A FOUR-MINUTE WEDDING

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume IX, Issue 452, 13 January 1914, Page 7

A FOUR-MINUTE WEDDING

RACE AGAINST TIME FOR A RECTOR-

j There were dramatic moments at the j parish church of Great Bealings, Suffolk, ! when a bride and bridegroom had a nari row escape of not being married before I the clock struck three, after which hour I m the afternoon weddings cannot legally ', take place. The couple were Miss Baldly ; and Mr Mann. The vicar, having occasion ! to leave the parish, arranged with the neighboring rector of Playford to perform i the" ceremony at 2.30 p.m. But at 20 minutes to three the couple and their I friends were still waiting anxiously for j the rector's appearance. At the suggestion I of the parish clerk the carriage which was i m readiness to take the bride and bridej groom to their new home was despatched i post haste to little Bealings, a mile away. In seven minutes the carriage was at the L rectory there, and the rector, the Rev. |W. B. Palmer, was found at home. The I coachman explained matters, and a few j minutes later the carriage was travelling back to Great Bealings with the rector at a speed which m crowded thoroughfares might have been described as furious driving. Arrived at the. church, the rector was quickly robed, and went to the altar. "Itis 3" o'clock, sir," lamented the bridegroom. " Then I cannot many you," said the rector. " Yes, you can, sir," interposed the parish clerk. "It wants- four minutes to threu. I put my watch right by station time this morning." " I can do it m four minutes." said the rector, and the essential part of the ceremony was performed within the legal time.