Hi Tina,
On Marriages Certificates I have often found that it says "Full age" and
means twenty-one and over which is very frustrating if you want to find when
the person was born.
In the booklet "Using Marriage Records for Family Historians" by Pauline M.
Litton with Colin R. Chapman there is a paragraph on Age at Marriage as
follows:
"England and Wales: in general, the legal age for marriage until 1929 was 14
for a groom and 12 for a bride * From 1929 the age was raised to 16 for
both. Marriages under 16 have never been common - a marriage at 12 or 13 is
very rare and many supposed examples involve a mistaken indentification!
From 1754, parental consent ws required if either party was under 21 (18
from 1970) and it was often stated before this date. "With consent of
parents" in a Register, especially after 1813, usually means one party was
under 21."
*(See Marriage, Laws Rites, Records and Customs by Colin R. Chapman with
Pauline M. Litton)
I have a copy of the above book, ISBN No. 1-873686-02-1 and it is full of
useful information. The price was £5.50.
Rergards,
Margaret Harvey
----- Original Message -----
From: "TINA STEWART" <tina59(a)btinternet.com>
To: <WALES-GEN-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Friday, May 21, 2004 11:03 AM
Subject: [WALES-GEN] Marriage Ages ?
Hi Listers,
Does any one know the ages for marriages, when on the Marriage
Certificates it says FULL AGE.
Has any one publish a book about ages at the time of a
marriage at
all.
Regards
Tina from miserable Whitstable
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