Note 1311 — Chapter X · RISE OF CIVIL MARRIAGE

Something had, however, been done to check this evil by Tudor legislation. The act of 3 H. VII., c. 2, Statutes at Large (Ruffhead), II, 69, provides that if anyone take away against her will any woman, whether maid, widow, or wife, "having substances, some in Goods moveable, and some in Lands and Tenements, and some being Heirs apparent unto their ancestors," and marry her or cause her to be married or deflowered, or in any way aid or abet the same, he shall be guilty of felony; and the act of 39 Elizabeth, c. 9, Statutes at Large, II, 689, deprives such offenders of benefit of clergy. Again by 4 and 5 Philip and Mary, c. 8, Statutes at Large, II, 515, the abduction of a maid under sixteen is punishable by two years' imprisonment or a fine to be fixed by the Star Chamber; while the taking away and marrying or deflowering any woman child under that age is punishable with five years' imprisonment or a fine as in the first case. For these and the earlier statutes regarding rape see The Lawes Resolutions of Womens Rights, 376-90.

These acts, it should be noted, are quite restricted in their range and besides, by 1653, they seem to have become practically a dead letter; although in 1753 Attorney General Ryder declares they are still in force: Hansard, Parliamentary History, XV, 3-5; and so does the act of 1650, c. 43: Scobell, Acts and Ordinances, 151. On the other hand, the act of the Commonwealth applies to all minors under twenty-one, men or women, whether heirs or possessors of property or not; the penalties were severe; and the fraudulent or forcible marriage is void.