The case was heard 20 March 1866 before Lord Penzance, and established the common law definition of marriage.
[1] The case clearly spelled out the characteristics of marriage, such as a voluntary union involving one woman and one man for life and 'to the exclusion of all others'.
[5] His wife left him,[6] and subsequently remarried in Utah Territory, which was the basis for his suit for divorce.
The court denied his petition on the grounds that the relationship he had entered into did not constitute a marriage under the law of England.
The heavy reliance on Lord Penzance's definition of marriage has been criticised on two distinct grounds.