"Warrant not delivered" meaning

[Carolynxyz]

Hello,
I downloaded this marriage from Scotland's People, but I am unsure what it means.
Central Glasgow
8th August 1824
Alexander McKenzie, mason in Glasgow and Janet Miller residing there
Warrant not delivered

I have read other posts on the general subject of irregular marriage in Scotland, but could someone please explain:
1)  Who would have delivered this warrant (did Sheriff's warrants apply before registration began?)
2)  Why would it not have been delivered?  Was it the couple's responsibility to pick the warrant up?Could this be an indication that the couple left Glasgow without picking up the warrant? Or could it be an indication that the marriage wasn't recognized?

Also, does the entry suggest that Janet lived in Glasgow but Alexander was only there temporarily?

Thanks,
Carolyn

[MonicaL]

Hi Carolyn

There are a few refences to "warrant not delivered" where there is a question mark it seems as to whether the marriage actually took place (likely after banns?).

Some examples:

There is a further record of a marriage of Alexander Weir, slater and Margaret McInnes in Glasgow, but the record appears to be unfinished appearing as:-
“Weir - Alexander Weir Slater of Glasgow and Margaret McInnes resident there”
                                                Warrant not delivered[6]
 
Unfortunately I am not sure whether or not the marriage ever took place.
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~garter1/Alexanders%20story.htm

Also,

27 September 1846. Parish of Glasgow –  John Breaky labourer in Glasgow – Ann Culrevie residing there.      (Warrant not delivered). [OPR & OPRIM & LDS]. [Ed. note:  it appears the marriage did not take place].
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~breakey/BkyScot%281%29%29.htm

Monica

[MonicaL]

Is this George a child to this couple? https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XBZR-7B3

If so, maybe the marriage took place at another time, assuming the reference to a marriage not having taken place is correct (re 'warrant not delivered').

Monica

Added: Ignore that George. Father Alexander looks to have been a soldier when he was born in 1826 in Dundee: Sept. 11, 1827 born George Robinson named after grand uncle, father
Alexander mcKenzie (soldier) spouse Janet Miller http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/CLAN-MACKENZIE/1999-04/0923499002

[Carolynxyz]

Hi MonicaL,
Thanks for the reply.  Yes, the Alexander McKenzie and Janet Miller in Dundee are mine.  I'm not sure when he became a soldier.  Their daughter Eliza is my direct line, born at Newbridge Barracks around 1834, older sister Mary Ann supposedly born Dundee around 1829.  I first pick them up in London in 1843, when Janet married again.  I cannot find them in 1841, nor can I find Alexander's death.  It's possible they arrived in London sometime after 1841, but it could have been before then when Alexander was serving perhaps still in Ireland.  In that case, though, I would have expected Janet to return to Scotland, not go to London.  Maybe he installed his family in London before he left the army and dies out of the country. The only clue I have is that when Janet married in 1843, she gave her address as City Garden Row in Clerkenwell near the Regents Canal, and in 1841 there was a very elderly James McKenzie living in City Garden Row.  I have not been able to connect him to Alexander though.  In fact, I'm going nowhere fast with these people!

[Forfarian]

did Sheriff's warrants apply before registration began

I've never come across any mention of 'warrant not delivered' so I can't answer the main question.

However after 1855 the Sheriff's Warrant was not part of the ceremony that made the marriage legal, but part of the process for having it registered. If you were married by declaration before witnesses, you then went, with your witnesses, to the Sheriff and you told him that you had married one another and your witnesses told him that they had seen and heard you declare that you had married one another. The Sheriff then issued a warrant authorising the Registrar to register the marriage.

So whatever the purpose of the warrant in 1824, it wasn't the same as after 1855, because in 1824 there was no civil registration and there were no Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

I wonder if it would be worth contacting SP and asking them? If anyone knows, surely they would?

[Carolynxyz]

Thanks for the reply, Forfarian.  Contacting SP sounds like a good idea.  I'll give that a try.