The Act for Marriages in England 1836 6&7WmIV, c85 (17 August 1836) was an act that legalised the concept of civil marriage into England and Wales from 1 January 1837.

Since the Marriage Act 1753, the only legally recognised marriages in England and Wales were those performed by the Church of England, Jews and Quakers. This meant that Roman Catholics and members of other Christian congregations, as well as atheists, Muslims, Hindus or 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 or as husband and wife. Roman Catholic priests often recommended that their parishioners be married in the Roman Church but then have their marriage legalized in an Anglican parish church. When asked why he recommended this, one priest "declared glomily that almost every day the wife of an Irish labourer was deserted by her husband and could get no redress."

Marriage Act may refer to a number of pieces of legislation:

Australia

Canada

Hong Kong

India

New Zealand

South Africa

United Kingdom

Extent unknown by author:

The Marriage Acts 1811 to 1886 means the Marriage Act 1811, the Marriage Act 1823, the Marriage Act 1824, the Marriage Confirmation Act 1830, the Marriage Act 1835, the Marriage Act 1836, the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1837, the Marriage Act 1840, the Marriage and Registration Act 1856, the Marriage (Society of Friends) Act 1860, the Marriage Confirmation Act 1860, the Marriage (Society of Friends) Act 1872, the Greek Marriages Act 1884, the Marriages Validity Act 1886 and the Marriages Act 1886.

The Marriage Acts 1811 to 1929 was the collective title of the Marriage Acts 1811 to 1898 and the Age of Marriage Act 1929 so far as it related to England.

England and Wales

Scotland

Northern Ireland

United States

See also

References

The Marriage Act, 1961 (Act No. 25 of 1961) is an act of the Parliament of South Africa governing the solemnisation and registration of marriages in South Africa. It does not deal with the dissolution of marriages, which is governed by the Divorce Act, 1979, or with matrimonial property regimes and the financial consequences of marriage, which are governed by the Matrimonial Property Act, 1984. Some issues relating to marriage remain governed by the Roman-Dutch common law because they have never been addressed by Parliament.

The Marriage Act is not the only law under which a marriage may be contracted. The Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, 1998 recognises marriages under African customary law as valid marriages, though they are not legally identical to marriages under the Marriage Act. The Civil Union Act, 2006 allows for inter alia same-sex marriages which are legally equivalent to marriages under the Marriage Act.

Before 1961, the law of marriage in South Africa was based on the law of the four colonies that had been united in the Union of South Africa, and therefore differed between the provinces. The Marriage Act was enacted to consolidate the law and make it uniform across the country. The act has been amended several times since 1961, most notably in 1970 when banns of marriage were abolished.

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 it had been forbidden to marry between the hours of six in the evening and eight in the morning. This prohibition was repealed on 1 October 2012.

The Marriage Act 1949 was the first Act to be enacted under the Consolidation of Enactments (Procedure) Act 1949.

Section 2

This section re-enacts the corresponding provision in section 1 of the Age of Marriage Act 1929.

In 1971, Eekelaar wrote that the prohibition now contained in this section "though desirable, is extreme and inflexible." According to him it could result in "genuine hardship", such as where it is discovered, after years of apparent marriage, that a mistake was made, at the time of the ceremony, regarding the age of one of the spouses, or where one of the spouses concealed their real age, though, after 1971, some protection was afforded by section 6 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1970 (now repealed and replaced by the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975).