Hello all, Can anyone enlighten me on the degrees of kinship allowed in marriage? I was always under the impression that first cousins were too close relations to marry but in 1857 I have Robert Duncan and Mary Maconochie marrying in Dron and they are first cousins - and listed as such in the marriage register. Could they get special permission to marry and if so who from? Any ideas? Cheers, Ursula ________________________________________________________________________ Want to chat instantly with your online friends? Get the FREE Yahoo! Messenger http://mail.messenger.yahoo.co.uk

It seems surprising but it was perfectly acceptable to marry your first cousin and no special dispensation was needed. Interesting, in England until 1907 it was not permitted to marry your deceased wife's sister or your deceased husband's brother, even though they were not related by blood. I don't know if the same applied to Scotland. Carol Baird ctbaird@telus.net

Hi First cousin marriages were relatively common back then. No special permission needed in the UK. John Dods Wellington, New Zealand --- Ursula <ursularclarke@yahoo.com> wrote: > Hello all, > > Can anyone enlighten me on the degrees of kinship > allowed in marriage? > > I was always under the impression that first cousins > were too close relations to marry but in 1857 I have > Robert Duncan and Mary Maconochie marrying in Dron > and > they are first cousins - and listed as such in the > marriage register. > > Could they get special permission to marry and if so > who from? > > Any ideas? > > Cheers, > Ursula > > ________________________________________________________________________ > Want to chat instantly with your online friends? > Get the FREE Yahoo! > Messenger http://mail.messenger.yahoo.co.uk > > > ==== PERTHSHIRE Mailing List ==== > > -------------------------------------------------- > ENJOY the list. Ask questions and share > information. > If you have an issue, contact the list > administrator, > Pamela.Paddock.Arnold > PERTHSHIRE-admin@rootsweb.com > > http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/SCT/PERTHSHIRE.html > > -------------------------------------------------- > ===== Proud to be transcriber for the freeCEN project and volunteer for Random Acts of Genelogical Kindness If you need to have a look up of a entry from the pre 1990 New Zealand BDM index, e-mail me direct. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears http://launch.yahoo.com/promos/britneyspears/