same Manner as if the same were a Parish Church; and every thing required by Law to be done relative thereto by the Churchwardens of any Parish Church shall be done by the Chapelwarden or other Officer exercising analogous Duties in such Chapel.
VI Book to be provided for the Registration of Banns, &c.
VI. And be it further enacted, That on or before the said First Day ofNovember , and from time to time afterwards as there shall be Occasion, the Churchwardens and Chapelwardens of Churches and Chapels wherein Marriages are solemnized, shall provide a proper Book of substantial Paper, marked and ruled respectively in Manner directed for the Register Book of Marriages; and the Banns shall be published from the said Register Book of Banns by the officiating Minister, and not from loose Papers, and after Publication shall be signed by the officiating Minister, or by some Person under his Direction.
VII Notice of Names and Place and Time of Abode of Parties to be given to Minister.
VII. Provided always, and it is hereby further enacted, That no Parson, Vicar, Minister or Curate shall be obliged to publish the Banns of Matrimony between any Persons whatsoever, unless the Persons to be married shall, Seven Days at the least before the Time required for the first Publication of such Banns respectively, deliver or cause to be delivered to such Parson, Vicar, Minister or Curate, a Notice in Writing, dated on the Day on which the same shall be so delivered, of their true Christian Names and Surnames, and of the House or Houses of their respective Abodes within such Parish or Chapelry as aforesaid, and of the Time during which they have dwelt, inhabited or lodged in such House or Houses respectively.
VIII How far Ministers not punishable for marrying Minors without Consent; in what case Publication of Banns void.
VIII. Provided always, and be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That no Parson, Minister, Vicar or Curate, solemnizing Marriages after the First Day ofNovember next, between Persons both or one of whom shall be under the Age of Twenty one Years, after Banns published, shall be punishable by Ecclesiastical Censures for solemnizing such Marriages without Consent of Parents or Guardians, unless such Parson, Minister, Vicar or Curate shall have Notice of the Dissent of such Parents or Guardians; and in case such Parents or Guardians, or one of them, shall openly and publicly declare or cause to be declared, in the Church or Chapel where the Banns shall be so published, at the Time of such Publication, his, her or their Dissent to such Marriage, such Publication of Banns shall be absolutely void.
IX In what case Republication of Banns necessary.
IX. And be it further enacted, That whenever a Marriage shall not be had within Three Months after the complete Publication of Banns, no Minister shall proceed to the Solemnization of the same until the Banns shall have been republished on Three severalSundays , in the Form and Manner prescribed in this Act, unless by Licence duly obtained according to the Provisions of this Act.
X Licences to marry in Church, &c. of Parish wherein One Party resided for 15 Days before.
X. And it is hereby further enacted, That no Licence of Marriage shall, from and after the said First Day ofNovember , be granted by any Archbishop, Bishop, or other Ordinary or Person having Authority to grant such Licences, to solemnize any Marriage in any other Church or Chapel than in the Parish Church or in some Public Chapel of or belonging to the Parish or Chapelry within which the usual Place of Abode of One of the Persons to be married shall have been for the Space of Fifteen Days immediately before the granting of such Licence.
XI Where Caveat entered no Licence to issue till Matter examined by Judge.
XI. And be it further enacted, That if any Caveat be entered against the Grant of any Licence for a Marriage, such Caveat being duly signed by or on the Behalf of the Person who enters the same, together with his Place of Residence and the Ground of Objection on which his Caveat is founded, no Licence shall issue till the said Caveat, or a true Copy thereof, be transmitted to the Judge out of whose Office the Licence is to issue, and until the Judge has certified to the Register that he has examined into the Matter of the Caveat, and is satisfied that it ought not to obstruct the Grant of the Licence for the said Marriage, or until the Caveat be withdrawn by the Party who entered the same.
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