Age of Consent, when did they marry ??

[Berlin-Bob]

Just found this snippet in the Legacy Newsletter:
http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/Newsletter/LN12-02-2004.asp

Age of Consent Varies According to Time Period

When searching, in the UK, for a possible marriage don't assume that the parties were aged about the present age of consent.

In the 1860s the age of consent was twelve years old,
in 1875 the House of Commons agreed to raise the age of consent to thirteen and finally it was raised to fourteen.

I found an ancestor who was married and a mother at aged thirteen.

Submitted by Elaine Holm

Note from the Editor: For more on this subject, also see --

http://groups.msn.com/britishgenealogy/yourwebpage1.msnw and
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=6046

The first link above is to a very informative article, which starts off:

The age for matrimonial consent was fixed at 7 years.  However, as puberty was accepted as the age for consummation of the marriage, consummation was not expected to take place until a girl reached the age of 12 and 14 for boys.

[Cell]

I  have always thought/been led to believe , and have also  read this  in various  genealogy  magazines/books   it was  up until as recent as 1929 that boys  ( 14 year old minimum age )could marry  and 12 for a girl with  their parents consent.here is another link, which says the law wasn't changed until 1929

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:1NcoIKz_Hs4J:rmhh.co.uk/files/marriage_age.wri+1929+age+of+consent&hl=en

 

[Berlin-Bob]

Here is the full article from http://groups.msn.com/britishgenealogy/yourwebpage1.msnw

The age for matrimonial consent was fixed at 7 years.  However, as puberty was accepted as the age for consummation of the marriage, consummation was not expected to take place until a girl reached the age of 12 and 14 for boys.

From 29 September 1653, the legal age for marriage was fixed at 16 for a man and 14 for a woman but the law was changed in 1660 and the ages of marriage reverted to 14 for the groom and 12 for the bride.

The Marriage Act of 1753, made it illegal for those in England under the age of 21 to get married without the consent of their parents or guardians. However, the consent requirement was repealed and replaced in July 1822, therefore, from 1823 the age at which a couple could undergo a valid marriage, without parental consent, reverted to 14 for boys and 12 for girls.

When the 1929 Age of Marriage Act was passed, all marriages were made void from 10 May 1929, if either partner was under the age of 16.

In the Republic of Ireland however, the legal age for marriage remained at 14 for boys and 12 for girls until 1st January 1975, when it was raised to 16.

(written for British Genealogy by PsychoJessie)
Cell, I liked your link. the article they quote from is also well worth reading.
http://marriage.about.com/cs/generalhistory/a/marriagehistory.htm 
Thanks.

[Hackstaple]

Bob - I have researched this matter before. The age of consent and legal marriageable age are unrelated matters. In the UK [except Scotland] the age of consent is 16 but marriages may not take place under age 18 except with parental consent.
In Victorian times the age of consent shifted several times but the proviso that parental consent was required for marriages under age 21 definitely applied. That is why, as we know, marriage certificates state that the person was "of age" - often that was a lie and in those circumstances one does not find parents as witnesses. With parental consent, marriages could take place much younger and 14 was not abnormal.
In mediaeval times betrothal could take place at birth but cohabitation was not permitted by Canon Law until the bride reached the age of 12.
I am open to correction on these matters but I have not found any reputable source that relates different facts.

[JillJ]

I quote from a published article relating to some of my husband's ancestors:

"........his son and heir John, although still under ten, was forthwith married to Dorothy, the daughter of Sir Ralph Bulmer.

There is some uncertainty as to the date of her birth, but she was probably a little older than her bridegroom.   Betrothals in those times often took place with one or both parties hardly out of the cradle.   The Church tolerated child marriage on condition that the principals could repudiate it on coming of age, which then meant fourteen for a boy and twelve for a girl.   In this case, however, the marriage contract entered into in 1521 with the object of uniting the properties of the two families remained unbroken"

Jill

[Geoff of Devon]

Not quite on topic, BUT.....
I have an ancestor whose marriage cert says he was a minor when he married in 1863. Now at that time he would have been about 21. Very strangely his parents were not witnesses, only the in-laws!
His wife had been previously married and her husband had died, so maybe they wanted someone to marry her off to quickly to retain the grocery business. Most strangely the father-in-law was a police inspector, so you would have thought it all would have to be legal and above board?
At what age do you become of full age? 

[Hackstaple]

In 1863 and for a long time afterwards it was on your 21st birthday.

[Geoff of Devon]

Thanks for clarifying that M'Lud Hack.
Geoff.

[audrey]

Just thought I would post this one that I came across
from the marriage records of St.Marys church Carlisle

No 787 John Anderson of this parish bachelor to Ann Penrith of this parish a minor were married in this church by banns on 14/10/1822 witness John Barnes
audrey