Marriage, St Vincent Street, Glasgow

[chalfontcrew]

Hi
I have just got a copy of a marriage certificate for December 1870, the marriage venue and the usual residence for the bride and groom are all given as 478 St Vincent Street, Glasgow.

I have come across the bride and groom having the same residence before but not the same as the marriage venue, surely this must be a mistake does any one have any local knowledge of this area?

The other couple on the extract were married at 43 St Vincent Crescent, Glasgow, should this be the venue address on my marriage?

Any thoughts on this would be great.
Caz

[RJ_Paton]

Under Scots law (until very recently) a marriage could take place anywhere providing an official minister of the church took the service.... so weddings in the home address of one (or more) of the parties involved were not unusual.

Its also possible that at that time 478 St Vincent Street was a tenement block (apartment block) which could hold 6,8 or 10 different families - all would have the same address but living seperately.

[RJ_Paton]

I've just had a look at an old Ordnance survey map from 1890 at

http://www.nls.uk/digitallibrary/map/townplans/glasgow_2_centre.html

which shows that the buildings at that end of St Vincent Street were all domestic dwellings and by the look of them - tenements .... its very likely that this was also the case in the 1870's

[chalfontcrew]

Hi

Thanks for the replies.
I see there is a church at 265 St Vincent Street.
I will have to do some more investigating.
Caz

[RJ_Paton]

There are (or were) a number of churches in St Vincent Street and more nearby ... I have found that marriages at home were far more common than one might have believed nowadays. ..... as well as the tenement theory as both parties have given the same address its possible that they have lived together in what was known as "common law marriage" and decided to make things "legal".

Until the 1940's Scots law recognised several forms of irregular marriages plus because of the law a minister of the church could perform a marriage in any place he deemed fit for the purpose. (civil ceremonies have only recently been extended in this way in the last few years)

[chalfontcrew]

Thanks again Falkyrn
I think you may be right.
Caz

[Okonski]

I had the same situation, with both participants and the marriage taking place round the corner, at 435 Sauchiehall Street. However, the DIGROS marriage record makes an intersting contribution, stating that the couple were married by Sheriff's Warrant, which confirms you could marry anywhere you liked, providing you had a warrant from the Court to aurhorise it.

[chalfontcrew]

I think that this is the case.

[ADP]

I think you will find that most of the addresses given on the "by declaration" marriages are solicitors' offices. I believe that is where the declaration was made and witnessed before the paperwork went before the Sheriff-Substitute. That is why the same address can come up regularly for couples of no apparent connection.

The Glasgow and Edinburgh "by declaration" marriages appear dominantly in the registration districts closest to the courts - where most of the solicitors are to be found - in Blythswood, Glasgow and St Giles, Edinburgh.

ADP