MARRIED BY REGISTRAR.

Bruce Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 21, 8 March 1909, Page 2

MARRIED BY REGISTRAR.

FUNCTIONS OF THE OFFICE. During the course of a conversation with a Wellington 'Post' reporter the Wellington Registrar (Mr Hodgkins) gave some indication of marriage business in the Registry Office. Out of 10/0 marriages last year 237 were celebrated by the Registrar. In 1907 the proportion of marriages in the Wellington district that belonged to the Registrar's office was 21.98 per cent, and last year it was 22.14 per cent. The most marriages were solemnised by Presbyterian ministers. All that it costs to be married by the registrar is £2 os. At a marriage in church the minister's foe ranges from £1 to £o, in addition to Registrar's lees, which, for persons resident in the district the requisite time, are £1 2s 6d. Additional expense is accounted for in choral services, tips, cabs with white horses and wedding favors and >" >ers in silk hats, besides the photographing of the party and the provision of a wedding breakfast on a large or small scale. It seems that many couples patronise the Registrar's office in order that they may apply their small savings to the subsequent expenses of marriage. At tho office a marriage can be fixed up in ten minutes. As far as Mr Hodgkins could see the intention of the parties that came to lie married by him was not to avoid the religious obligations of matrimony but to avoid extravagance. He thought, however, that there was one advantage of the Registry Office that might commend itself to ladies —viz., the Registrar exacted no promise from the bride to "love, honor and obey." . The Act does not specify t}iat a ring must be used. The Registrar's office in Wellington appears to have come to bo regarded as a general information bureau and the staff is kept busy all day and the Registrar himself is often called on to perform little duties outside of office hours and on Sundays and holidays.