Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1874-09-25
Getting' Married in ENGLAND.

PRENTICE MILFORD, writing of getting
married in England, says
was occupied nearly two months IN
getting papers signed, paying for eertlh-
Gates and signatures, and getting pernls-
sion of various people to get married 1t
was regular chancery job. 1t was
trip through the circumlocution Office.
The paternal English Government puts
various distractions in the way OF matrl-
mony to keep it's people virtuous. There
was necessity for our marriage to take
place in the Roman Catholic Church.
The English Government will not allow
Roman Catholic priest to marry couple
without putting its official finger in the
pie. It insists virtually on marrying the
partiesi itself before the union shall be
considered legal First, we had to be
cried in church Then it was neces-
sary to apply to the registrar to certify
to him that our banns were published.
He wouldn't let us marry until twenty
one clear DAYS after the first certificate
had been taken out. And before he
would give us that certificate he required
that my wife that now is should have
the consent of her father. So she
went and obtained his consent. Then
we went to the registrar and said we
had the consent of her father. But that
would not do; we must have his written
consent. So we went after his written
consent. But the old man wasn't so
ready to give that. He had veered
around, or somebody had been talking to
him, and he'd got notion in his head
that father should be more careful in
allowing his daughter to marry a for
eigner; because Americans with many
Englishmen do rank as foreigners,
and they have all sorts of stories
current among them about poor
girls being entrapped into mar
rage carried to America and
sold as slaves. You may stare, but this
IS true. They've got our negro slavery
of the past and the present merchandise
of Chinese women in California all
mixed up in their heads, and this is the
result of it, 1t was a long job getting
the old mans signature, but the girl got
it at last, and she can get most anything
when she makes up her mind to. She
left home and set up for herself at an
age when most young women are llnger-
ing about the rag-baby era. The regis
trar made out paper and told us to call
again in twenty-one days. We did so,
and then he gave us another paper. But
Ihlo Nlu uOG mail uo' NAl' olNloy
must have q hand in that business. Mr..
Yardley is something or other which
must he present in behalf of the En-
glish Government whenever ceremony
is performed by Roman Catholic
priest. So I went to Mr.. Yardley and
paid him four shillings and sixpence,
and at the altar he read some
thing to me and made me sign
another paper There was the
register to be signed in the YES
try. Then there was another paper still,
in which | promised the church not to
interfere with my wite's religion, not to
endeavor to convert her to another faith,
and to have all my children brought up
in the Catholic faith. Isuppose now |
am completely married l am not quite
certain, and half expect some other pa
per to pop in for my signature, or some
forgotten official to pop up from some
unexpected quarter with another certifi-
cate and q shilling fee"