LEGAL DIRECTIONS

RELATIVE TO THE

Solemnization of Marriages."

SECTION THE FIRST.
AS TO THE CHAPEL.

I. OF THE CERTIFYING AND REGISTERING OF THE CHAFEL.

Before a Marriage can be solemnized in a Chapel, the Chapel must be duly registered for that purpose by the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages. (6 & 7 W. IV. c. 85, s. 18.)

No Wesleyan Chapel can be registered unless it be a separate Building, and be certified according to Law as a place of Religious Worship.

I.—It must be a separate Building.

It need not be a detached Building; but it must be a Building separately used for public Religious Worship, and not merely part of another Building, as a Room in a House, or the like; but it may also be used as a SundaySchool, and for the other purposes for which Wesleyan Chapels are ordinarily used.

II. It must be certified according to Law as a place of Meeting for Religious Worship.

Unless it can be clearly ascertained that the place has been so certified, it would be prudent to certify it to the

*The following Directions relate to the Solemnization of Marriages in Wesleyan Chapels in England and Wales only.

Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, under the Statute 18 and 19 Vict. c. 81, before applying to such Registrar-General to register the Chapel.

The Fee for certifying a place of Worship is 2s. 6d. (18 & 19 Vict. c. 81, s. 5.)

III.-The Chapel must be registered for Marriages by the Registrar-General.

IV. The mode of obtaining such Registration is as follows:

:

Any Proprietor or Trustee of such a separate certified Chapel may apply to the Superintendent-Registrar of the Registration District in which the Chapel is situate, and the Superintendent-Registrar will deliver to him two forms of a Certificate, both alike, each to be signed by at least twenty householders, male or female, certifying that the Building is one belonging to the Wesleyan Denomination, that it is a separate Building, that it has been duly certified as a place of Religious Worship, that it has been used by them during one year at the least as their usual place of public Religious Worship, and that they are desirous that such place should be registered for the Solemnization of Marriages therein. (6 & 7 W. IV. c. 85, s. 18.)

The Proprietor or Trustee applying must then obtain the signatures of at least twenty such householders to each of the Certificates. The same twenty householders must sign both the Certificates. The Proprietor or Trustee applying must countersign them both himself, adding under his name the word, Proprietor, or Trustee, as the case may be. He must then deliver them both so signed and countersigned to the Superintendent-Registrar, and, at the same time, pay him £3.

The Superintendent-Registrar will then send both the Certificates to the Registrar-General, at the General Register Office in London, who will register the Chapel in a Book kept there for that purpose. The Registrar-General will then write the date of the Registry on the back of each of the householders' Certificates; one of which he will keep, and the other he will send back to the SuperintendentRegistrar of the Registration District wherein the Chapel is situated, who, on receiving it, must enter the date of the Registry as written by the Registrar-General on the back of it in a Book kept at his Office for that purpose. He will then make, on a piece of parchment or vellum, a Certificate

of such Registry, which he will himself sign, and deliver to the Proprietor or Trustee of the Chapel who delivered the householders' Certificates to him. The SuperintendentRegistrar will keep, with the other records of the Office, the householders' Certificate not kept by the Registrar-General. The Superintendent-Registrar must also give notice that the Chapel has been registered for the Solemnization of Marriages, by advertising the same in some Newspaper circulating within the county in which the Chapel is situated, and also in the London Gazette. (6 & 7 W. IV. c. 85, s. 18.)

No further Fee will be payable than the above-mentioned £3, which covers the whole expense of the Registration, including the advertisements.

It will be seen from the above directions that, where the Chapel is private property, the Proprietor, and, where it is vested in Trustees, one Trustee, at least, must join in the application for registering it.

II. CHAPEL BECOMING DISUSED.

If any Chapel registered for solemnizing Marriages therein shall afterwards be disused for the public Religious Worship of the Congregation on whose behalf it was registered, the Registrar-General, on that fact being made to appear to his satisfaction, shall cause the Registry thereof to be cancelled; after which, it will not be lawful to solemnize any marriage therein until it shall have been again registered as at first. (6 & 7 W. IV. c. 85, s. 19.)

In case of a registered Chapel belonging to any other Denomination of Protestants being purchased for a Wesleyan Chapel, if it be intended to solemnize Marriages therein, it must be registered anew, unless the same Congregation continue to use it as a place of public Religious Worship; but, as that may always be a matter of doubt, it is recommended that a new Registration be obtained in the manner herein-before directed.

III. SUBSTITUTION OF ANOTHER CHAPEL FOR A REGISTERED CHAPEL DISUSED.

If a registered Chapel become disused, and another Building certified according to Law as a place of Meeting for public Religious Worship be substituted for it, the substituted Chapel, on the fact being proved to the satisfaction of the Registrar-General, may forthwith be registered for the

Solemnization of Marriages therein, without waiting till it shall have been used as a place of public Religious Worship for a year, as in the case of an original Registration; but the same application must be made by a Proprietor or Trustee of the substituted Chapel, the like Certificates must be obtained and signed by twenty householders and the Proprietor or Trustee applying, the same Fee of £3 must be paid, and the same proceedings must in every respect be taken, as in the case of an original Registration; for which directions have already been given in pp. viii, ix; and in this case the Certificates of application for the Registry of the substituted Building must also embody a request that the Registry of the disused Chapel may be cancelled. (6 & 7 W. IV. c. 85, s. 19.)

SECTION THE SECOND.

DIRECTIONS TO PERSONS INTENDING TO MARRY IN ANY REGISTERED CHAPEL.

I. AS TO THE NOTICE TO THE SUPERINTENDENT-REGISTRAR, AND SOLEMN DECLARATION.

I.-When parties intend to be married under the Marriage and Registration Acts, whether by Certificate without Licence, or by Licence, Notice must be given thereof to one or more Superintendent-Registrar or Superintendent-Registrars, according to the circumstances of the case. (6 & 7 W. IV. c. 85, s. 4; 19 & 20 Vict. c. 119, s. 2.)

And the Notice must specify whether the Marriage is to be solemnized without Licence or by Licence. (19 & 20 Vict. c. 119, Schedule A.)

The Notice may either be given personally to the Superintendent-Registrar, or delivered by the hand of another, or sent through the Post. In the latter two cases, satisfactory evidence must be given to the Superintendent-Registrar, if he require it, that the signature is that of the person professing to give the Notice; otherwise, he will be justified in refusing it.

If sent by the Post, the Postage should be prepaid by the party transmitting it.

Every Superintendent-Registrar, or his Deputy, and also every Registrar of Marriages, or his Deputy, keeps blank forms of Notices, which, on application, he will allow the party to fill up, or will himself, as an act of favour, but not of official obligation, fill up, on the proper information being given to him.

II.-Where the Marriage is to be by Certificate, without

Licence.

1. Both parties dwelling in the same District in England. In this case, one of them must give to the Superintendent-Registrar of the Registration District in which they have dwelt for not less than seven days then next preceding a Notice in writing, signed by him, or her, of their intention to marry. (6 & 7 W. IV. c. 85, s. 4; 19 & 20 Vict. c. 119, s. 2.)

The Notice, when filled up, must contain the following particulars :

1. The name or names and surname of each party, written at full length. (Schedule A, to 19 & 20 Vict. c. 119.)

2. The condition of each, whether Bachelor or Spinster, Widower or Widow.

3. The rank, profession, or calling.

4. The age of each, thus, of full age or minor, as the case may be ; but it is better to state the exact age.

5. The name or number of the house, and name of the street, or name of the village or place, in which each party then resides.

6. The length of residence (being not less than seven days) in the District. If not more than a calendar month, state the number of days. If more than a calendar month, state, more than a month.

7. The name of the Chapel in which the Marriage is to be solemn. ized, and where situate.

8. The District and County in which the parties respectively dwell.

At the same time the party giving the Notice must also make and sign a solemn Declaration in writing, in the body or at the foot of the Notice, that he or she believes that there is no impediment of kindred or alliance, or other lawful hindrance, to the Marriage; and that the parties to the Marriage have, for the space of seven days immediately preceding the giving of such Notice, had their usual place of abode and residence within the District of the Superintendent-Registrar to whom the Notice is given. And when either of the parties, not being a Widower or Widow, shall be under the age of twenty-one years, the party making the Decla