Gretna's "runaway marriages" began in 1754 when
Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act came into force in England. Under the Act, if a parent of a person under the age of 21 objected to the minor's marriage, the parent could legally veto the union. The Act tightened the requirements for marrying in England and Wales but did not apply in
Scotland, where it was possible for boys to marry at 14 and girls at 12 with or without parental consent (see
Marriage in Scotland). It was, however, only in the 1770s, with the construction of a toll road passing through the hitherto obscure village of Graitney, that Gretna Green became the first easily reachable village over the Scottish border. Scots law also allowed for "
irregular marriages", meaning that if a declaration was made before two witnesses, almost anybody had the authority to conduct the marriage ceremony. The blacksmiths in Gretna became known as "anvil priests", culminating with
Richard Rennison (1889-1969), who performed 5,147 ceremonies. The local
blacksmith and his
anvil became lasting symbols of Gretna Green weddings. Since 1929, both parties in Scotland have had to be at least 16 years old, but they still may marry without parental consent. Since April 2022 in
England and Wales, the minimum age for marriage is now 18 irrespective of parental consent. Of the three forms of
irregular marriage that had existed under Scottish law, all except cohabitation by habit and repute were abolished by the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1939. Gretna's two blacksmiths' shops and countless inns and
smallholding became the backdrops for tens of thousands of weddings. Today there are several wedding venues in and around Gretna Green, from former churches to purpose-built chapels. The services at all the venues are always performed over an iconic blacksmith's anvil.
Elsewhere In
common law, a "Gretna Green marriage" came to mean, in general, a marriage transacted in a jurisdiction that was not the residence of the parties being married, to avoid restrictions or procedures imposed by the parties' home jurisdiction. A notable "Gretna" marriage was the second marriage in 1826 of
Edward Gibbon Wakefield to the young heiress Ellen Turner, called the
Shrigley abduction (his first marriage was also to an heiress, but the parents wanted to avoid a public scandal). Other towns in which quick, often surreptitious marriages could be obtained came to be known as "Gretna Greens". In the United States, these have included
Elkton, Maryland,
Reno and, later,
Las Vegas. In 1856 Scottish law was changed due to a measure passed in Parliament by
Alexander Colquhoun-Stirling-Murray-Dunlop to require 21 days' residence for marriage, and a further law change was made in 1940. The residential requirement was lifted in 1977. Other Scottish border villages used for such marriages were
Coldstream Bridge,
Lamberton,
Mordington and Paxton Toll, and
Portpatrick for people coming from Ireland. ==In popular culture==