Richard Rennison led to the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1939, which outlawed the process of "irregular marriages". When the new law came into force in 1940, Rennison had performed 5,147 marriages. His role then changed to a symbolic one, "blessing" marriages and acting as caretaker of the forge. He also regularly appeared at court to ensure the marriages he performed were judicially recognised. Richard Rennison Richard Rennison (29 October 1889 – 5 August 1969) was the last "anvil priest" at Gretna Green, Scotland. Between 1926 and 1940, he performed "irregular marriages" of couples over the anvil at the Old Blacksmith Shop, where the
Affair of the Spanish Marriages the marriages proved to be unhappy ones. Affair of the Spanish Marriages The Affair of the Spanish Marriages was a series of intrigues between France, Spain, and the United Kingdom relating to the marriages of Queen Isabella II of Spain and her sister the infanta Luisa Fernanda in 1846. The affair led to a deterioration of relations between France and Britain in the final years of the July Monarchy. François Guizot, the French foreign minister, had been a supporter of friendly relations with Britain and had served as France's ambassador in London in 1840. During Guizot's tenure in London, the