PART III
MARRIAGE REGISTRY
19. All marriages except non-Christian customary mar- riages are governed by the provisions of the Marriage Ordinance (Cap. 181). Under this, a notice of intended marriage is exhibited at the Registry for 15 days, after which the Registrar issues a certificate which enables the marriage to be solemnized at a licensed place of worship, or to take place as a civil marriage before the Registrar. The Governor may grant a licence authorizing the marriage to take place before the expiry of the 15-day period, or dispensing with notice altogether.
20. Although civil marriages at the Marriage Registry were first permitted by Ordinance No. 1 of 1852, this was limited to marriages where one or both of the parties was a Christian, and it was not until 7th June, 1877, that the first marriage took place between two parties of Chinese race. The parties both appeared in traditional Chinese nuptial costume, and it was a matter deemed worthy of special comment that the bride signed her name "in good legible characters". A further 19 years had to pass before Ordinance No. 14 of 1897 permitted civil marriage at the Registry between parties neither of whom 'was a Christian. At first few Chinese availed them- selves of the new provision, the vast majority preferring to get married according to their traditional customary ceremonies. Such customary marriages were and are expressly exempted from the provisions of the Marriage Ordinance, and are not and cannot be registered, but there is of course no objection to the ordinary Civil marriage at the Registry being preceded or followed by marriage according to the traditional customary
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