Was it possible to get married in Laois at age 13 in 1834?

[TerringtonLass]

The title says it all really! My great great grandmother, Anne Dunne, was born about 1821 but she married my great great grandfather, Michael Purcill, in the parish of Aghaboe, Co. Laois, on the 27th of November 1834. This would have made her 13 years old, her husband 16. Was this a regular occurance at the time or indeed was it possible to marry at that age, or is it more likely that her age isn't accurate on any of the records I have for her, including her death certificate and the report of the inquest?!

Many thanks,
Sarah

[percy porter]

Ages on death are only as accurate as the informants knowledge, so unless you have confirming dates from a variety of documents/sources then I would question it. Parish records would likely have more accurate details of the birth assuming she was baptised. 

Having said that I don't think it was impossible for a marriage at that age.

Alan NZ

[Deb D]

Wouldn't have thought it was out of the question; - Loretta Webb married "Doo" Lynn at age 13 in 1948.  She was "The Coal Miner's Daughter". 

[TerringtonLass]

Thank you both for your replies. The strange thing is that they didn't appear to have any children until 6 years after they married and then they seemed to come on a pretty regular basis. However, if my 2x great grandmother was 13 when she got married it would mean that she stopped having children when she was about 36. Now, if she was 46 that would make more sense! All I can go on is instinct and common sense, I don't suppose it's likely that I'll solve it beyond any doubt! All the same, all opinions are very welcome!!

Sarah

[fia]

dear sarah I think it is possible that she married at 13 because i remember learning in school that 12 was the age a girl could marry I dont know when the age was changed ann

[sarahsean]

Hi Sarah,

You should also consider your X2 great grandparents marriage as possibly being a financial arrangement between families. Your X2 great grandmother may have had land or perhaps her father had died and it was a way of her having protection.  As for her stopping having children perhaps there was a physical reason?

Regards
Sarah

[Redroger]

Prior to 1858 (I think) there was no legal age for marriage. Then until 1929 it was 12 for a girl and 14 for a boy. After that it became 16 for both sexes. Imagine though, it is possible there is a lady somewhere in Britain who was born in 1917, and married 82 years ago.

[TerringtonLass]

Thank you so much for the latest three replies! I am extremely grateful, all points made are valid and interesting! Maybe now I have access to the parish records I will find her family, which might give me some clues as to what was going on and I shall remember everything everyone has said. Thank you again!

Sarah

[Redroger]

TerringtonLass, about 70 years later, but still in the pre planned family era, my grandmother had her last child, my mother, at the age of 31. There is no record of any still births before or after, and the 1911 census shows my mother and her 2 sisters as the only children to the marriage, none having been lost. So why? I truly have no idea, no one now survives from that era, and if they did I am sure they would most likely not know, and say nothing if they did!
This no doubt is just one well documented instance, and five years younger than your relative.
Having said all this however, remember that in 1834 it is quite possible that a person would have no accurate record of their age,
a 5 year variance being quite common.