"Why consent with parents" TUCKER & VARCOE?

[fisherj]

Any ideas why consent from parents would be needed for a marriage when the groom and bride are both over 21?

John Tucker was baptised on 10 September 1786.
Jane Varcoe was baptised on 21 August 1791.
They were married (banns) in St Stephen in Brannel on 26 November 1820 with the note "with consent of parents".

Is there a reason for this?   (or perhaps I have the wrong baptism dates for them of course.)

Many thanks

[KGarrad]

I believe that the pre-printed wording on the Register was:
"were married in this Church by (Licence-Banns) with consent of------"

Usually "parents" were written in, but also it could be "consent of friends"

[stanmapstone]

The priest could have made a mistake, there are parish entries that have  "with consent of congregation" and others "with consent of friends"

Stan

[osprey]

if you look at the page with the marriage on, all the marriages have that phrase. Also on the previous and all but one on the following page, so not sure too much should be read into it.

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01oau/

[stanmapstone]

In the register of St Mary and All Saints, Whalley, Lancashire, nearly all the marriages by R Noble, Vicar, from 2 Jan 1817 to 17 May 1829 have "Married by Banns with consent of Parents" which seem unlikely. http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Whalley/stmary/index.html

Stan

[fisherj]

Thanks for your explanations.... but does it mean that through the banns being read, the congregation is considered to have given consent?  because no one objected?

[Maiden Stone]

In the register of St Mary and All Saints, Whalley, Lancashire, nearly all the marriages by R Noble, Vicar, from 2 Jan 1817 to 17 May 1829 have "Married by Banns with consent of Parents" which seem unlikely. http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Whalley/stmary/index.html

Stan

Same in register 1813-1837 at St. Cuthbert, Lytham, Lancashire until 1835. A bridegroom in my family there was 26 when he married in 1820. I originally assumed that the bride was under 21. Eventually traced the bride and discovered that she was from County Durham, she was 23 at the time of marriage and both her parents had died before she was 16. Her elder sister married in Lytham in 1816, also around age 23 to a bridegroom around same age "with consent of parents". That bridegroom died less than a year later, aged 23.
www.lan-opc.org.uk/Lytham/stcuthbert/index.html 

[fisherj]

Curious, isn't it?

Thanks for your examples.  I'm sure that I do have the right baptisms for this couple now.

A very strange practice by the vicar though.

[Maiden Stone]

A very strange practice by the vicar though.

He omitted to score out the printed words "with consent of parents or guardians".

I looked at marriage registers for the same era in 2 parishes which neighbour Lytham for comparison.
St. Michael, Kirkham was a larger parish with many more marriages.  I didn't see the word "consent" in the register I browsed. The minister of Kirkham was superior to the minister at Lytham.

St. Chad, Poulton-le-Fylde marriage register 1813-1834. Most marriages in 1813 and some in 1814 have "with consent of parents" or " with consent of guardians". No mention of consent 1815.  I don't imagine that there was a flurry of teenage marriages 1813-14.
www.lan-opc.org.uk/Poulton-le-Fylde/index.html
I also checked Lytham marriage register 1783-1812 to see if my 54 year-old widowed ancestor (by then a granny)  married her widower bridegroom with consent of parents.    A common phrase in the register in 1780s was "Married by Banns Published and nothing objected thereto".