Genealogy Chat

Just discovered dear old granpa was born three months after gr. grandparents were married. That I think explains the irregular marriage.

Many thanks Christine thats a great help. I sent away for a copy of the marriage cert and its from 1876. After reading your reply I see at the bit where the witnesses names should go ,it says Warrant of Sheriff Substitute of Lanarkshire. It was obviously classed as an irregular marriage. Oh, if only I could find out more! Its so frustrating.

Eileen just found this A marriage by declaration was one of the irregular forms of marriage which were widely used in Scotland up until 1933. the only form which survived after that was by "habit and repute". A couple could declare themselves to be husband and wife in the presence of witnesses and the law recognised such a union, though the Church of Scotland did not, in the sense that it was an irregular marriage. In the days before civil marriages and when couples could be dragged before firstly the Kirk Session and then the Congregation for premarital fornication, for which they could be censured and fined, a couple who found themselves in such a predicament and the girl pregnant, could hastily go through such an irregular form of marriage and then at a later date seek to have it recognised and avoid the stigma of being declared a fornicator! Unless the couple did go through the formal channels of asking the Church to recognise such an irregular marriage, then pre 1855 there will almost certainly be no record of it, unless someone happened to keep a diary or the Kirk Session minutes recorded the event or the couple subsequently had children baptised and the Minister or Session Clerk recorded a note about the parents' irregular marriage. The OPR only records marriages conducted in the Church of Scotland by the Parish Minister and only then if the couple paid to have it recorded, since there was a fee. Some other marriages do get recorded, e.g. important Roman Catholic or Episcopalian families would have their services "repeated" by the Parish Minister so as not to fall foul of the law and usually the church would turn a blind eye to the fact that the actual celebrant who conducted the original service wasn't a C of S minister. After all it would have been a brave Minister who told the Earl of Lothian, who owned a large chunk of the county, that he wasn't going to record the Earl's Roman Catholic marriage by refusing a "sham" Church of Scotland service! The biggest problem with pre 1855 records is that they are only as good as the people recording them and as safe as the importance placed on them by the people charged with preserving them, before the modern era. In the 1960's if a Council or Kirk had to decide between building a new school or repairing the church roof and preserving a bunch of old records rotting away in the basement, you can guess which argument prevailed! Forgot to say that the famous Gretna Green marriages over the anvil were a perfect example of Marriages by Declaration. The Blacksmith wasn't licensed to carry out weddings, it was the mere fact that the couple made their declaration in public which made the marriage legal hope that helps Christine

Hi Eileen the only registry office I have known in Glasgow is John Street, but maybe someone else will know differently

Sheila, it says on the Marriage cert the date and address 67 Great Nile Street Glasgow, by Declaration in presence of two names who were husband and wife. Maybe someone out there knows if this address was a registry office?

My grandparents were married in a registery office but it says Solemnized.

Thats what I thought Sheila but I'm not sure.

Registery Office??

My Great Grandfather was married in Glasgow by Declaration. Can anyone explain exactly what this means?