Harrower Family Tree » Margaret Nelson Cunningham (± 1892-????)

Personal data Margaret Nelson Cunningham 

• She was born about 1892.Source 1
• Resident in the year 1929: 10 Forth Place, Methil, Scotland.Source 1
• A child of Alexander Hucker Cunningham and Jane Brown

Household of Margaret Nelson Cunningham

She is married to Andrew Leitch.

They got married on January 3, 1929 at 321 High Street, Edinburgh, Scotland.Source 1

Child(ren):

1. (Not public)

Event (Witness at Marriage) on January 3, 1929 in 321 High Street, Edinburgh, Scotland : Alexander Cunningham, 9 Front Street, Cuthill, Prestonpans, Helen Brand or Brennan, 8 Forth Place, Methil.Source 1

Notes about Margaret Nelson Cunningham

1. Margaret Nelson Cunningham was a widow, it appears previously married to a man called Watson.

2. A marriage by 'Warrant of Sheriff' is a non-religious marriage unique to Scotland. The couple would testify before witnesses (2 required) and often in front of a solicitor. The testament would then be ratified by the local Sheriff Substitute (who did all the work) and would then be accepted by a registrar.

3. A very clear explanation of all sorts of Scottish marriages on this site:

http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/scottishwayofbirthanddeath/marriage/

Sheriffs warrant was a type of 'Irregular'Marriage as follows:

But Scotland's fame for distinctive marriage practices stemmed from 'irregular' marriages. There were three ways of forming a legal marriage without banns or a minister being present.

a. A couple were legally married if they declared themselves to be so in front of witnesses, regardless of whether this was followed by a sexual connection.
b. A promise of marriage, followed by a sexual relationship, was regarded as a legal marriage - but this had to be backed up by some kind of proof, such as a written promise of marriage, or an oath sworn before witnesses.
c. Marriages 'by habit and repute' were also legal if a couple usually presented themselves in public as husband and wife, even if no formal declaration of marriage was made.

Irregular marriages were frowned on by law and the churches, and couples who admitted to them were fined, but they had the same inheritance rights as regularly married couples, and their children were legitimate. Although the Church of Scotland did not approve of irregular marriages, it tolerated them because it feared that if the law did not recognize such relationships, the couple would end up 'living in sin.' The system was believed to protect women from unscrupulous men who might seduce them with promises of marriage or fake wedding ceremonies. After registration was introduced, an irregular marriage could be registered if the couple presented themselves before a sheriff or magistrate, were 'convicted' as parties to an irregular marriage, and paid a fine. Some found marriage by sheriff's warrant a cheaper and quicker alternative than all the expense of banns and a regular marriage ceremony. Marriages established in court by a Decree of Declarator could also be registered, on production to the registrar of an extract of the Decree and payment of £1, but this was not common. In fact, irregular marriages were infrequent in Scotland in the mid-nineteenth century, and fewer than 100 per year took place between 1855 and 1870. After that, the numbers rose steadily, and then rapidly in the early twentieth century, until they accounted for over 12% of all Scottish marriages in 1914. They remained at this level until the Second World War. Contrary to the national myth, most took place not on the Scottish border, but in the larger towns. This may have been due to a decline in the influence of the churches, or to the relative cheapness of irregular marriages, but it also reflected the growing number of divorces. Since many churches would not remarry a divorced person, and there was no civil marriage in Scotland until 1939, couples in this position had no alternative but to marry by sheriff's warrant. From 1916, irregular marriages were no longer technically an offence, and in 1939 marriage by sheriff's warrant ended, to be replaced by a civil ceremony in the registrar's office.

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Timeline Margaret Nelson Cunningham

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