I'd be very grateful for some help on a marriage from Gretna Green. I've just discovered the 'marriage' of my GGGG grandparents, Hugh Carr and Mary Linsey at Gretna Green on 11 Aug 1813. The ages that they give elsewhere are somewhat inconsistent but I'm pretty sure that both were born in the 1780s so comfortably over 21 and the need for parental consent by the time of the marriage. I was wondering whether anyone knew of other reasons for going to Gretna at the time. He was an Irish Catholic and she was an English Anglican but the children were later baptised as Catholics. I know that Catholic marriages were not recognised in England at the time so I'm wondering whether they went over the border to avoid being married as Anglicans and perhaps to avoid disapproving family.
I was also wondering whether they followed it up with a regular (Catholic?) marriage in the area but I'm new to research in Scotland and not sure how to go about finding out. I'd be really grateful for any help on this.
Many thanks
