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
Gretna Campbell as an Associate member. On 14 July 1987, Gretna Campbell Finkelstein died in New York City. Gretna Campbell Gretna Campbell Finkelstein (1922–1987) was an American painter and educator who was affiliated with the abstract expressionist New York School. Campbell's works are described as having developed "among a generation of painters respectful of the achievements of Abstract Expressionism but confident that depictions of the natural world remained timely and significant." Born in the Bronx, Campbell began formal studies in painting in 1939 attending an art workshop organized by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and continued at Cooper Union and the Art