[Anglican Communion News Service] Church of England Bishop of St Albans Alan Smith has become the first bishop in 20 years to steer draft legislation through the entire legislative process in the House of Lords, the upper house of Britain’s Parliament. At present, marriage registers include the name of the bride and groom’s fathers. If the Registration of Marriage Bill becomes law it will allow the parties’ mothers to be named as well. The bill also provides for the creation of electronic marriage registers in place of hand-written registers, which often lead to mistakes when details are added to electronic databases for searching.

“This injustice dates to 1837 when children were viewed as a father’s property and little consideration was given to women,” Smith said.

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