The Marriage Act 1836 (6 & 7 Will 4 c 85), or the Act for Marriages in England 1836, was an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

that legalised

civil marriage A civil marriage is a marriage performed, recorded, and recognized by a government official. Such a marriage may be performed by a religious body and recognized by the state, or it may be entirely secular. History Every country maintaining a pop ...

in what is now

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

from 30 June 1837. Since the

Marriage Act 1753 The Clandestine Marriages Act 1753, also called the Marriage Act 1753, long title "An Act for the Better Preventing of Clandestine Marriage", popularly known as Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act (citation 26 Geo. II. c. 33), was the first statutor ...

, the only legally recognised marriages in England and Wales had been those performed by the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

. This meant that

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

s and members of other Christian congregations, as well as atheists, Muslims, Hindus and members of any other religious body, had to be married according to (the Anglican) rites and ceremonies which they did not support, and by a priest who they believed had no authority. If they did not do so, they had no legal rights as married people. Roman Catholic priests often recommended that their parishioners be married in the Roman Church but then have their marriage legalised in an Anglican parish church. When asked why he recommended this, one priest "declared gloomily that almost every day the wife of an Irish labourer was deserted by her husband and could get no redress". The Marriage Act 1836 allowed marriages to be legally registered in buildings belonging to other religious groups. Religious groups could apply for registration for their buildings with the Registrar General and subsequently could conduct weddings if a Registrar and two witnesses were present. One of the most vocal opponents of the bill was

Henry Phillpotts Henry Phillpotts (6 May 177818 September 1869), often called "Henry of Exeter", was the Anglican Bishop of Exeter from 1830 to 1869. One of England's longest serving bishops since the 14th century, Phillpotts was a striking figure of the 19th- ...

, Bishop of Exeter. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' of 13 October 1836 reports that he denounced the bill as being "a disgrace to British legislation. tis pretended to be called for to prevent clandestine marriages, but I think it will greatly facilitate such proceedings. Not solemnized by the church of England, may be celebrated without entering into a consecrated building, may be contracted by anybody, and will be equally valid, whether it takes place in the house of God, or in the house of a registering clerk, one of the lowest functionaries of the state. The parties may take one another for better and for worse, without calling God to witness their plighted troth. No blessing sought; no solemn vows of mutual fidelity; no religious solemnity whatever ..."Owen Chadwick, "The Victorian Church", Vol. 1, ''An Ecclesiastical History of England'', New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966. The whole Act, except sections 3 and 17 and 45, was repealed by section 79 of, and Part I of the Fifth Schedule to, the

Marriage Act 1949 The Marriage Act 1949 (12, 13 & 14 Geo 6 c 76) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom regulating marriages in England and Wales. The Act had prohibited solemnizing marriages during evenings and at night. Since the Marriage Act 1836 i ...

.The Public General Acts and the Church Assembly Measures of 1949, vol 2,�
p 1680
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References

*Richard Matthews. An Act for Marriages in England, 6 & 7 William IV., c. 85. Saunders and Benning. London. 1836
Google Books
*John Mounteney Lely. "The Marriage Act, 1836". The Statutes of Practical Utility. (Chitty's Statutes). Fifth Edition. Sweet and Maxwell. Stevens and Sons. London. 1895. Volume 7. Title "Marriage". Page
23
to 36.

External links

* * Text of the Bill for the Marriage Act 1836 {{UK legislation English family law United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1836 Marriage, unions and partnerships in England Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning England and Wales Marriage law in the United Kingdom