repealed, subject to any exceptions and qualifications in this Order mentioned.

Embassy Marriages.

2. The person before and by whom a marriage under the Foreign Marriage Acts may be solemnized and registered in an Embassy house in a foreign country shall either be the Ambassador, or the officer for the time being performing the duties of the Ambassador, or be any of the Secretaries attached to the Embassy from time to time appointed for the purpose in writing by the Ambassador, or by the officer performing his duties; and for the purpose of marriages solemnized in such Embassy house the Foreign Marriage Acts shall be construed as if such Ambassador, officer performing his duties, or Secretary, although holding no written authority from a Secretary of State under section 19 of "The Consular Marriage Act, 1849," were a duly authorized Consul within the meaning of the said Acts.

3. For the purpose of marriages solemnized in pursuance of section 2 of "The Marriage Act, 1890," the house in which a British Ambassador resides in the foreign country to the Government of which he is accredited, or which is occupied by him in that country for the purposes of his Embassy, shall be deemed to be the house of such Ambassador, and is in this Order referred to as the Embassy house, and every place within the precincts or curtilage of any such house, and any church or chapel annexed to such house, or for the time being used with the consent of the Government to which the Ambassador is accredited as the chapel thereof, shall be deemed to form part of the Embassy house.

4. For the purpose of marriages in an Embassy house in a foreign country in pursuance of section 2 of "The Marriage Act, 1890," expressions in the Consular Marriage Acts shall be construed as follows:

(a.) Expressions referring to the district of a Consul, or the district of a Consulate, shall be construed to refer to such parts of the foreign country as a Secretary of State may by writing under his hand from time to time direct, or, where there is no such direction, as are within 10 miles measured in a straight line on the horizontal plane from the Embassy house;

(b.) The expression "Consulate" shall be construed to refer to the Embassy or to the Embassy house, as the case requires ;

(c.) The expression "office of the Consulate" shall be construed to refer to such part of the Embassy house as the Ambassador may from time to time appoint as being sufficiently accessible to the public, and that part may be referred to as the office of the Embassy;

(d.) The expression "Consular seal" shall be construed to refer to the official seal of the Ambassador.

Embassy and Consular Marriages.

5. Where a marriage can be solemnized at a British Consulate in a foreign country, the leave of the Ambassador shall be obtained before the marriage is solemnized in the Embassy house in that country.

6.-(1.) Where a marriage according to the local law of a foreign country is valid by English law, then before a marriage is solemnized in that country under the Foreign Marriage Acts, whether in an Embassy house or at a Consulate, the officer by or before whom the marriage is to be solemnized and registered must be satisfied either

(a.) That both the parties are British subjects; or

(b.) If only one of the parties is a British subject, that the other is not a subject or citizen of the country; or

(e.) If one of the parties is a British subject and the other a subject or citizen of the country, that sufficient facilities do not exist for the solemnization of the marriage in the foreign country in accordance with the law of that country.

(2.) If a Consul, by reason of anything in this Article, refuses to solemnize or allow to be solemnized in his presence the marriage of any person requiring such marriage to be solemnized, that person shall have the right of appeal to a Secretary of State given by section 7 of "The Consular Marriage Act, 1849."*

7. In the case of any marriage under the Foreign Marriage Acts, if it appears to the officer by or before whom the marriage is to be solemnized and registered that the woman about to be married is a British subject, and that the man is an alien, he must be satisfied that the marriage will be recognized by the law of the foreign country to which the alien belongs.

8. The following modifications of the requirements of the Foreign Marriage Acts as to residence and notice, which appear to Her Majesty to be consistent with the observance of due precautions against the solemnization of clandestine marriages, shall have effect in the following class of cases, that is to say, where one only of the parties has dwelt within the district of the Ambassador or Consul:

(1.) A marriage may be solemnized under the said Acts in the Embassy house or Consulate of an Ambassador or Consul in whose district one of the parties has dwelt

* Vol. XXXVII, page 150.

(a.) If the officer by or before whom the marriage is solemnized and registered is satisfied that such notice as is mentioned below in sub-Articles 3 and 4 of this Article has been given of the intended marriage in the place where the other party has dwelt; or

(b.) If a Secretary of State is satisfied that such adequate notice has been given as will prevent the marriage being clandestine, and gives permission for the same to be solemnized.

(2.) In either case the oath, affirmation, or declaration under section 3 of "The Foreign Marriage Act, 1891," shall, in addition to the matters specified in sub-sections (a) and (c) of that section, state that one of the parties has for three weeks immediately preceding had his usual place of abode within the district of the Ambassador or Consul, and further state the place where the party who has not dwelt within that district has within three months immediately preceding had for three consecutive weeks his usual place of abode, and the notice which has been given in that place during those three weeks.

(3.) The notice to be given where the marriage is not solemnized with the permission of a Secretary of State shall, if the party has dwelt in a foreign country, be given, entered, and suspended in the manner and during the period provided by the Foreign Marriage Acts, in like manner as if the marriage were to be solemnized in a Consulate in that country, and the Consul shall, on payment of the proper fee, give a certificate that the notice has been so given and suspended, and that he is unaware of any impediment which should obstruct the solemnization of the marriage.

(4.) If the party dwells in a place in the United Kingdom, the notice shall be given in the like manner and on payment of the like fee as if that party were about to be married in that place, and in England or Ireland shall be given to the Superintendent Registrar or Registrar, and in Scotland shall be given by proclamation of banns; and the Superintendent Registrar or Registrar shall deal with the notice and give a certificate for marriage in like manuer and on payment of the like fee as in the case of a marriage in his district; and the session clerk of the parish in which the bauns were proclaimed in Scotland shall, in like manner and on payment of the like fee as in the case of a marriage in his district, give a certificate of proclamation of such banns.

Consular Marriages.

9. For the purpose of marriages at a Consulate under the Foreign Marriage Acts, every place within the curtilage or precincts of the house in which the Consul is for the time being resident or of the building which is for the time being used for the purpose of

his office, shall be part of the Consulate, and every place to which the public have ordinary access in the Consulate shall be deemed to be part of the office of such Consulate.

Registration of Marriages by Foreign Law.

10.-(1.) A Consular officer shall not be required to attend at the solemnization of a marriage solemnized in accordance with the local law unless the marriage is solemnized at the place where he is appointed to reside, nor unless the proper fee has been previously paid to him.

(2.) The Consular officer shall forthwith, after the solemnization. of the marriage, register the marriage in duplicate in books furnished to him by the Registrar-General through a Secretary of State for the purpose, separate from any register books provided for marriages solemnized by him, and shall register the same in accordance with section 11 of "The Consular Marriage Act, 1849," save that if the person by whom the marriage has been solemnized declines to sign the same, the Consular officer shall enter the name of that person, and the fact that he declines to sign the same.

(3.) The Consular officer shall transmit copies and the certificate and the book when filled, in manner provided by section 12 of "The Consular Marriage Act, 1849."

(4.) Nothing in this Order shall authorize any officer who is not a Consular officer to register a marriage solemnized in accordance with the local law.

(5.) The expression "Consular officer" includes a ConsulGeneral, Consul, Vice-Consul, Pro-Consul, Consular Agent, and any person for the time being authorized to discharge the duties of Consul-General, Consul, Vice-Consul, or Consular Agent.

High Commissioners, &c.

11.-(1.) A Secretary of State by a written authority under section 19 of "The Consular Marriage Act, 1849," may authorize a person to act in the place of a High Commissioner or Resident mentioned in "The Marriage Act, 1890," outside of Her Majesty's dominions.

(2.) If a Secretary of State gives such authority, or in pursuance of section 3 of "The Marriage Act, 1890," authorizes any High Commissioner, Resident, or other officer outside Her Majesty's dominions, not being a Consul as defined by this Order to solemnize and register marriages, then for the purpose of marriages solemnized and registered by or before any IIigh Commissioner, Resident, or

officer, or person so authorized, expressions in the Consular Marriage Acts shall be construed as follows:

(a.) Expressions referring to the district of a Consul or of a Consulate shall be construed to refer to the district for which such High Commissioner, Resident, or officer, or person is authorized to act for the purpose of the Foreign Marriage Acts ;

(b.) The expression "Consulate" shall be construed to refer either to the office held by him, or, as the case requires, to the building or part of a building or place specified in the document by which he is authorized to act;

(c.) The expression "office of the Consulate " shall be construed to refer to such portion of a building, part, or place so specified as is ordinarily accessible to the public;

(d.) The expression "Consular seal" shall be construed to refer to his official seal, or, if he has no official seal, to any seal ordinarily used by him, if the latter seal is authenticated by his signature with the addition of his official name or description.

Her Majesty's Ships.

12.-(1.) Marriages under the Foreign Marriage Acts on board one of Her Majesty's vessels may be solemnized by or before a Commanding Officer of such rank and of such vessel as is for the time being authorized for that purpose by or in pursuance of any Admiralty instructions, and for the purpose of any such marriages the Consular Marriage Acts shall be construed as if a Commanding Officer so authorized, although not having a written authority under section 19 of "The Consular Marriage Act, 1849," were a duly authorized Consul within the meaning of the Consular Marriage Acts, and for the purpose of such marriages expressions in those Acts shall be construed as follows:

(a.) Expressions referring to the district of a Consul or of a Consulate shall be construed to refer to such parts of the foreign station to which the Commanding Officer is attached as may be specified in that behalf by Admiralty instructions;

(b.) Expressions referring to the Consulate shall be construed to refer either to the office of the said Commanding Officer or to his vessel, as the case may require;

(c.) Expressions referring to the office of the Consulate shall be construed to refer to the part of the ship on which public notices are affixed;

(2.) Expressions referring to the Consular seal shall refer to the seal ordinarily used by the Commanding Officer, if the latter seal is authenticated by his signature with the addition of his official description.