Marriage By Proxy To Hasten Passage Of Bride From Holland

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22971, 14 June 1949, Page 8

Marriage By Proxy To Hasten Passage Of Bride From Holland

(P.A.) INVERCARGILL, June 14. To be declared man and wife with 12,000 miles separating them has been the uncommon experience of a young Dutch immigrant now living in Invercargill and his bride in Holland. The Dutchman, Mr. de Jan Hart Boer, was a member of a draft of Dutch immigrants who* came to New Zealand in February to work on farms. With two others he came to Southland. Before leaving Holland lie made arrangements with his fiancee that as soon as he was settled in the Dominion she should join him and they would be married. Subsequent negotiations disclosed that if she was to travel to New Zealand as a single woman it would mean a wait of 12 months. On the other hand, it was discovered that a married woman could join her husband almost immediately. A marriage by proxy was, therefore, arranged. In Holland the 'bride went through a form of marriage with a cousin of the bridegroom acting on behalf of the latter. Permission of the Queen of the Netherlands had to be gained before the ceremony took place. Priority to Sail

Jan’s wife now has priority to sail in the first ship to New Zealand. When she arrives in .Invercargill they will be “remarried.” Outlining some of the difficulties of bringing a single woman from Holland, Jan said that Dutch ships came to the Dominion only at irregular intervals. It was almost impossible to come in an English ship as English travellers had first priority. There was a big difference in the fares also. A passage may be obtained in an English ship for £9O, but the fare in a Dutch vessel in Dutch money was the equivalent of £220. If Jan’s fiancee had had to travel in a Dutch ship she would pay the fare. Her passage in an English ship has been paid by her husband.

Jan declares that living conditions in New Zealand are much higher than in his home country and that wages are higher too. “In four months I saved £6O. which would be a small fortune in my'country at present,” he said. From a farmer’s point of view Jan thinks that Southland is the best province in New Zealand. He explained that all the Dutch immigrants recently sent reports of how they liked their work, the working conditions and so on to the Dutch Embassy in Wellington. Reports were then sent to Holland to be published in newspapers. “Of the reports of 70 immigrants working on farms.” he said, “the three best came from Southland.”