Irish Catholic marriage law in early penal New South Wales

Abstract

<p>In an important contribution to our understanding of marriage in early New South Wales (NSW), Ian Dodd presented a persuasive case for overturning long-held interpretations about English law 'travelling the seas'. Drawing on a range of primary sources, Dodd provided strong evidence that the 'English Clandestine Marriages Act of 1753 (26 Geo. 2, c.33), known as Hardwicke's Act (in force 25 March 1754) … clearly did not apply in the colony'.2 Dodd's work challenged earlier commentaries by Sir Samuel Griffith, Australia's chief justice, who in 1906 said 'there can be no doubt that amongst the laws introduced upon the settlement of the Colony of New South Wales were the marriage laws of England', and Charles H. Currey's claim that the <i>1754 English Marriage Act</i> applied in the colony up until 1834, and that prior to then all Roman Catholic rite marriage in the colony were invalid.³ One of Dodd's supporting arguments was that Governor Lachlan Macquarie introduced marriage regulations in October 1820 that permitted the first two official Catholic chaplains — Fr Philip Conolly and Fr John Joseph Therry — to solemnise Catholic marriages, something not permitted in England at the time, and entirely inconsistent with Hardwicke's Act that only recognised the legitimacy of the Established Church; that is the Church of England. </p>