So you have searched in vain for the marriage of an ancestor in the 19th century? Perhaps microfiche from this site, and your other searches, have failed to uncover your great grandparents wedding! There is a possible answer – “Irregular Border Marriages”, “Runaway Marriages” – call them what you will, they were very common – and are very difficult to trace!
 

You will have heard of Gretna Green and its famous runaway marriages which occurred because of the difference between the marriage laws of England and Scotland, enabling English people to marry in Scotland without the need for banns or licence, and without previous notice. But there were not only “runaways” who took advantage of this. Many thousands of ordinary folk just walked over the border and declared themselves to be man and wife. No documentation, no witness and the marriage was quite legal, although frowned upon by the Church. A number of local men in the border areas saw an opportunity for profit and established themselves as “priests”, conducting a form of marriage ceremony and issuing certificates  -- for a fee --  and sometimes keeping registers. There were no formal or official records.

This occurred all along the Border, and not only at Gretna.  On the eastern border, places like Coldstream Bridge, Union Bridge, Lamberton Toll, Mordington Toll, Paxton Toll were in Scotland – only by yards – but were perfectly adequate for a marriage. So these places were used by many Northumberland folk of humble stock – and you will not find their marriages in parish registers or in the civil registration records of either England or Scotland. So the records of the priests are very valuable to genealogists – if you can find them. They are scarce, having been lost or destroyed with the passage of time . Some do still exist and you can find a list at www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/grosweb/grosweb.nsf/pages/runmar. Also, Northumberland and Durham Family History Society and Northumberland Archives Service have been active in publishing some of these, and especially if the marriage you are seeking was in the 1830’s, 1840’s or 1850’s, you may well find what you want in their publications.
 

1. Marriages at Lamberton Toll 1833-49 – the Registers of Henry Collins . These registers compiled by a Lamberton “priest” are held by the General Register Office, Scotland in Edinburgh and contain over 2500 marriages. This fully-indexed transcript was published in 1995 by Northumberland and Durham Family History Society and is available from it at 2nd Floor, Bolbec Hall, Westgate Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne price £5.00 plus 56p UK postage.
2. Published in May 2004, Irregular Border Marriages recorded in the Berwick Advertiser and other Border Papers 1808 to 1864 includes details of 2373 marriages from the Marriages columns of border newspapers, many of which do not appear elsewhere,  usually including occupations and places of residence, and often with parental details. The book is fully indexed and has a useful  introductory article and some illustrations in its 146 pages. Price £6.50 plus 58p UK postage, £1.20 Europe and £1.97 America and Australasia from NDFHS (address as above) or from Berwick Record Office, Council Offices, Wallace Green, Berwick upon Tweed TD 15 1ED or Northumberland Record Office, Melton Park, North Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 5QX.
   
   The very first purchaser, a Northumberland lady, found a marriage she had been seeking for years in this new book ! You too could find that these volumes may to be of help to you.

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24 June 2004