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from marriages contracted in the Colonies which are not within those prohibited relations; so that it becomes an inferior description of union, and this inferiority of course we desire to see removed, especially as it is in connection with a contract of such pre-eminent and profound importance as marriage is.
Mr. Dodds: Was that Colonial Bill limited to the recognition of Colonial marriages as regards the law of inheritance only, or was it a Bill to alter the law altogether as regards England?[1]
The President: I could not answer that question off hand; but I do not myself quite see what kind of Act could be drawn to say, this marriage shall be valid and recognised as valid in England, and at the same time to say that the issue of it shall not inherit land. Mr. Upington’s suggestion was something in that direction, that with a view of making it absolutely certain that the marriage should be recognised as valid, except for one purpose, namely inheritance, some Act of that kind should be passed.
Mr. Upington: My proposal would be that something to this effect should be done: that marriages lawfully entered into in the United Kingdom and in the Colonies should be looked upon as valid marriages in every portion of Her Majesty’s dominions: but that nothing contained in this proposal should be taken to affect the existing law of the United Kingdom or of any Colony with reference to property situated within the United Kingdom or such Colony.
Mr. Dodds: I do not see what you gain by that.
- ↑ It was a Bill to make Colonial marriages legal in England in every respect, and was substantially, though with some verbal alterations, the same as quoted by Sir Henry Holland. See next page.
