Married at 15 & 3 children by 18

[Noy1818]

I have come across one of my ancestors who married at 15 (her husband was 26) and had had 3 children by the time she was 18. Years are roughly 1844- 1847. How common is this? Do any of you have ancestors marrying and giving birth so young?

[majm]

Yes, it is not unusual.   In NSW Australia, there's many instances in the years you cite where the bride was younger than 15.   These  NSW brides were not yet old enough to give consent to their own marriages and so the parish register should note the name of the person giving consent (the clergy could not marry without such), and their relationship to the bride (or groom).   They needed to be at least 21 years of age before they could give their own consent which is signified by their signature (or mark) on the parish register. 

NSW BDM has an interesting marriage certificate displayed on their website.  The bride was aged 11, and the year was 1924.   

http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/Documents/m1924-3913.pdf

Cheers,  JM

[LizzieW]

My husband's g.grandmother married at 15, although her marriage cert gives her age as 18.  She married in August 1867 and her first child was baptised on 3 Jan 1869, so presumably born December 1868, as she wasn't pregnant when she married (unless she had a miscarriage), I wonder why she married at 15.  She had 4 children with a gap of 2 years between each of them.

[DavidG02]

13 yr old ancestor on my sons side 

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/878784?

[Noy1818]

They were all so young..

[Guy Etchells]

In England & Wales from 1660 until 1929 the age of marriage was set at 14 for the groom and 12 for the bride with the age of consent to marriage being generall accepted as 7 years old (though it could be younger if the child showed comprehension of what it involved).
This situation remained until 1929.

Cheers
Guy

[stanmapstone]

According to an old Office of National Statistics database the figures for marriage below the age of 16 from 1846 to when the 1929 Act came into effect are 35 males and 1,844 females.

Stan

[Noy1818]

Looks like it was a common 'practice' at this point in time!

[stanmapstone]

From The Marriage Law of England 1873.
Sect.4. – Want of Sufficient Age.
The age of legal capacity to marry in England is fixed at 14 years in males and 12 in females; and no persons are capable of binding themselves in marriage until they have attained that age, which is termed the age of consent. Our law agrees in this respect with the civil law, which required that the parties should be of the age of puberty, namely, 14 if male, and 12 if female – a period much earlier than that at which marriage can in any case be prudent or desirable. Derived from the south of Europe, it rests upon the principle that marriage ought not to be made impossible by law between those who are capable by nature of being the parents of children.

Stan