Here's an article link that that will help you re Irregular Marriages. Perfectly legal up until about 1936-40. Obviously though, frowned on by the Church.
http://jsh.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/11/03/jsh.sht041.fullMy great-grandfather's second marriage was a 1914 Irregular Marriage in Glasgow, Scotland. He was widowed with six young children when he re-married - a widow with one child of her own.
Theirs was a marriage by Declaration in front of two witnesses. It was, a couple of days later, officially registered, as an Irregular Marriage and the record is in Scotland's People.
I'm thinking he must have been very unpopular with the rest of his family, as they were all very strict Baptists! Not uncommon though for people to remarry quite soon after the loss of a first marriage partner - particularly if they had children in need of a caring mother, and/or a working father.
Added: - Pretty sure that people did get fined if they had crossed the border to marry. Mine were Scottish, so not applicable to them. Poor old second wife though, taking on 6 extra youngsters! 😄
