THE FORBIDDEN MARRIAGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11825, 30 November 1901, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE FORBIDDEN MARRIAGE.

DEFIANCE OF THE COURT OF CHANCERY.

Chancery writs and opposition of relatives notwithstanding. Lieut. Richard William Francis Cecil, a minor and a ward in Chancery, has proclaimed his resolve to marry Miss Jessie Bain, of Belfast, for on Sunday, October 13, at St. Cuthbert's Church, Edinburgh, the banns were published. The church was crowded. But the lovers did not put in an appearance. Both were described as of 6. Melville-street, Edinburgh. The order of the Chancery Division of the High Court o f England forbidding the marriage of Lieutenant Cecil has been served upon the parties interested. But preparations for th*, wedding proceed merrily, nevertheless. .Miss Jessie Bain's father, who is agent for. the extensive Irish estates of Lord Massereene and Sir John Stewart, has furnished an interviewer with some new and interesting details of the romance. It appears that ''Mrs. Tillard," better known as Lady Francis CeciJ (Lieutenant Cecil's mother)*, who had first been in iavour of the marriage, appeared at Mr. Bain's office in Belfast on September 26, accompanied by Mr. C. S. Wilson, a solicitor. 'the lady asked at what stage the proceedings had arrived, and on the answer being given the legal gentleman stated that any consent which had been given was unreservedly withdrawn. "We have decided." he added, " that under no circumstances will the marriage be permitted to go on." Mr. Bain replied that he was much obliged for the information. Lady Francis Cecil and Mr. Wilson then asked for an understanding that the banns would not be proclaimed a third time. If Mr. Bain declined to give such r,n understanding they threatened to puol'sn advertisements in the newspapers warning registrars and others to adopt further stringent measures. Mr. Bain pointed out what what he described as the cruel and heartless conduct of allowing a license to be applied for, waiting until the time had almost expired, then requesting that the banns should be published and then following a similar course of attempting to delay the mariage in the hope that something would urn up to prevent it. Mr. Bain intimated that he did not feel disposed to put up with such treatment. Lady Francis and Mr. Wilson then left to see the rector of Jordanstown, with whose name and address Mr. Bain fad supplied them.

THE CRISIS REACHED. Mr. Bain, seeing now that matters had readied a crisis, and that the happiness of his daughter was threatened, reso'ved to take immediate action, and he did. He left that night for Scotland, taking his daughter and Lieutenant Cecil with him. Next morning Mr. and Miss Bain, with Lieutenant Cecil, were on Scottisn soil. Mm. Bain made her arrangements and followed a any or two later. Arrived in Edinburgh, Mr. Bain put himself in the hands of an eminent firm of lawyers, and since then all that has been done has been dene on their advice. Lady Francis, it would seem, mads an allidavit in the Court of Chancery, and the latter at once issued an interim injunction restraining Richard William Francis Cecil and Jessie Bain from intermarrying, from having interviews or communications with e-.ch other, directly or indirectly, and restraining also Mr. John Bain and all trie young lady's relations and friends from aiding or assisting in or procuring any marriage or any interview or communication. That injunction, however, Mr. Bain has been legally advised, does not constitute any barrier to the marriage. Since they" came to Edinburgh Mr. and Mrs. Bain, Miss Bain, and Lieutenant Cecil, although they have made no attempt whatever to conceal their whereabouts or their intentions, have been shadowed in a manner which has been exceedingly disagreeable to them. Men have walked to and fro from the house, which is in a quiet, fashionable West End street, and stared in at the windows, and have dogged the footsteps of the party. Lord William Cecil, uncle of the bridegroom-elect, called on Mr. Bain—having had no difficulty in finding his residence—and asked that the marriage "should be deferred two years. Mr. Bain replied that that could not possibly be clone now. If such a suggestion had been made at the outset he should have concurred, but the matter had gone too far now, and the young people themselves had decided that they would .not wait. Subsequently Mr. T. H. Sidebattom, one of the Brooks' trustees, called, and made a similar .suggestion, stating that, if the young couple consented, he would forthwith have public announcement made of the engagement, and at the end of two years the young lady should be received into the family, and the young man would receive his fortune. Mr. Bain replied that it was not a question of fortune or position, and that, in view of the policy of the Cecil family to secure delay on any pretext, he felt he could not in , duty to his daughter consent to delay In this view the young couple, who were present at the intervipw, concurred.

Miss Bain is said to be tall and handsome, and is a splendid horsewoman and a good tennis-player. The honeymoon will probably be spent on Deeside, where the late Sir William Brooks' estate is situated, and will be followed by a tour on the Continent and in America*

PUNISHMENT OF DISOBEDIENCE. It is no slight or unregarded —legally speaking—to marry a ward-in Chancery without the permission of the Court. Both the ward and his or her accomplice in the marriage are liable to pains and penalties for their rashness. What is more striking is tho fact that all accessories, among whom are. the clergyman who performs the ceremony and tho witnesses to the marriage, may incur a condemnation for their offence. Over all England the Court of Chancery holds authority, and anybody concerned m svch an unsanctioned wedding as that contemplated by Miss Bain and Lieutenant Cecil is liable to arrest as soon as he or she crosses the border. If Lieutenant Lend marries Miss BaiD he can only return to England on the understanding that he may at any time be taken before the Court of Chancery and sent to Holloway in company with his briue. And there he may be kept indefinitely until the Court considers he is- " pureed of his contempt." Cases are on record where wards have been prohibited from marrying men who were respectively a watchmaker'* son apprenticed to a wigmakcr, a Jewish singer, an usher and writing master at the school where the ward was being educated. Lord Eldon refers to a case in which he prevented the son of a baronet from marrying the daughter of a bricklayer. On the other hand, Lord Gordon, a man of unimpeachable pedigree, was refused permission to marry a ward because he only had an allowance from his father, and could make no adequate settlement on his wife. A male ward has been ordered by the Court to go abroad and leave his wife, a lady to whom the Court objected. A girl of nine married a man much her senior, and was ordered to desert him in order that she might decide at the age of twelve whether she wished to affirm the marriage. The powers of the Court, indeed, arc arbitrary. A ward was once ordered to become an undergraduate at Cambridge. He happened to have a preference for Oxford, and matriculated there. The Court sent. p. tipstaff and brought him back to Cambridge.

[The marriage took place in Scotland, and the bridegroom promised no', to leave the United Kingdom.]