Irregularly married in Linlithgow

[greenvalley]

Hi,

I have had a look at what has been written about the phrase "irregularly married" in the lexicon and my understanding is that a couple that had either consumated the marriage or had been living together will have been seen as being "irrelularly married" when they later visited the minister.

I was surprised though to find that in 1788 of the 11 marriages registered in Linlithgow from 16th June to 16th July 5 marriages were "irregular". It seems such a large number of couples to have been living together and not married "regularly" if you know what I mean.

Is it possible that there is another explanation for this glut of "irregular" marriages? Or did Linlithgow have more that its fair share of people who believed in "try before you buy"??

Greenvalley

[Rockford]

Hi Greenvalley,

I believe that an 'irregular' marriage was just one which took place outwith the Established Church of Scotland.  It doesn't mean that it would have been any less valid and Scots Law allowed various types of marriage.

If you do a search here and on www.talkingscot.com, there are a number of topics about the various types of marriage that could be legally recognised in Scotland, although not all were seen as 'regular' by the CoS.

Best wishes

Rockford

[greenvalley]

Thanks for that Rockford,

But why, if the marriages all took place outwith the Church of Scotland are they listed in the parish register, next to the "regular" ones?

I am still puzzled by the phenomenon.

Greenvalley

[mosstrooper]

Greenvalley,
                     In those days such frivolity as a marriage did not take place in any church, the best that could be hoped for was a wedding in the Manse, or failing that your own Cowshed. Congregations were known to rise and walk out if somebody "sang" Amen at the end of a prayer.

Some Ministers neglected the Parish Register, others were quite good at keeping records and listed all Marriages whether regular or not and would quite happily write Bastard next to any offspring from an irregular marriage.

James.

[greenvalley]

Thanks for that James,

I understand that weddings did not take place in within the church. Nevertheless, if these couples were living in Linlithgow and didn't have their banns read in church, how did the minister know that they were married?

I mean, if they didn't do "the right thing" for want of a better term, why did the Minister enter them in the Parish register at all? Was there a legal obligation for him to do so?

And how did he know them? Linlithgow wasn't large, but I don't think it was so small that the minister would know all his flock in person, so how did he become aware that these 5 couples had married "irregularly"?

Greenvalley

[icini]

Hello: I have a few irregular marriages in my tree too. they were legal and so were offspring. mine was after 1855 so there was more information;  it was noted that it was " declared" at the sheriff's office. there is a good write up on talkingscots. Donna

[greenvalley]

Thanks for that Donna,

I guess my main query was why 5 out of the 11 marriages noted in the Linlithgow Parish register between 16 June and 16 July of 1788, that is within 1 single month, were irregular.

Seems to me something else was happening there, but guess I'll never get to the bottom of it.

Greenvalley

[preysangel]

Hi there Greenvalley

I saw your post about David Elder who died in the Raploch Farm and that you could not find his parents his father appears to be david elder also and his mother jessie robertson they married in Kirkwall, Orkney 30 Nov 1830.

The Elders of Raploch farm are my family here in Scotland, I live just about 15 mins from where they all were. Thomas Elder born 1779 is my 4th great grandfather. His son  Peter born 1810 married Jean Peat their son Thomas Elder married Annie Bell and their Daughter Margaret Elder married John McFarlane this then brings me to my grandfather John Mcfarlane born 1904 married Elizabeth Crowe Packness these are my grandparents. Maybe we could help each other with our family tree's.

[RJ_Paton]

Thanks for that Donna,

I guess my main query was why 5 out of the 11 marriages noted in the Linlithgow Parish register between 16 June and 16 July of 1788, that is within 1 single month, were irregular.

Seems to me something else was happening there, but guess I'll never get to the bottom of it.

Greenvalley

Legally at that time marriages could only be conducted by a Minister of the Established Church of Scotland - however they also had a duty to record all marriages in their parish - some did this others ignored it.

The term "irregular marriage" also means different things at different times and really only came into Scots usage following an English law in 1753/54 which used the term regular marriage to describe a Church sanctioned marriage.

The various dissenting Presbyterian churches, Roman Catholics, Quakers , Methodists, Episopalians etc did conduct marriages although in some cases it was illegal to do so and until these churches were recognised and accepted again their forms of marriage were described as "irregular"

Scots law also recognised several forms of Non church marriage - the most common being a declaration in front of witnesses. After civil registration was introduced the couples choosing this path could have their relationship made more formal by amongst other means applying to the Sheriff for a warrant (if granted a warrant was issued "In Declarator" often mistakenly described as a Sheriffs declaration)