A NEW ZEALAND HEIRESS.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XII, Issue 239, 21 September 1922, Page 2

A NEW ZEALAND HEIRESS.

MARRIAGE HITCH. London, Aug. 4. New Zealanders in London says a correspondent) who ar© not “in the know” are naturally very curious after reading in the “Daily Mail” the following story:— A wedding arranged to take place in a London registry office had to be postponed because of doubt concerning the age of the would-be bride, who was born in New Zealand and is an heiress under the jurisdiction of the New Zealand courts. When applying for the license her fiance said that she was a little older than 21, but he did not know the year of her birth. The registrar agreed to take the notice provisionally, but asked for proof of age to be produced when the parties came to be married. At the appointed time for the ceremony, the bride, a pretty fair girl of more than medium height, appeared in ft dress of white satin, with a large hat to match, and carrying a bouquet of lilies. The superintendent-registrar asked if the birth certificate or any other proof of age had been obtained. The bride explained that she could not get a birth certificate in this countrv. as she was born in New Zealand. She, however, assured the official that she was 21 and was entitled to marry without any consent. The superintendent-registrar intimated that he could not perform th© ceremony until some proof of age was forthcoming, or until the parties had seen the Registrar-General and obtained his authority. Disconsolately th© young couple left, the office unmarried, the bride still carrying her bouquet of flowers.