Report No. 59

6.16. Consent and essential ingredient.-

Decided authorities in England establish that consent is an essential ingredient of marriage, and that its absence, howsoever brought about, makes the marriage void ab initio.1-2-3

1. Fulwoods' case, 1638 Cro Car 482 (488, 493), referred to in Moss v. Moss, 1897 Probate 263 (268).

2. Tarry v. Browne, (1661) 1 Sid 64 (65); see D. Tolstoy Void and Voidable Marriages, (1964) 27 Modem Law Review 385, 389.

3. Harford v. Morris, (1776) 2 Hag Con 423 (436); as explained in Portsmouth v. Portsmouth, (1828) 1 Hag Eccl 355 (359).