PART IV.
REGISTRATION OF MARRIAGES.
53. Subject to the provisions of Part V of this Act, a marriage shall be registered in accordance with the
provisions of this Part of this Act by the following person, that is to say,-
(a) in the case of a marriage solemnized according to the rites of the Church of England, by the clergyman
by whom the marriage is solemnized ;
(b) in the case of a marriage solemnized according to the usages of the Society of Friends, by the registering
officer of that Society appointed for the district in which the marriage is solemnized ;
(c) in the case of a marriage solemnized according to the usages of persons professing the Jewish religion,
by the secretary of the synagogue of which the husband is a member ;
(d) in the case of a marriage solemnized in a registered building in the presence of a registrar, by that
registrar ;
(e) in the case of a marriage solemnized in a registered building without the presence of a registrar, by the
authorised person in whose presence the marriage is solemnized ;
(f) in the case of a marriage solemnized in the office of a superintendent registrar, by the registrar in whose
presence the marriage is solemnized.
54.-(I) The Registrar General shall furnish to the rector, vicar or curate in charge of every church and chapel
in which marriages may be solemnized according to the rites of the Church of England (hereafter in this Part
of this Act referred to as the "incumbent") and to every registering officer of the Society of Friends, secretary
of a synagogue and registrar and, in the case of a registered building for which an authorised person has
been appointed, to the authorised person or to the trustees or governing body of the building, such number
of register books for making entries of marriages in the prescribed form, and such number of forms for
making certified copies of those entries, as may be required for the purposes of this Part of this Act.
(2) Marriage register books furnished as aforesaid shall be of durable materials, and the heads of information
required to be known and registered in relation to marriages shall be printed on each side of every leaf
thereof; and every page of a marriage register book, and every place of entry therein, shall be numbered
progressively from the beginning to the end of the book, beginning with the number one, and every entry
shall be divided from the following entry by a printed line.
55.-(I) Every person who is required under this Part of this Act to register a marriage shall, immediately after
the solemnization of the marriage, or, in the case of a marriage according to the usages of the Society of
Friends, as soon as conveniently may be after the solemnization of the marriage, register in duplicate in two
marriage register books the particulars relating to the marriage in the prescribed form :
Provided that-
(a) where a registrar is required to register a marriage as aforesaid, the said particulars need not be
registered in duplicate ;
(b) before registering a marriage in accordance with the provisions of this Part of this Act, a registering officer
of the Society of Friends and a secretary of a synagogue shall, whether or not he was present at the
marriage, satisfy himself that the proceedings in relation to the marriage were conformable to the usages of
the said Society or of persons professing the Jewish religion, as the case may be.
(2) Every entry made in a marriage register book by virtue of this section by a clergyman, registering officer,
secretary or authorised person shall be signed by the clergyman, registering officer, secretary or authorised
person, as the case may be, and by the parties to the marriage and two witnesses, and every entry so made
by a registrar shall be signed by the person by or before whom the marriage was solemnized, if any, and by
the registrar, the parties to the marriage and two witnesses.
(3) Every entry made in a marriage register book by virtue of this section shall be made in consecutive order
from the beginning to the end of each book and, in the case of an entry made otherwise than by a registrar,
the number of the entry shall be the same in each duplicate marriage register book.
56. Every person who is required under this Part of this Act to register a marriage may ask the parties to the
marriage the particulars relating to the marriage which are required to be entered in the marriage register
book.
57.-(I) Every incumbent, registering officer of the Society of Friends, secretary of a synagogue, authorised
person and registrar shall in the months of January, April, July and October-
(a) make and deliver to the superintendent registrar, on forms supplied by the Registrar General, a true copy
certified by him under his hand of all entries of marriages made in the marriage register book kept by him
during the period of three months ending with the last day of the month immediately before the month in
which the copy is required by this subsection to be made ; or
(b) if no marriage has been registered in the said book during that period, deliver to the superintendent
registrar a certificate of that fact under his hand, on a form supplied by the Registrar General.
(2) The certified copies and certificates required to be delivered by a registrar under the last foregoing
subsection shall be delivered to the superintendent registrar on such days in the months of January, April,
July and October as may be appointed by the Registrar General, and shall be certified by the registrar in the
prescribed form.
(3) Any incumbent and any authorised person who is required by subsection (I) of this section to deliver to
the superintendent registrar a certified copy of entries in the marriage register book or a certificate that no
marriage has been registered, may deliver the copy or certificate to any registrar who is under the
superintendence of that superintendent registrar, and every registrar who receives such a certified copy or
certificate shall deliver it to the superintendent registrar ; and a superintendent registrar may direct the
registrars under his superintendence quarterly or more often, if he thinks fit or is ordered so to do by the
Registrar General, to collect any such certified copies or certificates from every incumbent and authorised
person within his registration district.
(4) The superintendent registrar shall pay or cause to be paid to every incumbent and authorised person by
whom a certified copy is delivered under subsection (I) of this section the sum of sixpence for every entry
contained in the certified copy ; and that sum shall be reimbursed to the superintendent registrar by the
council of the county or county borough in which registration district is situated :
Provided that where a registration district is in the administrative county of London the said sum shall be
reimbursed to the superintendent registrar by-
(a) in the case of a registration district in a metropolitan borough, the council of that borough ;
(b) in the case of a registration district in the City of London, the Common Council of that City.
(5) Where a certified copy is delivered to the superintendent registrar by a registrar under subsection (I) of
this section, the superintendent registrar shall verify the copy and, if the copy if found to be correct, shall
certify it under his hand to be a true copy ; and where a certificate that no marriage has been registered is so
delivered, the superintendent registrar shall countersign the certificate.
(6) A superintendent registrar who is not a salaried officer shall be entitled to receive the sum of two pence
for every entry in the certified copies delivered to him under this section, and shall four times in every year
make out an account of the number of entries in the certified copies delivered to him during the preceding
three months.
58.-(I) Every superintendent registrar shall, four times in every year on such days as may be appointed by
the Registrar General, send to the Registrar General all certified copies of entries in marriage register books
which he has received during the three months immediately before the days so appointed respectively, and if
it appears, by interruption of the regular progression of numbers or otherwise, that the copy of any part of
any book has not been duly delivered to him, the superintendent registrar shall as far as possible procure,
consistently with the provisions of this Part of this Act, that the deficiency is remedied.
(2) The certified copies sent to the Registrar General under the last foregoing subsection shall be kept in the
General Register Office in such order and such manner as the Registrar General, under the direction of the
Minister of Health, may think fit so that they may be most readily seen and examined.
59. Every incumbent, registering officer of the Society of Friends, secretary of a synagogue, authorised
person and registrar shall keep marriage register books safely until they are filled, so however that any
register book kept by an authorised person shall be kept in accordance with regulations made under section
seventy-four of this Act and any register book kept by a registrar shall, when not in use, be kept in the
register box provided for the purpose by the Registrar General in accordance with section fourteen of the
Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1836.
60.-(I) Where any marriage register book required to be kept in duplicate under this Part of this Act is filled,
one copy thereof shall be delivered to the superintendent registrar and the other copy-
(a) in the case of a register book kept by an incumbent, shall remain in the custody of the incumbent and be
kept by him with the registers of baptisms and burials of the parish or other ecclesiastical district in which the
marriages registered therein have been solemnized ;
(b) in the case of a register book kept by a registering officer of the Society of Friends or by the secretary of
a synagogue, shall remain in the custody of the members of the Society of Friends or of persons professing
the Jewish religion, as the case may be, to be kept with the other registers and records of the said Society or
of the said persons, and shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be in the keeping of the registering
officer or secretary for the time being, as the case may be ;
(c) in the case of a register book kept by an authorised person, shall be kept in prescribed custody.
(2) Where a marriage register book kept by a registrar is filled, the registrar shall deliver it to the
superintendent registrar to be kept by him with the records of his office.
61.-(I) A person required to register a marriage under this Part of this Act who discovers an error in the form
or substance of an entry made in a marriage register book kept by him shall not be liable to any penalty by
reason only that, within one month after the discovery of the error, he corrects the erroneous entry in the
presence of the parties to the marriage to which the entry relates or, in the case of the death or absence of
either of those parties, in the presence of the superintendent registrar and two other credible witnesses, by
entry in the margin of the register book, without any alteration of the original entry.
(2) Any such marginal entry as aforesaid shall be signed by the person by whom the entry is made and shall
be attested by the persons in whose presence the entry is required to be made under the last foregoing
subsection, and the person by whom the entry is made shall add the date when it is made.
(3) Where any such marginal entry is made by a person who is required to register marriages in duplicate
under this Part of this Act, that person shall make the like entry, attested in the like manner, in the duplicate
marriage register book.
(4) Any person who makes any such marginal entry as aforesaid shall make the like entry in the certified
copy of the register book required to be made by him under this Part of this Act or, if a certified copy has
already been delivered to the superintendent registrar, shall make and deliver to the superintendent registrar
a separate certified copy of the erroneous entry and of the marginal correction made therein.
(5) Where a marriage to which an erroneous entry in a marriage register relates has been solemnized
according to the rites of the Church of England and either of the parties to the marriage is dead or absent,
the reference in subsection (I) of section to the superintendent registrar and two other credible witnesses
shall be construed as a reference either to those persons or to the church wardens or chapel wardens of the
church or chapel in which the marriage was solemnized.
62.-(I) Where any church or chapel of the Church of England ceases to be used for the solemnization of
marriages, whether by reason of demolition, revocation of a licence or otherwise, any marriage register
books in the custody of the the incumbent of that church or chapel shall forthwith be delivered to the
incumbent of the church which is, or becomes, the parish church of the parish in which the disused church or
chapel is situated.
(2) Any incumbent to whom any marriage register books have been delivered under the last foregoing
subsection-
(a) shall, when he next delivers to the superintendent registrar under this Part of this Act a certified copy of
the entries in the marriage register books of marriages solemnized in the parish church, deliver also a copy
of all entries which have been made in the first mentioned marriage register books after the date of the last
entry therein of which a certified copy has already been delivered to the superintendent registrar; and
(b) shall, unless the said first mentioned marriage register books are the only register books in use for the
parish, forward such of the said books as have not been filled to the Registrar General in order that they may
be formally closed.
63.-(I) Every incumbent, registering officer of the Society of Friends, secretary of a synagogue and registrar
by whom a marriage register book is kept shall at all reasonable hours allow searches to be made in any
marriage register book in his keeping, and shall give a copy certified under his hand of any entry in such a
book, on payment of the following fee, that is to say-
(a) for every search covering a period of not more than one year, the sum of one shilling, and for every
search covering a period of more than one year, the sum of one shilling for the first year together with an
additional sixpence for every additional year; and
(b) for every certified copy, the sum of two shillings and sixpence.
(2) The last foregoing subsection shall apply in the case of a registered building for which an authorised
person has been appointed with the substitution for the reference to the incumbent of a reference to the
person having the custody of a marriage register book in accordance with regulations made under section
seventy-four of this Act.
64.-(I) Every superintendent registrar shall cause indexes of the marriage register books in his office to be
made and to be kept with the other records of his office, and the Registrar General shall supply to every
superintendent registrar suitable forms for the making of such indexes.
(2) Any person shall be entitled at all reasonable hours to search the said indexes, aind to have a certified
copy of any entry in the said marriage register books under the hand of the superintendent registrar, on
payment to the superintendent registrar of the following fee, that is to say :-
(a) for every general search, the sum of five shillings :
(b) for every particular search, the sum of one shilling : and
(c) for every certified copy, the sum of two shillings and sixpence.
65.-(I) The Registrar General shall cause indexes of all certified copies of entries in marriage register books
sent to him under this Part of this Act to be made and kept in the General Register Office.
(2) Any person shall be entitled to search the said indexes between the hours of ten in the morning and four
in the afternoon of every day, except Sundays, Christmas Day and Good Friday, and to have a certified copy
of any entry in the said certified copies of marriage register books, on payment to the Registrar General or to
such other person as may be appointed to act on his behalf of the following fee, that is to say :-
(a) for every general search, the sum of twenty shillings ;
(b) for every particular search, the sum of one shilling ; and
(c) for every certified copy, the sum of two shillings and sixpence.
(3) The Registrar General shall cause all certified copies of entries given in the General Register Office to be
sealed or stamped with the seal of that Office ; and any certified copy of an entry to be sealed or stamped
with the said seal shall be received as evidence of the marriage to which it relates without any further or
other proof of the entry, and no certified copy purporting to have been given in the said Office shall be of any
force or effect unless it is sealed or stamped as aforesaid.
(4) Every sum received under this section by or on behalf of the Registrar General shall be accounted for by
the Registrar General and paid by him, at such times as the Treasury from time to time may direct, into the
Exchequer.
66. Any certificate, return or other document required by this Part of this Act to be delivered or sent to the
Registrar General, a superintendent registrar or a registrar may be sent by post.
67. In this Part of this Act, except where the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the
meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say :-
"general search" means a search conducted during any number of successive hours not exceeding six,
without the object of the search being specified ;
"incumbent" has the meaning assigned to it by section fifty-four of this Act ;
"particular search" means a search of the indexes covering a period not exceeding five years for a specified
entry ;
"registering officer of the Society of Friends" means a person whom the recording clerk of the Society of
Friends certifies in writing under his hand to the Registrar General to be a registering officer in England of
that Society ;
"secretary of a synagogue" means-
(a) a person whom the President of the London Committee of Deputies of the British Jews certifies in writing
to the Registrar General to be the secretary of a synagogue in England of persons professing the Jewish
religion ;
(b) the person whom twenty householders professing the Jewish religion and being members of the West
London Synagogue of British Jews certify in writing to the Registrar General to be the secretary of that
Synagogue ;
(c) a person whom the secretary of the said Synagogue certifies in writing to be the secretary of some other
synagogue of not less than twenty householders professing the Jewish religion, being a synagogue which is
connected with the said West London Synagogue and has been established for not less than one year ;
"superintendent registrar" means-
(a) in the case of a marriage registered by a clergyman, the superintendent registrar of the registration
district in which the church or chapel in which the marriage was solemnized is situated ;
(b) in the case of a marriage registered by a registering officer of the Society of Friends, the superintendent
registrar of the registration district which is assigned by the Registrar General to that registering officer ;
(c) in the case of a marriage registered by the secretary of a synagogue, the superintendent registrar of the
registration district which is assigned by the Registrar General to that secretary ;
(d) in the case of a marriage registered by an authorised person, the superintendent registrar of the
registration district in which the registered building in which the marriage was solemnized is situated ;
(e) in them case of a marriage registered by a registrar, the superintendent registrar of the registration district
within which that registrar was appointed to act.
PART V.
MARRIAGES IN NAVAL, MILITARY, AND AIR FORCE CHAPELS.
68.-(I) The use of any chapel to which this Part of this Act applies for the publication therein of banns of
marriages to which this Part of this Act applies, and for the solemnization therein, whether according to the
rites of the Church of England or otherwise, of such marriages, may be authorised under and subject to the
provisions of this Part of this Act.
(2) This Part of this Act shall apply only to chapels which are certified by the Admiralty to be naval chapels
and to chapels which are certified by a Secretary of State to be military or air force chapels, and shall apply
only to marriages between parties of whom one at least is a qualified person, that is to say a person who, at
the relevant date-
(a) is serving in the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, Regular Land Forces or the Regular Air Forces ; or
(b) has served in any force mentioned in the last foregoing paragraph otherwise than with a commission
granted or under an engagement entered into only for the purpose of a war or other national emergency ; or
(c) is, as a member of a reserve of officers, a reserve force, the Territorial Army or the Auxiliary Air Force,
called out on actual or permanent service or embodied ; or
(d) is a woman actually employed in any capacity specified in the Third Schedule to this Act, as amended by
any Order in Council for the time being in force under this section, in the service of any force mentioned in
the foregoing paragraphs of this subsection ; or
(e) is a daughter of a person qualified under any of the foregoing paragraphs of this subsection.
(3) For the purposes of the last foregoing subsection, the expression "relevant date" means-
(a) in a case where notice is given under section eight of this Act before publications of banns, the date of
the notice ;
(b) in a case where banns are published without notice, the date of the first publication of banns ;
(c) in a case where an oath is taken under section sixteen of this Act for the purpose of obtaining a common
licence, the date of taking the oath ;
(d) in any other case, the date when notice of marriage is given to the superintendent registrar under section
twenty-seven of this Act ;
and the expression "daughter" includes a daughter adopted under the Adoption of Children Act, 1926, but
does not include a step-daughter.
(4) His Majesty may by Order in Council direct that subject to any exceptions specified in the Order, there
shall be added to Part I, Part II or Part III of the Third Schedule to this Act, women in the service of any of His
Majesty's naval, military or air forces respectively in such capacities as, may be specified in the Order .
(5) An Order in Council made under the last foregoing subsection may be varied or revoked by a subsequent
Order in Council.
(6) Nothing in this Part of this Act shall be taken to confer upon any person a right to be married in a chapel
to which this Part of this Act applies.
69.-(I) With respect to marriages according to the rites of the Church of England, the bishop of the diocese in
which any chapel to which this Part of this Act applies is situated may, on the application of the Admiralty, in
the case of a naval chapel, or of a Secretary of State, in the case of any other chapel, by licence authorise
the publication of banns of marriages to which this Part of this Act applies, and the solemnization of such
marriages, in the chapel, and while any such licence in respect of the chapel is in force-
(a) any such banns or marriages which could lawfully be published or solemnized in the parish church of the
parish in which the chapel is situated may be published or solemnized in the chapel ; and
(b) the foregoing provisions of this Act relating to marriages according to the rites of the Church of England
(excluding the provisions specified in Part I of the Fourth Schedule to this Act) shall apply in relation to the
chapel, and in relation to the publication of banns therein, and in relation to marriages solemnized or
intended to be solemnized therein according to those rites, as if the chapel were a parish church :
Provided that the provisions of this Act specified in Part II of the said Schedule shall apply subject to the
modifications that Part.
(2) Where a licence has been issued in respect of a chapel under this section, the bishop of the diocese in
which the chapel is situated may at any time, and shall on the application of the Admiralty or a Secretary of
State, revoke the licence.
(3) Upon the issue or revocation of a licence under this section, the registrar of the diocese shall register that
fact and give notice thereof in writing to the Admiralty or a Secretary of State, as the case may be, who shall
cause a copy of the notice to be published in the London Gazette and in some newspaper circulating in the
diocese and to be sent to the Registrar General.
(4) The Admiralty or any person authorised by them, in the case of a naval chapel licensed under this
section, and a Secretary of State or any person authorised by him, in the case of any other chapel so
licensed, shall appoint one or more clergymen for the purpose of registering marriages solemnized in the
chapel according to the rites of the Church of England, and no marriage shall be solemnized in the chapel
according to those rites except in the presence of a clergyman so appointed.
(5) The provisions of this Act, and of any regulations made under section seventy-four of this Act, relating to
the registration of marriages by authorised persons shall apply in relation to marriages solemnized according
to the rites of the Church of England in a chapel licensed under this section as they apply in relation to
marriages solemnized in a registered building without the presence of a registrar, subject to the following
modifications :-
(a) for any reference in those provisions to an authorised person there shall be substituted a reference to a
clergyman appointed under this section, and
(b) for any reference in those provisions to the trustees or governing body of a registered building there shall
be substituted a reference to the Admiralty or any person authorised by them, in the case of a naval chapel,
and a reference to a Secretary of State or any person authorised by him, in the case of any other chapel.
70.-(I) With respect to marriages otherwise than according to the rites of the Church of England the
Regigistrar General shall, on the application of the Admiralty, in the case of a naval chapel, or of a Secretary
of State, in the case of any other chapel, register any chapel to which this Part of this Act applies for the
solemnization therein of marriages to which this Part of this Act applies, and while any chapel is so
registered-
(a) any such marriages which could lawfully be solemnized in a registered building situated in the same
registration district as the chapel, may be solemnized in the chapel ; and
(b) the foregoing provisions of this Act relating to marriages otherwise than according to the rites of the
Church of England and to the registration of such marriages (excluding the provisions specified in Part III of
the Fourth Schedule to this Act) shall apply in relation to the chapel, and in relation to marriages solemnized
or intended to be solemnized therein otherwise than according to those rites, as if the chapel were a
registered building :
Provided that the provisions of this Act specified in Part IV of the said Schedule shall apply subject to the
modifications specified in that Part.
(2) The Registrar General shall, on the application of the Admiralty or a Secretary of State, as the case may
be, cancel the registration of any chapel registered by him under this section.
(3) Immediately after registering, or cancelling the registration of, any chapel under this section, the Registrar
General shall cause notice of that fact to be published in the London Gazette and in some newspaper
circulating in the registration district in which the chapel is situated and to be given to the superintendent
registrar of that district, who shall record the registration or cancellation in such manner as may be
prescribed by the Registrar General.
71. Where a marriage has been solemnized under this Part of this Act, it shall not be necessary, in support
of the marriage, to give any proof-
(a) that the chapel in which the marriage was solemnized was certified or licensed or registered in
accordance with this Part of this Act ; or
(b) that either of the parties was a qualified person within the meaning of this Part of this Act ; or
(c) in the case of a marriage according to the rites of the Church of England, that the marriage was
solemnized in the presence of a clergyman duly appointed under this Part of this Act for the purpose of
registering marriages ;
and no evidence shall be given to prove the contrary in any proceedings touching the validity of any such
marriage.
PART VI.
GENERAL.
72.-(I) For the purposes of the following provisions of this Act, that is to say, subsection (4) of section six
paragraph (b) of subsection (I) of section fifteen and subsection (3) of section thirty-five, no parish church or
authorised chapel shall be deemed to be the usual place of worship of any person unless he is enrolled on
the church electoral roll of the area in which that church or chapel is situated, and where any person is
enrolled on the church electoral roll of an area in which he does not reside that enrolment shall be sufficient
evidence that his usual place of worship is a parish church or authorised chapel in that area.
(2) Persons intending to be married shall have the like but no greater right of having their banns published
and marriage solemnized by virtue of the said provisions in a parish church or authorised chapel which is the
usual place of worship of one or both of them as they have of having their banns published and marriage
solemnized in the parish church or public chapel of the parish or chapelry in which they or one of them
resides.
(3) Where any marriage has been solemnized by virtue of the said provisions it shall not be necessary in
support of the marriage to give any proof of the actual enrolment of the parties or of one of them on the
church electoral roll of the area in which the parish church or authorised chapel in which the marriage was
solemnized was situated, nor shall any evidence be given to prove the contrary in any proceedings touching
the validity of the marriage.
(4) In this section the expression "church electoral roll" means a church electoral roll provision for which is
made in the Rules for the Representation of the Laity contained in the Schedule to the Representation of the
Laity Measure, 1929.
73.-(I), The registrar of every. diocese shall, within fifteen days after the first day of January in every year,
make out and send by post to the Registrar General at his office a list of all chapels within that diocese in
which marriages may be solemnized according to the rites of the Church of England (being chapels which
belong to the Church of England or have been licensed under Part V of this Act), and shall distinguish in that
list which chapels have a parish, chapelry or other recognised ecclesiastical division annexed to them, which
are chapels licensed under section twenty of this Act and which are chapels licensed under the said Part V,
and, in the case of chapels licensed under the said section twenty, shall state in the list the district for which
each chapel is licensed according to the description thereof in the licence.
(2) The Registrar General shall in every year make out and cause to be printed a list of all chapels included
in any list sent to him under the last foregoing subsection and of all registered buildings and shall state in
that list the county and registration district within which each chapel or registered building is situated and the
names and places of residence of the superintendent registrars, registrars and deputy registrars of each
district.
(3) A copy of every list made by the Registrar General under the last foregoing subsection shall be sent to
every registrar and superintendent registrar.
74. The Registrar General, with the approval of the Minister of Health, may by statutory instrument make
regulations-
(a) prescribing the duties of superintendent registrars, registrars, and authorised persons under this Act ;
(b) prescribing any thing which by this Act is required to be prescribed.
75.-(I) Any person who knowingly and wilfully-
(a) solemnizes a marriage at any other time than between the hours of eight in the forenoon and six in the
afternoon (not being a marriage by special licence, a marriage according to the usages of the Society of
Friends or a marriage between two persons professing the Jewish religion according to the usages of the
Jews) ;
(b) solemnizes a marriage according to the rites of the Church of England without banns of matrimony
having been duly published (not being a marriage solemnized on the authority of a special licence, a
common licence or a certificate of a superintendent registrar) ;
(c) solemnizes a marriage according to the said rites (not being a marriage by special licence) in any place
other than a church or other building in which banns may be published ;
(d) solemnizes a marriage according to the said rites falsely pretending to be in Holy Orders ;
shall be guilty of felony and shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding fourteen years.
(2) Any person who knowingly and wilfully(
a) solemnizes a marriage (not being a marriage by special licence, a marriage according to the usages of
the Society of Friends or a marriage between two persons professing the Jewish religion according to the
usages of the Jews) in any place other than-
(i) a church or other building in which marriages may be solemnized according to the rites of the Church of
England, or
(ii) the registered building or office specified in the notice of marriage and certificate required under Part III of
this Act ;
(b) so1emnizes a marriage in any such registered building as aforesaid (not being a marriage in the
presence of an authorised person) in the absence of a registrar of the district in which the registered building
is situated ;
(c) solemnizes a marriage in the office of a superintendent registrar in the absence of a registrar of the
district in which the office is situated ;
(d) solemnizes a marriage on the authority of a certificate of a superintendent registrar (not being a marriage
by licence) within twenty-one days after the day on which the notice of marriage was entered in the marriage
notice book ; or
(e) solemnizes a marriage on the authority of a certificate of a superintendent registrar after the expiration of
three months from the said day on which the notice of marriage was entered as aforesaid ;
shall be guilty of felony and shall be liable to imprisonment term not exceeding five years.
(3) A superintendent registrar who knowingly and wilfully-
(a), issues any certificate for marriage (not being a marriage by licence) before the expiration of twenty-one
days from the day on which the notice of marriage was entered in the marriage notice book, or issues a
certificate for marriage by licence before the expiration of one whole day from the said day on which the
notice was entered as aforesaid ;
(b) issues any certificate or licence for marriage after the expiration of three months from the said day ;
(c) issues any certificate the issue of which has been forbidden under section thirty of this Act by any person
entitled to forbid the issue of such a certificate ; or
(d) solemnizes or permits to be solemnized in his office any marriage which is void by virtue of any of the
provisions of Part III of this Act ;
shall be guilty of felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.
(4) No prosecution under this section shall be commenced after the expiration of three years from the
commission of the offence.
(5) Any reference in subsection (2) of this section to a registered building shall be construed as including a
reference to any chapel registered under section seventy of this Act.
76.-(I) Any person who refuses or without reasonable cause omits to register any marriage which he is
required by this Act to register, and any person having the custody of a marriage register book or a certified
copy of a marriage register book or part thereof who carelessly loses or injures the said book or copy or
carelessly allows the said book or copy to be injured while in his keeping, shall be liable on summary
conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.
(2) Where any person who is required under Part IV of this Act to make and deliver to a superintendent
registrar a certified copy of entries made in the marriage register book kept by him, or a certificate that no
entries have been made therein since the date of the last certified copy, refuses to deliver any such copy or
certificate, or fails to deliver any such copy or certificate during any month in which he is required to do so,
he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.
(3) Any registrar who knowingly and wilfully registers any marriage which is void by virtue of any of the
provisions of Part III of this Act shall be guilty of felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding five years.
(4) The balance of any sum paid or recovered (on account of a fine imposed under, subsection (I) or
subsection (2) of this section, after making any such payments in respect of court or police fees as are
mentioned in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subsection (I) of section five of the Criminal Justice Adminisration
Act, 1914, shall be paid-
(a) case of a fine imposed under subsection (I) of this section, into the Exchequer ; and
(b) in the case of a fine imposed under subsection (2) of this section, to the Registrar General or such other
person as may be appointed by the Treasury, for the use of His Majesty.
(5) Subject as may be prescribed, a superintendent registrar may prosecute any person guilty of an offence
under either of the said subsections committed within his district, and any costs incurred buy the
superintendent registrar in prosecuting such a person, being costs which are not otherwise provided for,
shall be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament.
(6) No prosecution under subsection (3) of this section shall be commenced after the expiration of three
years from the commission of the offence.
77. Any authorised person who refuses or fails to comply with the provisions of this Act or of any regulations
made under section seventy-four thereof shall be guilty of an offence against this Act, and, unless the
offence is one for which a specific penalty is provided under the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act,
shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding ten pounds or, on conviction on indictment, to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, and shall upon
conviction cease to be an authorised person.
78.-(I) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings
hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say-
"authorised chapel" means-
(a) in relation to a chapelry, a chapel of the chapelry in which banns of matrimony could lawfully be published
immediately before the passing of the Marriage Act, 1823, or in which banns may be published and
marriages may be solemnized by virtue of section two of the Marriages Confirmation Act, 1825, or of an
authorisation given under section three of the Marriage Act, 1823 ;
(b) in relation to an extra-parochial place, a church or chapel of that place in which banns may be published
and marriages may be solemnized by virtue of section two of the Marriage Confirmation Act, 1825, or of an
authorisation given under section three of the Marriage Act, 1823, or section twenty-one of this Act ;
(c) in relation to a district specified in a licence granted under section twenty of this Act the chapel in which
banns may be published and marriages may be solemnized by virtue of that licence ;
"authorised person" has the meaning assigned to section forty-three of this Act ;
"brother" includes a brother of the half blood ;
"clergyman" means a clerk in Holy Orders of Church of England ;
"common licence" has the meaning assigned to it by section five of this Act ;
"ecclesiastical district," in relation to a district other than a parish, means a district specified in a licence
granted under section twenty of this Act, a chapelry or an extra-parochial place ;
"infant" means a person under the age of twenty-one years ;
"marriage notice book" has the meaning assigned to it by section twenty-seven of this Act ;
"parish" means an ecclesiastical parish and includes a district constituted under the Church Building Acts,
1818 to 1884, notwithstanding that the district has not become a new parish by virtue of section fourteen of
the New Parishes Act, 1856, or section five of the New Parishes Measure, 1943, being a district to which
Acts of Parliament relating to the publication of banns of matrimony and the solemnization of marriages were
applied by the said Church Building Acts as if the district had been an ancient parish, and the expression
"parish church" shall be construed accordingly ;
"prescribed" means prescribed by regulations made under section seventy-four of this Act ;
"registered building" means a building registered under Part III of this Act ;
"registrar" means a registrar of marriages ;
"Registrar General" means the Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages in England ;
"registration district" means the district of a superintendent registrar ;
"sister" includes a sister of the half-blood ;
"special licence" has the meaning assigned to it by section five of this Act ;
"superintendent registrar" means a superintendent registrar of births, deaths and marriages ;
"trustees or governing body," in relation to Roman Catholic registered buildings, includes a bishop or vicar
general of the diocese.
(2) Any reference in this Act to the Church of England shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be
construed as including a reference to the Church in Wales.
79.-(I) The Acts specified in Part I of the Fifth Schedule to this Act, and the Measures of the Church
Assembly specified in Part II of that Schedule, are hereby repealed to the extent specified in relation thereto
in the third column of that Schedule.
(2) Any banns published, licence or certificate issued, notice, consent, authorisation or direction given, Order
in Council, rules, order, declaration, return, appointment or entry made, registration effected, caveat entered
or other thing done under any enactment repealed by this Act shall, if in force at the commencement of this
Act, continue in force, and have effect as if pub1ished, issued, given, made, effected, entered or done under
the corresponding provision of this Act.
(3) Where a period of time specified in any enactment repealed by this Act is current at the commencement
of this Act, this Act shall have effect as if the corresponding provision thereof had been in force when that
period began to run.
(4) Any document referring to an enactment repealed by this Act shall be construed as referring to the
corresponding provision of this Act.
(5) Nothing in this Act shall affect any law or custom relating to the marriage of members of the Royal Family.
(6) Nothing in this Act shall affect the right of the Archbishop of Canterbury or any other person by virtue of
the Ecclesiastical Licences Act, 1533, to grant special licences to marry at any convenient time or place, or
affect the validity of any marriage solemnized on the authority of such a licence.
(7) Nothing, in this Act shall affect the validity of any marriage solemnized before the commencement of this
Act.
(8) Nothing in this Act shall affect any authority given under section three of the Marriage Act, 1823, before
the repeal thereof for the publication of banns and the solemnization of marriages in any chapel, or affect the
operation of section four of that Act in relation to that chapel.
(9) Nothing in this Act shall affect any right, title, estate interest, will, claim, payment, commutation,
composition, discharge, settlement or other thing, or the devolution or distribution of any property which, by
virtue of section two of the Deceased Wife’s Sister’s Marriage Act, 1907, was not affected by the Marriage
(Prohibited Degrees of Relationship) Acts, 1907 to 1931.
(10) Nothing in this Act shall enable any proceedings to be taken in an ecclesiastical court which could not
have been taken if this Act had not been passed.
(11) Nothing in this Act shall require any caution or security to be given which would not have required to be
given if this Act had not been passed.
(12) Nothing in this Act shall affect any power to extend a Measure of the Church Assembly to the Channel
Islands or affect any such Measure which has been so extended.
(13) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section shall be taken as prejudicing the operation of section
thirty-eight of the Interpretation Act, 1889 (which relates to the effect of repeals).
80.-(I) This Act may be cited as the Marriage Act, 1949.
(2) Save as is otherwise expressly provided, this Act shall not extend to Scotland or to Northern Ireland.
(3) The provisions of this Act specified in the Sixth Schedule to this Act shall not extend to Wales or
Monmouthshire.
(4) This Act shall come into force on the first day of January, nineteen hundred and fifty.
SCHEDULES.
FIRST SCHEDULE.
KINDRED AND AFFINITY.
PART I.
Prohibited degrees of relationship.
Mother
Daughter
Father’s mother
Mother’s mother
Son’s daughter
Daughter’s daughter
Sister
Wife's mothe r
Wife's daughte r
Father’s wife
Son’s wife
Father’s father’s wife
Mother’s father’s wife
Wife's father’s mothe r
Wife's mother’s mother
Wife's son’s daughte r
Wife's daughter’s daughte r
Son’s son’s wife
Daughter’s son’s wife
Father’s sister
Mother’s sister
Brother’s daughter
Sister’s daughter
Father
Son
Father’s father
Mother’s father
Son’s son
Daughter’s son
Brother
Husband’s father
Husband’s son
Mother’s husband
Daughter’s husband
Father’s mother’s husband
Mother’s mother’s husband
Husband’s father’s father
Husband’s mother’s father
Husband’s son’s son
Husband’s daughter’s son
Son’s daughter’s husband
Daughter’s daughter’s husband
Father’s brother
Mother’s brother
Brother’s son
Sister’s son
PART II.
Statutory exceptions from prohibited degrees of relationship.
Deceased wife’s sister
Deceased brother’s wife
Deceased wifes brother’s daughter
Deceased wife’s sister’s daughter
Father's deceased brother’s wife
Mother's deceased brother’s wife
father’s sister
Deceased wife’s father’s sister
Deceased wife’s mother’s sister
Brother's deceased son’s wife
Sister's deceased son’s wife
Deceased sister’s husband
Deceased husband’s brother
Father’s deceased sister’s husband
Mother’s deceased sister’s husband
Deceased husband’s brother’s son
Deceased husband’s sister’s son
Brother’s deceased daughter’s husband
Sister’s deceased daughter’s husband
Deceased husband’s father’s brother
Deceased husband’s mother’s brother
SECOND SCHEDULE.
CONSENTS REQUIRED TO THE MARRIAGE OF AN INFANT
BY COMMON LICENCE OR SUPERINTENDENT
REGISTRAR’S CERTIFICATE.
I. WHERE THE INFANT IS LEGITIMATE.
Circumstances.
I. Where both parents are living :
(a) if parents are living together ;
(b) if parents are divorced or separated by order of any court or by agreement ;
(c) if one parent has been deserted by the other ;
(d) if both parents have been deprived of custody of infant by order of any court.
2. Where one parent is dead :
(a) if there is no other guardian ;
(b) if a guardian has been appointed by the deceased parent.
3. Where both parents are dead.
Person or Persons whose consent is required.
Both parents.
The parent to whom the custody of the infant is
committed by order of the court or by the agreement, or
if the custody of the infant is so committed to one parent
during part of the year and to the other parent during the
rest of the year, both parents.
The parent who has been deserted.
The person to whose custody the infant is committed by order of the court.
The surviving parent.
The surviving parent and the guardian if acting jointly, or
the surviving parent or the guardian if the parent or guardian is the sole guardian of the infant.
The guardians or guardian appointed by the deceased parents or by the court under section four of The
Guardianship of Infants Act, I925.
II. WHERE THE INFANT IS ILLEGITIMATE.
Circumstances.
If the mother of the infant is alive.
If the mother of the infant is dead.
Person whose consent is required.
The mother, or if she has by order of any court been
deprived of the custody of the infant, the person to whom
the custody of the infant has been committed by order of
the court.
The guardian appointed by the mother.
THIRD SCHEDULE.
CAPACITIES REFERRED TO IN SECTION 68 (2) (d) OF THIS ACT.
Part I.
NAVAL FORCES.
Employment with the medical branch of the Royal Navy as an officer.
Member of the Women’s Royal Naval Service.
Member of Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service, or its reserve.
PART II.
MILITARY FORCES.
Employment with the Royal Army Medical Corps as an officer.
Member of Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing. Service, or its reserve.
Member of the Auxiliary Territorial Service.
PART III.
AIR FORCES.
Employment with the medical branch of the Royal Air Force as an officer.
Member of Princess Mary’s Royal Air Force Nursing Service, or its reserve.
Member of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force.
FOURTH SCHEDULE.
PROVISIONS OF ACT WHICH ARE EXCLUDED OR MODIFIED
IN THEIR APPLICATION TO NAVAL, MILITARY
AND AIR FORCE CHAPELS
PART I.
EXCLUSION OF PROVISIONS RELATING TO MARRIAGES ACCORDING T0 THE RITES OF THE
CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
Subsection (4) of section six.
Paragraph (b) of subsection (I) of section fifteen.
The proviso to section seventeen.
Section eighteen.
Section twenty.
Subsection (3) of section thirty-five.
The proviso to subsection (I) of section forty-four.
Sections fifty-three to fifty-seven, fifty-nine and sixty, so far as those sections relate to the registration of
marriages by clergymen and to the duties of incumbents in relation to marriage register books.
PART II.
MODIFICATION OF PROVISIONS RELATING TO MARRIAGES ACCORDING TO THE RITES OF THE
CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
Subsection (I) of section six shall apply as if the chapel were the parish church of the parish in which the
chapel is situated.
Subsection (3) of section seven shall apply as if for the reference to the parochial church council there were
substituted, in relation to a naval chapel, a reference to the Admiralty and, in relation to any other chapel, a
reference to a Secretary of State.
Section eight shall apply as if it required the notice in writing mentioned therein to include a statement that
one at least of the persons to be married is a qualified person within the meaning of Part V of this Act, and to
specify the person so qualified and the nature of his qualification.
Paragraph (a) of subsection (i) of section fifteen shall apply as if the chapel were the parish church of the
parish in which the chapel is situated.
Subsection (I) of section sixteen shall apply as if it required the oath, which is to be taken thereunder, to
include a statement that one at least of the persons to be married is a qualified person within the meaning of
Part V of this Act and to specify the person so qualified and the nature of his qualification.
Subsection (3) of section twenty-seven shall apply as if it required the notice of marriage to include a
statement that one at least of the persons to be married is a qualified person within the meaning of Part V of
this Act and to specify the person so qualified and the nature of his qualification.
Section fifty shall apply as if for the reference to the officiating clergyman there were substituted a reference
to the clergyman appointed under section sixty-nine of this Act for the purpose of registering marriages, in
whose presence the marriage is solemnized.
PART III.
OF PROVISIONS RELATING TO MARRIAGES OTHERWISE THAN ACCORDING TO THE RITES OF THE
CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
The proviso to section seventeen.
The proviso subsection (2) of section twenty-six.
Section forty-one.
Section forty-two.
Proviso to subsection (I) of section forty-four.
PART IV.
MODIFICATION OF PROVISIONS RELATING TO MARRIAGES OTHERWISE THAN ACCORDING TO
THE RITES OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
Subsection (3) of section twenty-seven shall apply as if it required the notice of marriage to include a
statement that one at least of the persons to be married is a qualified person within the meaning of Part V of
this Act and to specify the person so qualified and the nature of his qualification :
Sections forty-three, forty-four and fifty-four shall apply as if for any reference to the trustees or governing
body of a building there were substituted a reference to the Admiralty or any person authorised by them, the
case of a naval chapel, and a reference to a Secretary of State or any person authorised by him, in the case
of any other chapel.