Elliott Brown – “groom number two” as he describes himself – is feeling a little nervous about the 95 invitations to his wedding next month that were sent out after the government announced its “roadmap to freedom” back in February. Brown and his bride-to-be, Samantha, were due to marry last summer but the pandemic put paid to that. His brother Gareth – “groom number one” – got married in a small ceremony last weekend after postponing twice. A.
From 17 May, the ban in England on more than 30 people attending a funeral will be lifted. The number of mourners will be limited by the capacity of individual buildings, and social distancing measures will remain in place. Some 700,000 funerals have taken place across the United Kingdom since restrictions were put in place at the end of March of last year. Yet research conducted by the Church of England in January found that seven in 10 people had missed out on a funeral they would have attended in the past year had it not been for Covid-19. Since March 2020, four out of 10 people surveyed had experienced the death of someone close to them. Attending a funeral is an important part in the journey of grief, and the emotional cost of restricting this has been high.
Mothers’ names to appear on marriage certificates for first time
Changes will end ‘archaic’ practice in place since Victorian times, when children were seen as fathers property
4 May 2021 • 6:00am
Mothers’ names will appear on marriage certificates for the first time from Tuesday, as the Government corrects an “archaic anomaly”.
The changes will enable the names of both parents of the couple to be included on marriage certificates.
It is part of a new electronic system to modernise the way marriages are registered, which will also see the registry book for couples sealing their partnership replaced with a “schedule” that can be computerised.