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January 30, 1833
Newfoundland Marriage Regulations
On this date Bishop Michael Anthony Fleming, Roman Catholic Bishop of St. John’s petitioned the newly established House of Assembly of Newfoundland asking that Wesleyan ministers be allowed to perform marriages, and that those done to date be legalized.
The 1824 Newfoundland Marriage Act placed Roman Catholic priests on an equal footing with Church of England (Anglican) priests, while introducing a registration fee, but dissenting clergy such as the Wesleyans (Methodists) continued to be discriminated against.
Bishop Fleming was opposed to this discrimination and also opposed the taxes on marriages and burials which Newfoundland Roman Catholics and Wesleyan Dissenters were compelled to pay to the Church of England clergy. Roman Catholics and Wesleyan’s were obliged to collect a burial tax of 12 shillings and six pence per burial and remit this to the Church of England parson.
Bishop Fleming’s petition reflected his determined opposition of the Church of England‘s political, economic, and social domination of Roman Catholics and other Protestant denominations.
Recommended Reading: Between Damnation and Starvation: Priests and Merchants in Newfoundland Politics, 1745-1855 By John P. Greene, McGill-Queen's Press. 2001
Archival Document: In the Archives of the Archdiocese of St. John’s is a Marriage Register (1828-1882) that shows that the Roman Catholics and Wesleyan Missionaries shared the same register.
Church Terms: Traditionally the term in Newfoundland for the clergy of the Church of England was the 'Minister'; of the Church of Rome as the 'Priest,' and of the Wesleyan or any of the dissenting bodies as the 'Preacher.'
For more information on this and other related subjects contact the Archives of the R.C. Archdiocese. www.stjohnsarchdiocese.nf.ca
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Larry Dohey
Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s
P.O. Box 1363
St. John’s, NL
A1C 5M3
709-726-3660
E-mail: archives@nf.aibn.com
We hope that you have enjoyed this archival moment.
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