A WEDDING DELAYED.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 22 September 1924, Page 5

A WEDDING DELAYED.

VICAR DID NOT ARRIVE. A clergyman’s failure to put in an apperance at a wedding at Christ Church, Little Heath, Middlesex, on July 24, led to an anxious situation. Miss Elsie Helen Clark and Mr. William Robert Roper, both of Potter’s Bar, were to have been married at 2 o’clock at the church named. In the absence of the vicar it had been arranged that the ceremony should be performed by the vicar of an adjacent parish. The bride and bridegroom were at the church at the appointed hour, practically the whole village of Potter’s Bay turning out to see them married. A large crowd had to wait outside. At half-past 2 the clergyman had not arrived, and the organist, who had played several voluntaries, struck up a hymn, which the congregation joined in singing. Another hymn was sung and still the clergyman-did not appear. It was now 3 o’clock and the anxieties of the bridal party were increasing. A motorist was dispatched to bring the vicar, but returned with the disconcerting news that he had left earlier in the day to go to another district. The bride’s father telephoned to all the neighbouring parishes between Hatfield and Burnet, but failed to get into communication with a clergyman, while motorists scoured the countryside without success. At length a motor-car containing a party which included a man iii clerical attire was seen approaching. The car was held up and the position explained. The clergyman t.urned out to be the Bishop of California. He explained that he would willingly give his services, but .he doubted whether a marriage solemnised by him in England would be legal. At that moment a car dashed up containing the Rev. W. Stanhope Lovell, of Hatfield. He was wearing ‘a lounge suit and soft collar, and as he alighted from the car and entered the church he was loudly cheered by the crowd. Although it was a quarter to 4 it was decided to proceed with the wedding, and the ceremony was concluded just as the clock struck four.