Registrar-Generals-Department-Annual-report-1959-1960 — Page 22

at Tsuen Wan, the Sai Kung (North) Rural Committee Office at Tai Po Market, the District Office, Yuen Long, and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce Office at Cheung Chau. All these, with the exception of the Cheung Chau Sub-Registry, are to open one day a week. The Cheung Chau Sub-Registry will, at least in the first instance, open only one day a fortnight.

Marriages Registered and Performed

55. The total number of marriages performed advanced by 1,735 over the previous year's total to the new high record figure of 9,689, which included 9,292 marriages between Chinese parties. 8,776 of the marriages were civil marriages, 4,132 taking place in the principal Registry and 4,644 in the Kowloon Registry. The remaining 913 mar- riages were celebrated in licensed places of worship of various denomina- tions. December 1959 had the distinction of being the first month in which the number of marriages registered exceeded 1,000, the total for that month being 1,018, well above the highest number ever registered in a whole year before the war. The first Registry marriage conducted wholly in Chinese took place on 22nd January, 1960, more than 82 years after that first Registry wedding on 7th June, 1877 between two parties of Chinese race when they 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'.

Fees

56. The fees collected totalled the record figure of $116,934, $22,247 more than in 1958/59. Particulars are given in Table XV.

Comparison with Previous Years

57. Table XVI gives statistics of marriages for the past ten years. From this it will be seen that the number of marriages registered under the Marriage Ordinance has increased in the past ten years from 2,051 in 1950/51 to 9,689 in 1959/60, an increase of 372%. No statistics are available of the number of unregistered marriages taking place, but it is thought that the number of registered marriages must now be in the region of 40% of the total number as compared with about 12% ten years ago. With the opening of the new Sub-Registries and the growing appreciation of the value of registered marriages there is every reason to suppose that the numbers of such marriages will continue to increase.

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