Age at marriage

[suttontrust]

I've found a marriage registration in 1848 for a chap with the right name in the right district (Staines).  Can't cross check it because I only know the bride's christian name and the page only has two male names on it.  Trouble is, if it's the right marriage the bride would have been no older than 15.  Is that feasible?

[trish251]

I have a lass married in 1837 who had just turned 16. No age or parents permission is mentioned in the register.

My youngest is from Tasmania in about 1810. The lass was 13 years old. She had six children (the first when she was 15) & died aged 27.

Trish

[GreySquirrel]

I believe that in the early Victorian period a girl could marry at aged 12 with parental consent. I do not know when the law changed though. Anyone know the answer to that?

[Little Nell]

According to my FAQ crib-sheet:

"The age at which people could marry was originally fixed at 12 for girls and 14 for boys and stayed at that until..1929 (Age of Marriage Act 1929) when it was amended to 16 for both parties.  Parental consent had to be obtained if either party was under 21 (or 18 when age of consent was lowered to 18)." (from Barbara Dixon's excellent book on Marriage Certificates)

 
Nell

[Darcy]

My Gloucestershire great grandmother is recorded on her marriage certificate as " of full age" when she was, in fact, just 3 weeks past her 16th birthday.

Another great grandmother, in Linconlshire, had her first child at 15.

Regards
Darcy

[JAP]

<snip>
"The age at which people could marry was originally fixed at 12 for girls and 14 for boys and stayed at that until..1929 (Age of Marriage Act 1929) when it was amended to 16 for both parties.  Parental consent had to be obtained if either party was under 21 (or 18 when age of consent was lowered to 18)." (from Barbara Dixon's excellent book on Marriage Certificates) <snip>

I know the query related to England but, just for completeness, I thought I'd mention that Scots Law (including the Law on Marriage) had, and still has, some significant differences from the Law which obtains in England and Wales.

Before 1929, Scots law followed Roman law in allowing a girl to marry at twelve years of age and a boy at fourteen - and  without any requirement for parental consent.

The Age of Marriage Act 1929 (applying in Scotland, England & Wales but not in Northern Ireland) made void any marriage between persons either of whom was under the age of sixteen.  But, unlike England and Wales, there continued to be no requirement for parental consent in Scotland. 

Sixteen remains the lower age-limit in Scotland today, contained in the current legislation, the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977. Scots law still has no requirement for parental consent.

JAP

[trish251]

Scots law still has no requirement for parental consent.

Hi Judy

Thanks for that information - it may well be why my early oz weddings had no consent information. They were all at the Scots Church in Sydney.

Trish

[JAP]

Hi Trish,

I suspect that here in the "colonies", things were much slacker!  Though I have no idea whether, and if so when, there were civil laws governing such matters.  There's certainly not a mention of parental consent in any of my marriages in Victoria prior to civil registration (which started in 1854 in Victoria).

Of course, you'd have to know that, while I can find quite a few "under age" marriages before 1854 (only church records of course - CofE and RC) with no mention of consent, the first "under age" one I can locate after civil registration is as late as 1883 - parental consent was given by the bride's widowed mother.

My grandparents were both "under age" when they married in 1894.  But, I'm sorry to have to tell you, they lied   Names were given as Henry and Bessie instead of Albert (known as Al) and Elizabeth (known as Lizzie), and ages as 22 and 21 (they were actually 19 and 18).  Albert gave his mother's name as Maria instead of Julia, and Elizabeth gave her father's name as William instead of George.

JAP 

[trish251]

Hi Judy

I'm amazed you ever tracked that family at all!!! very impressive. I have an 1873 NSW marriage where the bride was 18 and it DOES include parental consent. It doesn't say how old she was, simply that she was "Under age". The groom was about 30. I have a wedding photo & the lass doesn't look very happy.

Trish