ORDINANCE No. 14 of 1875.
Marriage.
No. 14 of 1875.
An Ordinance to provide a general Register of Marriages celebrated in Hongkong.
Title.
[7th September, 1875.]
1401
WHEREAS it is expedient that marriages celebrated in the Colony of Hongkong should be systematically recorded in one general register: Be it enacted by the Governor of Hongkong, with the advice of the Legislative Council thereof, as follows:-
1. This Ordinance may be cited for all purposes as "The Marriage Ordinance, 1875."
Short title.
2. Every minister of religion or other person who has in his custody any register or other official record of marriages heretofore celebrated in the Colony may, within three months after this Ordinance takes effect, deliver to the Registrar General the said register or official record, or a copy thereof, omitting, if desired, any matters of a private or confidential nature.
3. Every person delivering a copy shall append thereto a certificate in the following form:---
I, A. B., &c., do certify that the above written pages are a true copy (excepting only matters of a private or confidential nature) of the register [or official record] of marriages heretofore celebrated in St. John's Cathedral Church [or as the case may be] and that the original is in my custody.
Existing registers or copies thereof to be delivered to the Registrar General.
Copies to be certified.
Dated the day of 187
(Signed,) A. B.
4. The Governor may defray, from the public revenue of the Colony, all proper expenses connected with the delivery of the said registers or official records, or of making and delivering copies thereof.
Expenses may be defrayed from public revenue.
5. The Registrar General shall be Registrar of Marriages, and, to assist him, the Governor may appoint one or more Deputy Registrars, and such deputies may celebrate marriages, and may exercise all the other powers, and perform all the duties conferred upon the Registrar General by this Ordinance, and all acts done by a deputy shall be as valid as if done by the Registrar General.
Registrar of marriages and deputies.