Marriages in England.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 998, 17 April 1891, Page 5

Marriages in England.

In writing upon the statistics of the marriage rate in England for the year 1890 * Miranda ’ gossips *ln London the proportion of marriages to population showed only a small advance, but there was a large percentage of increase in some parts of England, “ beginning with 9.7 per cent in Buohinghamshire, going up still higher is Derbyshire, Hereford shire, Northumberland, Westmoreland, and Bedfordshire.’ I wonder if there will be a great migration to Monmouthshire when it it renown that county is so favourable to marriage that the returns show an advance of as much as 17.7 per cent. A continued increase is reported iu the proportion of Jewish marriages. Quaker ones Lave remained for some years at one point, and that a very low one, and have dropped considerably behind the ratio recorded 50 years ago. The Roman Catholic marriages were the Bame as in 1888, but there is a distinct decline in the marriages celebrated according to the rites of the Church of England, although the ratio is still largely in favour of the Establishment. Out of every thousand of marriages which took place in England and Wales last year, close upon seven hundred (698) were celebrated in connection with the 'Ofiuroh of England, leaving the balance of a little over three hundred for all others. The discrepancy was greater in 1841, the Church then taking considerably more than nine hundred out of every thousand. Within the pale of the Established Church there is a singular change as to the preliminary mode in ,respect to marriages.. The average proportion of marriages aftsr banns remains much the same when they are compared in number with marriages of all kinds and among all creeds. In this respect Church marriages show scarcely any decline at all. Still more, when compared with Church marriages alone, those solemnised after banos show an increase. But this takes place at the expense of marriages by license, and marriage by superintendent registrar’s certificate. Under the head of * Other Christian Denominations,’ exolusive of Roman Catholics, we naturally find a large and steady increase in the number of marriages compared with the total, the ratio being more than doubled since 1844. There is yet a larger increase in the case of civil marriages iu the offices of the superintendent registrars. It was not until 1873 that these last became equal to the proportion of marriages among * Other Christian Denominations.’ They now considerably exceed that proportion. We also learn that ‘ widowers and widows joining in marriage ’ were a decidedly diminishing quantity, but that there is an increase In the marriage rate as regards divorced persons.’