In August, 1844, an act was passed (7 & 8 Viet. c. 81) relating to marriages in Ireland, and for registering such mar riages, which came into operation April 1st, 1845. It establishes a system very nearly similar to that which exists in England and Wales under 6 & 7 Wm. IV. c. 85.
Before 1835 marriages within the pro hibited degrees of consanguinity and affinity were valid until annulled by a declaratory sentence of the ecclesiastical court, after which they became void from the beginning, and the issue of such mar riages were, by such sentence, rendered illegitimate ; and the law is still so with respect to personal incapacity existing at the time of the contract. But as the ec clesiastical court could only proceed for the benefit of the souls of the parties, and its authority to annul an incestuous mar riage was founded upon the duty of put ting a stop to the incestuous intercourse, the power of annulling the marriage ceased upon the death of either of the parties. The validity of such marriage, and the legitimacy of the issue, depended therefore upon the contingency of a snit being instituted and a sentence pro nounced during the joint lives of the husband and wife. But now, by 5 & Win. IV. c. 54, all marriages thereafter celebrated between persons within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity or affinity are absolutely void. [AFFINITY.] A marriage contracted while there is a for mer wife or husband alive is void, without any declaratory sentence. [Biassty.] Generally speaking, a marriage, valid according to the law of the country in which it was contracted, is valid in every other country. This is the general rule of law among European nations and na tions of European origin. [INTERNA TIONAL LAw.] As to the legitimation by marriage of children born before a marriage, see BASTARD.
Marriage Statistics.—The number of marriages registered in England and Wales in the four years from 1839 to 1842 inclusive was as under :— 1839 . . 123,166 1840 . . 122,665 1841 . . 122.496 1842 . . 118,825In 1841 and 1842 the number of mar riages celebrated according to the rites of the Established Church were: 1841. 1842.
By special licence . 13 9 Licence . . . 15,792 14,935 Banns . . . 78,015 75.744 By registrar's certificates 972 944 Form not stated . 19,579 18,415 Total 114,371 110,047 Other marriages not celebrated ac cording to the forms of the Established Church:— 1841. 1842.
In registered places of worship . . . 5882 6200In registrar's offices . 2064 2357 Between Jews . . 66 58 Between Quakers . . 113 163 - 8125 8778 In each of the four years from 30th June, 1837, to July 1st, 1841, the mar riages celebrated in registered places of worship and in registrar's offices were as under In Registered In Places of Worslrip. Offices.
. . 2976 1093 1838-39 . . 4654 1564 1839-40 . . 5140 1938 1840-41 . . 5816 2036The proportion of marriages at regis tered places of worship and at the regis trars' offices has slowly increased, and in 1842 the number of marriages so per formed represented a population of about 1,160,000. The number of buildings registered in England and Wales for the solemnization of marriages was 2232 on the 30th June, 1844. They belonged to the following denominations:— Presbyterians . • . 186 Independents or Congregationalists 903 Baptists . . . . 539 Methodists (Arminian) . . 204 Methodists (Calvinistic) . . 69
Roman Catholics . . . 284 Foreign churches . . . 5 Miscellaneous . . . 42 Out of the total number 215 registered buildings were in Lancashire, 202 in Yorkshire, 128 in Middlesex, and 86 in Devonshire.
From 1839 to 1842 inclusive the mean number of marriages was 1 in 130 of the total population, or 1 in 64 of the male, and 1 in 66 of the female population. In 1839 the proportion of marriages was 1 in 126, and in 1842 only 1 in 136. This decrease was caused by the severe depression of trade in 1842. Dividing England and Wales into eleven great districts, the proportion of marriages varied in the four years 1839-42 from 1 in 102 in the metropolis to 1 in 149 in the south-eastern counties; but in all England out of 100,000 persons 30,615 only were of the ages of from 20 to 40, while in the metropolis the numbers of this age were 36,480. Thus the annual marriages were to the persons aged 20-40 nearly as 1 to 40 in all England, and 1 to 37 in the metropolis. The number of females in England. and Wales aged from 15 to 45 was 3,811,654 in 1841, and the proportion married was estimated by the registrar-general (Sixth Report, p. xxxiv.) at 45.48 per cent., or 1,733,576, leaving 2,078,078, who were widows and spinsters. Of the married women, nearly 1 in 4 gave birth to a child in that year ; and of the unmarried women, nearly 1 in 59 gave birth to an illegitimate child.
In 1842 eleven per cent. or 1 in 9.07 of the persons married had been married before, namely, 15,619 widowers and 10,579 widows (total 26,198). The total number of persons married in 1842, who were under age (21) was 5387 men and 16,003 women, or 4.53 and 13'47 per cent. respectively of the total numbers married, or a mean of 9 per cent. In 1841 the pro portion was 8.83 percent. In Worcester shire the proportion of women who were under 21 at the time of marriage was 15.63 per cent., and in Berkshire, Che shire, Rutlandshire, Lancashire, and Nor folk from 14.20 to 14.75. In Devon shire the proportion was lowest (7 43 per cent.); and in Wales, Shropshire, Here ford, and Westmoreland it varied from 81:19 to 9.07 per cent. In Cheshire, Worcestershire, Rutlandshire, and Dor setshire the proportion of men who were under 21 at the time of marriage varied from 6.01 to 6.52 per cent. ; and in Devonshire it was as low as 2.08 per cent. In 1844 33 in 100 men and 49 in 100 women married signed the marriage register with marks ; but in Monmouth shire 51 men and in North Wales 71 women signed with marks, while in Cumberland the proportion was 16 men and 36 women in 100.
The proportion of marriages to the total population in several of the principal countries of Europe is as follows Austria . . 1 in 124 France . . 1 in 121 Prussia . . 1 in 113 Russia . . 1 in 99 In England on an average of four years the, proportion was I in 130. The returns for Austria, France, and Prussia are the average of three years, and the return for Russia is for 1842 only.
The number of births (in wedlock) to a marriage is about 3'33 in France; 4.05 in Prussia ; 4.34 in Austria; and 4.26 in England; but if a correction be made for first marriages (Sixth Report of Re pistrar General, p. xxx.), the proportion for England is 4 79 to every two persons married. (Reports of Registrar General, First to Sixth).