In this tale, the heroine is still a few weeks short of reaching her majority, and her father despises the hero for reasons not explained until the climax of this last book in the series. So what were the general rules of marriage in the Regency Era, keeping in mind that both the hero and heroine are Scottish, which, initially, throws another clinker into the plot for me to rectify. There were, as most of us know, Church of England marriages in Scotland. That happened between Lady Annalise Dutton and Lord Navan Beaufort in book 3 of this series. There were also “over the anvil” marriages that were legal in Scotland. Lord Beaufort suggests this in book 3, but Lady Annalise wants a marriage her brother could not overturn, meaning the Church of England ceremony.

What did over the anvil weddings entail? All that was required to legal in Scotland was a declaration spoken before witnesses. Lord Duncan had secured Lord Aaran Graham legitimacy by having witnesses claim that the elder Lord Graham and Miss Magdeline Bellton [Aaran’s parents] had done exactly that, making Aaran the rightful heir to the title and leaving Aaran’s younger brother, Boyde, to one of their father’s lesser titles. Boyde was Lord Graham’s [the senior] child by his second wife. Lord Duncan who raised Aaran Graham waited until the elder Lord Graham to pass before he brought this issue before the courts in determining the rightful heir. It all sounds a bit convoluted, but it was legal in Regency era.

Couples arriving from England and wishing to marry in Gretna Green or any other villages along the Scottish and English border, simply had to declare before witnesses that they wished to be married and after paying a fee to the blacksmith or innkeeper or local law man, etc., they were considered married. It was customarily a short hand-holding style ceremony in front of, at least, two witnesses. Sometimes the couple brought their own witnesses. Other times they were provided by the locals. I have used this scenario a couple of times, but I chose villages along the Northumberland. It was near 360 miles to travel up through the western shires, and about 390 to go up through the eastern shires from London to Scotland. I always reasoned people would think everyone would go to Gretna Green, when any Scottish village would do.

An annulment of a marriage meant it never existed. Just became a marriage had not been consummate were not reason for an annulment. Impotency was grounds for annulment, but this was rarely claimed. If children had been born before the marriage was annulled, those children would be declared illegitimate.

A marriage could be annulled if it was void or voidable. What did that mean exactly?

A marriage could be annulled if it was void or voidable. [1] For example, in a royal marriage, a marriage was illegal if was undertaken without the King’s consent. When Prince Augustus, Duke of Sussex, one of George III’s sons, married Lady Augusta Murray in 1793, he did so without the King’s permission which contravened the Royal Marriages Act of 1772. The King had the marriage set aside or annulled in August 1794. [2] Bigamy would also set aside the second marriage as illegal. [3] A marriage could be set aside if it did not follow the prescribed rules of the Hardwicke Marriage Act of 1753. That meant the banns had to be read for three Sundays in a row if one is marrying by using banns [or] the couple could marry in a parish in which one of them had resided for, at least, four weeks and the purchase of a common/bishop’s license. If either party was under 21 years of age and previously unmarried, they had to have parental consent for the marriage.

The marriage had to be witnessed by two people in addition to the minister and entered in the register.

These rules did not apply to the royal family, those marrying by special licence (although parental consent was still required if either party was underage) when marrying in Scotland, or if one was Jewish or a Quaker.

The Regency History Blog provides us a couple of LARGE “BUTS” to the laws, statements in the Hardwicke Act many do not know:

“The residency requirement :One interesting thing to note is that the Act specifically prevented a marriage from being overturned if it was later found that the residency requirement had not been met.

“Parental consent:A parent or guardian could not overturn a marriage by banns of underage parties that had taken place without their consent. They could prevent the banns being read, but they could not later have the marriage annulled. Marriage by licence was a different matter. If the person applying for the licence had lied about receiving parental consent, the marriage was technically void. But—and it’s a big but—would the non-consenting parent want to set the marriage aside?”