Another bit - perhaps useful? We have an " irregular marriage " for my husband's great aunt, in 1904 in Aberdeen. But the reason for this was that both parties involved were non-conformist, Episcopalian, and had to be married with " a warrant of Sherrif Substitutes " and listed as an irregular marriage, although they were very much married! So sometimes other reasons were clued in for this title. Mary

On 05/08/2013 12:01, Mary Simpson wrote: > Another bit - perhaps useful? > > We have an " irregular marriage " for my husband's great aunt, in 1904 in Aberdeen. But the reason for this was that both parties involved were non-conformist, Episcopalian, The new law about Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages, which came into force in 1855, rather tended to assume (a) that all marriages would be solemnised in Church, and (b) that the Church was the Kirk of Scotland. The invalidity of (a) was soon noticed, and necessitated the procedure whereby irregular (but perfectly legal) marriages could be "homologated" by appearing before the Sheriff and obtaining a Warrant. I do not know the date at which other religions were recognised as valid dispensers of "regular" marriage, but I rather think it was earlier than 1904, so I am not sure that your reason for the "iregular" marriage is correct. > and had to be married with > > " a warrant of Sherrif Substitutes " and listed as an irregular marriage, although they were very much married! They were not "married with a Warrant of the Sheriff-Substitute". The likely sequence of events is that they went through a "Marriage by Declaration", which was perfectly valid under Scots Law, but which, as a result of faulty drafting of the relevant Acts, left them without a certificate from a Minister, so the Registrar would refuse to record the Marriage - and failure to register a marriage was a criminal offence. So they appeared before the Sheriff who, if he was satisfied (a) that they were free to marry each other and (b) that some form of irregular marriage had taken place, would issue a Warrant which would satisfy the requirements of the Registrar. Gavin Bell