Thanks Geoff. I would have thought it unlikely that it was a border marriage, but who can tell what people did. Anyway I'll check there. -----Original Message----- From: Geoff Nicholson via Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2014 4:55 PM To: annete@aapt.net.au ; northumbria@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [NMB] Calem CARR Winifred: You would be VERY lucky indeed to find details of any marriage from before 1837 in a non-Church of England register. Sometimes Roman Catholics recorded details of the marriage of members of their congregation who had married elsewhere, but hat is about all. The Law insisted that every wedding in England HAD to take place in a Church of England Parish Church. If it was anywhere else it would be illegal: the parties would be liable to prosecution and any children would be considered illegitimate and unable eg to inherit from their parents. The only exceptions allowed in Law were for Quakers and Jews. Things were slacker in Scotland and the usual explanation of a marriage being impossible to find in England is that it could have been a Border Marriage, where the parties went to a Border Marriage House, just a few feet into Scotland, where they could marry be declaration. On the west side of the Border Gretna Green is well-known for that sort of thing, but on the east side the Marriage House at Lamberton Toll was just as busy. There were others elsewhere on the Border. Sometimes a couple would go well into Scotland, eg to Edinburgh, where the same applied. Geoff Nicholson Version: 2014.0.4765 / Virus Database: 4015/8223 - Release Date: 09/16/14