Marriage ages

[jon attwood]

Looking through my family history research I have noticed that some of my ancestors were married very young, 13 year olds getting hitched doesn't seem to be particularly uncommon a couple of centuries ago.
Does this mean that I have got the wrong dates from the records, or has the legal age for marriage changed?
if anyone knows when the requirement for people to be a certain age to marry came in then that info could be really useful, info on any changes to that minimum age would be great too.
could it even be a regional thing or different for different churches?

any help appreciated

thanks

Jon.

 

[juliejtp]

Hi Jon,

The link below explains the matrimonial age of consent.

http://groups.msn.com/britishgenealogy/yourwebpage1.msnw

 

[jon attwood]

that explains it all, thanks Julie.

Jon

 

[p.risboy]

Hi Jon,

The link below explains the matrimonial age of consent.

http://groups.msn.com/britishgenealogy/yourwebpage1.msnw

Thanks from me also Julie, another conundrum sorted.:kissu:


Steve.

 

[mikeparker3185]

hi John, a good book to have is 'Starting your Family History' by Margaret Ward ISBN 1 85306885 3 price £5:99. Its full of all sorts of great info to help you. The answer to your question is that upto 1929 boys could marry from 14 and girls from 12 and after 1929 the age was fixed at 16 for both. Hope that helps, Mike

 

[benny1982]

Hi

I think before 1929 if you were under 21 then you had to ask for parental consent before you could get married.

Ben