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
Marriage in Scotland was used by couples from Ireland, because of the daily packet boat service to Donaghadee. Gretna's famous runaway marriages began in 1753 with the passing of "Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act" in England. The Act required consent to the marriage from the parents if a party to a marriage was not at least 21 years old. However, in Scotland it was possible for boys to get married at 14 years and girls at 12 years without parental consent. Some "Gretna" marriages were of (sometimes abducted) heiresses; e.g., the second marriage in 1826 of Edward Gibbon Wakefield to the young heiress Ellen