[4] As clandestine weddings and the unruly culture that surrounded them began to threaten power and property, questions about where and how to marry became urgent matters of public debate.

In 1753, in an unprecedented and controversial use of state power, Lord Chancellor Hardwicke mandated Anglican church weddings as marriage's only legal form.

Jews and Quakers were exempted from its provisions, although the act did not go so far as to declare such marriages valid and it was many years before their legal standing was assured.

The early death of the Savoy's minister on board ship while waiting to be transported for his flouting of the act may have discouraged others from making similar claims, even if his demise was due to gout rather than to the conditions of his imprisonment.

And in the 1770s the construction of a toll road passing through the hitherto obscure village of Graitney led to Gretna Green becoming synonymous with romantic elopements.