724779-1858-PROCLAMATION — Page 1

THE

Hongkong

Government

GAZETTE.

NEW SERIES.

VICTORIA, SATURDAY, 1ST MAY, 1858.

GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.

VOL. III. No. 152.

The Contract for publishing this Gazette, entered into on the 24th September, 1853, was terminated on the 30th ultimo; and notice is hereby given, that a NEW SERIES of this Gazette will be published hereafter, to commence from the 7th instant, under a New Contract, and that

"THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE” will, as before, be the only Official Organ for PROCLAMATIONS, NOTIFICATIONS, and PUBLIC PAPERS, of this Government.

No. 39.

By Order,

Colonial Secretary's Office, Victoria, Hongkong, 2d July, 1855.

JOHN BOWRING.

PROCLAMATION.

W. T. MERCER, Colonial Secretary.

By His Excellency SIR JOHN BOWRING, Knight, LL.D., Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Hongkong and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same, Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary and Chief Superintendent of the Trade of British Subjects in China.

Whereas the Commands of Her Most Gracious Majesty The QUEEN, conveyed through The Right Honourable The Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, have been received, approving of and confirming the two follow- ing Ordinances, namely:

No. 11 of 1857, entitled-

An Ordinance for licensing and regulating Emigration Passage Brokers;

entitled-

No. 12 of 1857,

An Ordinance for checking the spread of Venereal Diseases:

Now therefore, it is hereby declared, that the said Two Ordinances have been so approved and confirmed: as aforesaid.

By His Excellency's Command,

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.

W. T. BRIDGES, Acting Colonial Secretary-

Given at Victoria, Hongkong, this 26th Day of April, 1858.

No. 40.

GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.

His Excellency The Governor has been pleased to appoint A. L. INGLIS, Esquire, to discharge the duties of Acting Harbour Master and Emigration Officer, until further Notice.

By Order,

W. T. BRIDGES, Acting Colonial Secretary.

Colonial Secretary's Office, Victoria, Hongkong, 30th April, 1858.

No. 20.

GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.

With reference to the Validity of Marriages solemnized in China, otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of the Act 12 and 13 Victoria, Cap. 68, His Excellency SIR JOHN BOWRING, Knight, LL.D., Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary and Chief Superintendent of Trade in China, &c., &c., has received a Despatch from The Right Honourable The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, a Copy of which is hereby published for general information..

No. 7.

By Order,

Superintendency of Trade, Victoria, Hongkong, 26th April, 1858.

G. W. CAINE.

FOREIGN OFFICE, March 9, 1858.

Sin, I have had under my consideration, and have referred to the proper Law Advisers of the Crown, your Despatches Nos. 452 and 7 of the 26th of December and 9th of January last, on the subject of the doubts which had arisen as to the Validity of the Marriages of British Subjects at Chinese Ports; and I have to acquaint you, in reply, that the Statute 12 and 13 Victoria, Cap. 68, empowering a Consul to solemnize Marriages, does not affect the validity of, or in any way interfere with, any Marriages which would have been valid independently of that Statute, in which category are Marriages celebrated in China by Ministers of the Church of England, according to the forms of that Church..