Hyde v Hyde and Woodmansee
Marriage, as understood in Christendom, was defined as the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, a definition now changed by statute.
Facts
Mr Hyde, an Englishman, became a Mormon and married Miss Hawkins in Utah, where polygamy was permitted among Mormons. He later renounced the Mormon faith, and his wife, after he left, married another man. Mr Hyde returned to England and petitioned for divorce on the ground of his wife's adultery.
Legal principle
Lord Penzance held that he could not grant a divorce, because the marriage, being potentially polygamous, was not a marriage that the English courts would recognise for the purposes of matrimonial relief. He said that marriage, as understood in Christendom, may be defined as the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others. The rule that the courts could not grant relief in respect of polygamous marriages was later changed by statute, and same sex marriage was introduced by the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013.
Related cases on marriage, nullity and divorce
- Bellinger v Bellinger [2003] UKHL 21, [2003] 2 AC 467
- Buffery v Buffery [1988] 2 FLR 365
- Corbett v Corbett (otherwise Ashley) [1971] P 83
- Gereis v Yagoub [1997] 1 FLR 854
- Her Majesty's Attorney General v Akhter and Khan [2020] EWCA Civ 122, [2021] Fam 277
- Hirani v Hirani (1983) 4 FLR 232
- Hudson v Leigh [2009] EWHC 1306 (Fam), [2009] 2 FLR 1129
- KC and NNC v City of Westminster Social and Community Services Department [2008] EWCA Civ 198, [2009] Fam 11
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