Weddings at the register office and 'Gretna Green'

It was probably the saddest direction he had to make in his long legal career when Mr Justice Ackner told a young couple their marriage was over because they were unwittingly closely related.

"Although your relationship is successful, you must end it now," he lamented.

The couple, who lived near Salisbury, had pleaded guilty at Hampshire Assizes more than 50 years ago to incest.

"It is one of those relationships that rarely occur," he acknowledged, placing them on probation for three years. "What I am doing now is not meant to punish you."

He had been told how the couple, both in their early 20s, believed they were unrelated but with the assistance of an Andover solicitor, decided to check on their background because of the similarity of their surnames.

The lawyer discovered there was a slight difference in their spellings but that was all, and they went ahead with their wedding at Salisbury register office.

It was not until the mother of the couple read about the marriage that their true relationship tragically came to light.

She had been married twice. In her first, she gave birth to a son. In the second, she had a daughter.

The boy, who grew up in care, later fell in love with the girl, firmly believing she was the daughter of a foster father and another woman.

Sadly, she was not. They were half-brother and sister.

Another wedding, however, had a happier ending - though it did bring the groom before a judge!

When Irene Underdown's father refused to give his consent to her marriage, the 16-year-old eloped to Scotland with 24-year-old James Coburn where they were entitled to tie the knot.

The extraordinary anomaly resulted from Lord Hardwick's marriage act, an 18th century piece of legislation, that required the consent of both sets of parents if the lovers were under 21. 

The law however did not apply in Scotland where after 1929 couples could get married if they were at least 16, so scores of young romantics rushed north of the border, particularly to the smithy at Gretna Green where they could become man and wife.

Coburn was duly charged with abduction and should have appeared at Hampshire Assizes in 1954. However, the court heard they were in Scotland. He was subsequently re-arrested and brought before the court two years later when he pleaded guilty.

Defence barrister Eric McLellan confirmed his bride was perfectly happy at being Mrs Coburn and her parents had become reconciled with the situation. On that basis, he was conditionally discharged for two years.