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however, cases of marriage by proxy have come to notice and although the validity of such a marriage has never been decided by the Courts, at least there is a case wherein, it can be argued, there was implied recognition of such a marriage." Dyer Ball, writing nearly sixty years ago, describes the custom:-
"When a man is absent from home and unavoidable circumstances prevent his return to be married, a strange marriage by proxy takes place sometimes in some districts of the Canton province; we are not aware whether it prevails in other parts of the empire or not. But the curious thing about it is that, instead of a man acting as the proxy, a cock does duty for the latter to the marriage ceremonies, though it is not even necessary that he should be sent by the bridegroom. This fowl is sent by the bridegroom, the presence of the fowl at the wedding being sufficient."10
On 1st July 1940 an action was brought before Sir Atholl MacGregor C.J. for the purpose of obtaining letters of administration. The plaintiff claimed that she was the lawful widow of a man whom she married by proxy in China in 1922 and who was presumed to have died in City Island, New York, in 1930 without having consummated the marriage. She gave evidence that at the ceremony carried out in the deceased's village while the deceased was in New York, he was represented by a cock decorated with golden flowers and draped in red. At the time of that marriage ceremony the plaintiff was a widow of a previous marriage to another and had three children.
As is usual in cases involving Chinese customary law, there was a battle of the experts: one gave evidence that after the cock draped in red had been taken together with the bride to the ancestral hall and had entered the bridal chamber, the marriage was regarded as valid and complete as if the bridegroom and the bride were present and even though there was no subsequent consummation; the other expert gave evidence that according to the Ching Code, the most essential point for a valid marriage was a betrothal, for the validity of which there must be a marriage contract or marriage presents exchanged between the two families. Where there was a valid betrothal there must be some kind of public ceremony in order to complete the marriage. A marriage without a valid betrothal in the first instance and without a formal ceremony to complete it, could not, the second expert stated, have any legal effect. He conceded, however, that there was some local custom allowing representation of the bridegroom by a cock.
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however, cases of marriage by proxy have come to notice and although the validity of such a marriage has never been decided by the Courts, at least there is a case wherein, it can be argued, there was implied recognition of such a marriage."" Dyer Ball, writing nearly sixty years ago, describes the custom:-
"When a man is absent from home and unavoidable circumstances prevent his return to be married, a strange marriage by proxy takes place sometimes in some districts of the Canton province; we are not aware whether it prevails in other parts of the empire or not. But the curious thing about it is that, instead of a man acting as the proxy, a cock does duty for the latter to the marriage ceremonies, though it is not even necessary that he should be sent by the bridegroom. This fowl is sent by the bridegroom, the presence of the fowl at the wedding being sufficient."10
On 1st July 1940 an action was brought before Sir Atholl MacGregor C. J. for the purpose of obtaining letters of administration. The plaintiff claimed that she was the lawful widow of a man whom she married by proxy in China in 1922 and who was presumed to have died in City Island, New York, in 1930 without having consummated the marriage, She gave evidence that at the ceremony carried out in the deceased's village while the deceased was in New York, he was represented by a cock decorated with golden flowers and draped in red. At the time of that marriage ceremony the plaintiff was a widow of a previous marriage to another and had three children. As is usual in cases involving Chinese customary law, there was a battle of the experts: one gave evidence that after the cock draped in red had been taken together with the bride to the ancestral hall and had entered the bridal chamber, the marriage was regarded as valid and complete as if the bridegroom and the bride were present and even though there was no subsequent consummation; the other expert gave evidence that according to the Ching Code, the most essential point for a valid marriage was a betrothal, for the validity of which there must be a marriage contract or marriage presents exchanged between the two families. Where there was a valid betrothal there must be some kind of public ceremony in order to complete the marriage. A marriage without a valid betrothal in the first instance and without a formal ceremony to complete it, could not, the second expert stated, have any legal effect. He conceded, however that there was some local custom allowing representation of the bridegroom by a
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