Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act – „pierwsza” angielska ustawa o małżeństwie
Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act – the “first” English marriage act

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this paper is first to present a legal history analysis of the phenomenon of clandestine marriages in modern England, where the institution of marriage was still partially under canon law and ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Then, the analysis focuses on An act for the better preventing of clandestine marriages, enacted by Parliament in 1753. This act, passed on the initiative of the Lord Chancellor Hardwicke (hence the common name Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act), aimed to eliminate clandestine marriages from social practices by introducing a formal ceremony of marriage under the pain of nullity (a diriment impediment). The key elements of the new measure were the obligation to marry in the parish church and, in the case of minors, to obtain a prior parental consent for marriage. The solutions adopted in the Hardwicke’s Act and the very fact of their introduction by Parliament have initiated the process of taking over the Church of England’s marital jurisdiction by the State. This phenomenon was already debated at the time and remains an important subject of contemporary research on the Act. The conclusions of the analysis confirm the particular importance of the Hardwicke’s Act for the further evolution of the marriage institution in England, which justifies naming it the “first” English marriage act.

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