Marriage: Love and Law exhibition catalogue - Flipbook - Page 46
ABDUCTION,
INFLUENCE
From the mid-19th Century as NSW transitioned from its convict
beginnings into a free settler society, the Colony increasingly
adopted the social, political and economic strictures associated
with Queen Victoria’s rule. The State no longer controlled marriage
matches, but other forces were at play—including race, class and
gender—that determined whether society deemed unions suitable
and thus, ‘respectable’. The roles of men and women became more
rigid. Men, the visible decision makers in the public and private
spheres, assumed greater control as head of the family, and this
extended over who their daughters should marry. One father
objected in such strong terms to his daughter’s marriage that the
NSW Legislative Council introduced a new law to have the union
declared void.
34 Parliament of NSW
An Act to declare void an alleged
marriage between Emmeline Emma
Blake, an infant, and Patrick Meehan
Vellum with interleaving, green silk
ribbon and embossed paper seals
1853
NSW State Archives, NRS 13032
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