The Sixth Year of Anne - CHAP. XVI.



 

<P><a href="chron-anne.html#239094">161</a>
</P>

<P ALIGN="CENTER">The sixth Year of Anne.</P>

<P>A.D. 1707
</P>

<P ALIGN="CENTER">CHAP. XVI.</P>

<P align="center"><i><a href="v4p164s6.html">An 
  Act </a>for the more effectual preventing the taking away and marrying Children 
  against the Wills of their Parents or guardians.</i></P>


<P>WHEREAS by a statute made in this kingdom in 
  the tenth year of King Charles the first, intituled, <i>An 
  Act for the punishment of such as shall take away maidens that be inheritors, 
  being within the age of sixteen years, or marry them without the consent of 
  their parents; </i>every person or persons above the age of fourteen years 
  are thereby punished with fine and imprisonment, who shall take or convey away, 
  or cause to be taken and conveyed away, any maid or woman-child unmarried, being 
  within the age of sixteen years, out of or from the possession, custody, or 
  governance, and against the will of the father of such maid or woman-child or 
  of such person or persons to whom the father of such maid or woman-child by 
  his last will, or by any other act in his life time, hath or shall appoint, 
  and order the education of governance of such maid or woman-child, and shall 
  contract matrimony with the said maid or woman-child, as by the said act more 
  at large appeareth; which said punishment is not sufficient to deter wicked 
  and covetous men from committing such heinous offences, but the same are daily 
  perpetrated, to the great displeasure of Almighty God, and the great heaviness 
  and grief of the relations and friends of such persons who are so unlawfully 
  taken away; for reformation whereof, be it enacted by the Queen's most excellent 
  Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal 
  and commons in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the 
  same, That if any person or persons above the age of fourteen years, from and 
  after the first day of November one thousand seven hundred and seven, by fraud, 
  flattery, fair promisses, or other indirect means, shall secretly allure, take, 
  and convey away, or cause or procure to be taken or conveyed away, any maid 
  or woman-child, having substance in lands, tenements, or goods, or being heiress 
  to her ancestor, and within the age of eighteen years, out of or from the possession, 
  custody, or governance of the father or mother of such maid or woman-child, 
  or out of the custody or power of the guardian or guardians of such maid or 
  woman-child, against the will of the father 
  or mother of such maid or woman-child or of such person or persons who shall 
  then have the guardianship of such maid or</P>


<P>162</P>

<P> woman-child, or of such other person or persons as shall then lawfully have the
order, keeping, education, or government, of any such maid or woman-child, and
shall contract matrimony with such maid or woman-child, by and with the consent
of such maid or woman-child, the said person or persons, so taking away or
procuring to be taken away and marrying the said maid or woman-child without the
consent of the parent or guardian, and in case there be no parent or guardian
appointed, then and in such case of the lord chancellor, or lord-keeper, or
commissioners of the great seal for the time being, and be thereof lawfully
convicted, shall suffer imprisonment for the space of three years without bail or
mainprize, and shall be adjudged and taken to be for ever incapable and disabled to
have, receive, or take any manner of use, profit or benefit whatsoever, in law or
equity, of all or any part of the estate real or personal, to which such maid or
woman-child, or any person or persons in trust for such maid or woman-child at the
time of such marriage, or at any time thereafter, are or shall be seized  of, interested
in, or intituled  unto. </P>

<P> II. And be it further enacted by the authority 
  aforesaid, That the estate real or personal, which such maid or woman-child, 
  or any other person or persons in trust for her, shall be interested in, or 
  intituled unto, at the time of such marriage, or at any time afterwards, shall 
  upon the conviction of such persons or persons, so taking away and marrying 
  such maid or woman-child, be from the time of their marriage vested in such 
  trustees as the said lord chancellor, lord keeper, or the commissioners of the 
  great seal, shall think fit to nominate and appoint; subject nevertheless to 
  such payments, charges, and demands, as the same was liable to at the time of 
  such marriage: and upon this further trust and confidence that such trustees, 
  and the survivor and survivors of them, shall and may receive the rents, issues 
  and profits, of the said real and personal estate, and manage the same to 
  the best profit and advantage during the joint lives of the person so marrying: 
  and in case such woman happens to survive her said husband, then to the intent 
  and purpose that the said trustees, and the survivor of them, shall pay unto 
  such woman out of the rents, issues, and profits of the premises, such proportion 
  thereof for and during her natural life for her maintenance, as the lord chancellor, 
  lord keeper, or the lords commissioners of the great seal shall direct and appoint; 
  and also such sum and sums of money for the maintenance and education of the 
  children of such woman, as shall be appointed as aforesaid; and upon this further 
  trust, and to the intent and purpose, that the said estate real and personal, 
  and all the profits and produce thereof, other than what shall be</P>


<P>163</P>

<P>disposed of as aforesaid, or in payment of such debts as the same was liable to
before the said marriage, and other than what shall be necessarily expended by the
said trustees in execution of the said trust, shall from or after the death of such
woman so married as aforesaid  descend,  go and remain to such person and
persons, as the same would have done in case this act had never been made.</P>

<P>	III.  And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person or
persons shall at any time after the said first day of November one thousand seven
hundred and seven, by any subtile means, or secret insinuations and delusions,
threats or menaces perswade or procure the son and heir apparent, or other son, or
any person or persons having lands, tenements, or hereditaments, of the yearly value
of fifty pounds, or personal estate of the value of five hundred pounds, or shall in
manner aforesaid perswade or procure the eldest  son or any other son, of any
person or persons deceased to contract matrimony without the privity or consent of
the parents or guardians of such eldest or other son, and such matrimony be had as
aforesaid before such son attain the age of twenty one years, every such person or
persons contracting matrimony without the privity and consent of such parent or
guardian, and in case there be no parent or guardian appointed, then and in such
case of the lord chancellor and lord keeper, or commissioners of the great seal for
the time being, shall be and is hereby rendered incapable and for ever disabled to
sue for, recover, or demand any dowers, thirds, or any other part of the real or
personal estate of such son or sons, or claim or demand any jointure or other
provision out of the real or personal estate of such son or sons, made to or in trust
for her, by any will, deed, or settlement whatsoever.</P>

<P>	IV.  And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all persons who
shall be accessaries, aiders, abettors, or procurers, before the fact committed, in all
and singular the several offences herein before mentioned, being lawfully convicted 
thereof, shall suffer three years imprisonment.</P>

<P>	V.  And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person
shall after the first day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven
hundred and seven, celebrate, or take upon him to celebrate, any marriage of any
such persons as aforesaid, without such consent as aforesaid, and be thereof
lawfully convicted, every such person, being a beneficed clergyman within this
kingdom, shall be immediately from and after such conviction <i>ipso facto</i> deprived of
all his spiritual livings and ecclesiastical preferments, and the same are hereby
declared to be from thenceforth void; nevertheless no <i>lapse </i>shall incur on any </P>


<P>164</P>

<P>such avoidance; until the end of six months after notice given to the respective
persons of such conviction as aforesaid; and such clergyman so convicted shall from
and after such conviction be incapable of any spiritual preferment or promotion in
this kingdom, or of receiving any benefit thereby; and every other person so
offending and convicted as aforesaid shall be transported out of this kingdom in
such manner and form as persons exercising foreign jurisdiction, and popish
regulars, are by law appointed to be transported: and if such person shall after such
transportation return into this kingdom, he shall suffer all such pains and penalties as
persons exercising foreign jurisdiction, and popish regulars transported, and after
returning into this kingdom, are by the laws of this realm subject unto.  </P>

<P> <div id="6Annc16p164s5"></div><a href="chron-anne.html#239094">VI. 
  </a>And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any popish 
  priest shall, after the first day of November one thousand seven hundred and 
  seven, presume to celebrate the marriage of any the persons aforesaid, contrary 
  to the true meaning of this act, or shall celebrate matrimony between any persons, 
  knowing that at the time of such marriage they, or either of them, is of the 
  protestant religion, every such popish priest so offending, and being thereof 
  lawfully convicted, shall be deemed, judged, and reputed to be a popish regular, 
  and shall suffer all the pains, penalties, and forfeitures of a popish regular; 
  any thing contained in an act, intituled, <i>An 
  Act for the registering the popish clergy in this kingdom, </i>to the contrary 
  in any wise notwithstanding.</P>

<P>	VII.  And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any maid or
woman be taken or carried away by force against her consent, and after be married
or defiled by such person or persons who carried her away, or by any other person,
by his or their assent or procurement, whether such marriage or defilement be with
or without the consent of such maid or woman, so carried away by force and against
her will as aforesaid, every such person so marrying or defiling such maid or
woman, and the aiders and procurers of such forcible taking away of such maid or
woman, and all, as well principals as accessaries before such fact committed, shall
lose the benefit of clergy, and shall be deemed and adjudged to be felons, and shall
suffer pains of death without benefit of clergy; any former law to the contrary
thereof notwithstanding.</P>

<P>	VIII.  And if any person or persons, being principal or accessary before such
offences committed as aforesaid, shall be indicted and arraigned for the taking away
of any such maid or woman by force, against her consent, and marrying or defiling
such maid or woman as aforesaid, and upon his or their respective tryals shall stand
mute, or make no direct answer, or challenge</P>


<P>165</P>

<P> peremptorily above the number of twenty, he, or they, in every such case shall
suffer the pains of death without the benefit of the clergy.</P>

<P>	IX.  And whereas John O Bryan, who was bred a papist, and is a person of no
fortune, hath forcibly taken away Margaret Mac Namara, an infant of the age of
thirteen years, out of the possession and custody of her mother Margaret Mac
Namara, with intent to force the said minor to marry him the said John O Bryan, and
to that end hath by force detained the said minor for some months past in his
custody: be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if the said Margaret
Mac Namara, junior hath since the eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
one thousand seven hundred and seven, (on which day she was forced away as
aforesaid) inter-married with the said John O Bryan, in such manner as that the said
marriage may not be dissolved or declared void by the ecclesiastical laws of this
kingdom, then the fortune, to which the said Margaret Mac Namara junior was
intitled before such marriage by her father's will, or otherwise, being upwards of
two thousand pounds <i>sterl.</i> shall be and is hereby vested in the said Margaret Mac
Namara the mother, and Simon Purdon esquire, who were appointed guardians of
the said minor  by her said father's will, upon the following trusts:   (that is to say)</P>

<P>That they the said Margaret Mac Namara the mother, and Simon Purdon, and the
survivor of them, and the executors and administrators of such survivors, shall out of
the annual interest or produce of the said fortune pay for and towards the separate
provision and maintenance of the said Margaret Mac Namara junior the annual sum
of fifty pounds<i>  sterl.</i> to be received by her to and for her own separate use, and to
be disposed of by any direction under her hand, without the intermedling of  the said
John O Bryan, during the joint-lives of the said John O Bryan and Margaret  Mac
Namara junior; and in case the said Margaret Mac Namara junior shall out-live the
said John O Bryan, then in trust and to the intent that the said Margaret shall receive
the full use and produce of the said fortune during her natural life, as well what shall
become due above the said sum of fifty pounds<i>  per annum</i>, appointed for her
separate maintenance during the joint-lives of the said John O Bryan and Margaret
Mac Namara junior, as what shall become due after his death, in case she survive
him; and after her death, in trust as well the said principal sum as the interest
thereof, to and for the use of such child or children, being protestants, as shall be
begotten on the body of the said Margaret Mac Namara junior by the said John O
Bryan, or any other husband she shall happen to marry; but if the said Margaret Mac
Namara junior shall</P>


<P>166</P>

<P> dye in the life time of the said John O Bryan, leaving one or more child or children,
begotten on her body by the said John O Bryan, then in trust and to the use of such
child or children if they be bred  protestant:  but if the said Margaret  Mac Namara
junior happen to dye in the life-time of the said John O Bryan, leaving no child or
children by him begotten on her body, or if such child or children shall not be bred
protestants, or if all such children shall dye before their ages of one and twenty
years, and unmarried, then in trust and to the use of the said Margaret Mac Namara
senior, her executors, administrators, or assigns.      </P>


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