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Full age query

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ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

AmazingGrace08

AmazingGrace08 Report 22 Mar 2009 21:40

Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond!

Rachelle

Dugless

Dugless Report 20 Mar 2009 09:57

One member of my family said she was 21 when she got married when in fact she was only just sixteen. Not only that but she was also very heavily pregnant!

Julie

Julie Report 20 Mar 2009 08:08

I have one that says Full Age on the cert & it's looking like she told a porkie, going by the census she was about 17 when she married

Battenburg

Battenburg Report 20 Mar 2009 07:41

If the vicar asked the couple are you of full age and they said yes no proof was needed .

However if he asked them how old they were, then their age was added
.I guess it all depended on the vicar

SylviaInCanada

SylviaInCanada Report 20 Mar 2009 06:18

some people younger than 21 would tell the vicar either that they were of full age, and that their father was deceased


but usually of full age means over 21


although the age for marrying was as low as 12 at one stage ..... with parental consent.



sylvia

Researching:
My brother, photo taken in September 1991 just a couple of weeks before he died. ............................................................ To help us and to get better results, please post as much detail as you can, especially name, date(s) and place. Also say what you already know.

mgnv

mgnv Report 20 Mar 2009 04:48

Of full age meant able to give informed consent to contracts, including the contract of marriage. Normally, this meant over 21, but married people (and consequently widow(er)s) were also of full age. A person not of full age wishing to get married would need parental consent (in England, at any rate).

It wasn't required to record ages before statutory registration began, and marriages before 1837 don't usually mention age, although the phrase "with consent of parents" might imply an age of <21 for at least one of the couple. However, I've also seen the phrase routinely used whenever the parents were alive, whether the couple were minors (i.e., <21) or not.

AmazingGrace08

AmazingGrace08 Report 20 Mar 2009 03:36

Could some one kindly advise what age the term full age refers to when it is mentioned in the parish registers for marriage?

Could anyone also answer please why some marital records for the 1800s in England (Cornwall) do not have ages recorded?

Thanks!