Mary, IT is actually a fairly modern idea for all Scots to marry in either a church or Registrar's office. In fact a great many weddings in Scotland still take place outwith either a church or registrar's office, but such weddings can only be performed by a recognised Minister of Religion and indeed I believe at one time only by the Parish Minister, i.e. the Minister of the Church of Scotland in whose parish the wedding was to take place. Until 1977 all weddings were the subject of the reading of the banns for the 3 consecutive Sunday's before the wedding so people could alert the Minister if a just impediment existed but weddings were very often conducted in the home of the bride and sometimes of the groom. Remember days off and holidays are really a post WWI phenomena for the working class who existed in very harsh working regimes prior to then and the rise of the Trade Union movement. That is why so many people married on 31st December or at Christmas (in England) because often that was the only day's holiday they got during the year. The other thing to notice is how often the bride and groom appeared to be living at the same address. The idea of virgin brides is a Victorian fantasy. Only the very rich could afford divorce and as the principal reason for marriage was to have children, couples would often have long courtships and then as soon as the bride got pregnant, get married immediately. If the couple got the timing wrong, rather than face the ignominy of being dragged before the Congregation and Kirk Session to confess their fornication, they could claim that they had entered into an irregular marriage and the Minister and Kirk Session would then go through the formality of recognising the marriage and taking the appropriate fee. Hypocrisy both in society and in the wider church is not a new notion!! Hope this helps, Cheers Mark John M Sutherland-Fisher Fellow of the Institute for Independent Business Director: Cadboll Business Consultancy Ltd* (Legal, Corporate, Employment and H.R. Consultancy Practice) Director: Fisher (Holiday Enterprises) Ltd* (Bespoke Guided Tours, Genealogy, Family History and Holiday Experiences) Past President and Genealogist: Clan Sutherland Co-Genealogist: Clan Mackenzie web-site: www.highland-family-heritage.co.uk Company Secretary: EMarketing-Associates Ltd; Winning Edge Business Consultancy Ltd*; Kacey Ltd*; NetMedia Business Solutions Ltd*; Pure Tanning Ltd*; Eligo Recruitment Ltd; Newmore Investments Ltd*; In-Haus Eyemagination Ltd*; Mortgage Workshop Ltd*; Zest For Life (Scotland) Ltd*; Black Isle Recycling and Distribution Services Ltd*; Allstrat Ltd*; Excedo Software Ltd* Registered Office of Companies with a *: North Cadboll House, North Cadboll, Fearn by Tain, Ross-shire. IV20 1TN e-mail: mark@highland-family-heritage.co.uk telephone and fax: 01862 871877 mobile: -----Original Message----- From: Mary Campbell [mailto:mary53@ntlworld.com] Sent: 19 June 2003 20:45 To: SCT-RENFREW-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [Renfrew] Could you marry at home? Hello List I have some Scottish marriage cert's where the 'usual address' is the same as in the column for 'When,Where and How married'. It also says in this column 'after banns according to the forms of the Church of Scotland'. Could people get married at home? I believe if you were housebound this was allowed but these were not old or infirm but young people who went on to have children. One address is 3 Silk Street, Paisley another one is 10 Old Sneddon. I know these are not religious buildings so does anyone know if this was legal? Thankyou Mary --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.490 / Virus Database: 289 - Release Date: 16/06/2003 ==== SCT-RENFREW Mailing List ==== ********************************************************************** The Renfrewshire GenWeb page is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~sctrfw/