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Small help required please.

ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

WhiffingSiggs

WhiffingSiggs Report 14 Feb 2012 21:13

Mathew Siggs, of Haverhill, 22 years, w., & Elizh Baynes, of same, s. w., at same. 02 Oct 1775.

can anyone tell me what the w. means?
and: s. w.

Ta :-)

edit, would there have been conditions attached to marrying at 16 years old? ie a special licence or something ?

KathleenBell

KathleenBell Report 14 Feb 2012 21:17

Just a guess - w. could be widower. s.w. could be single woman. It depends on what document you found these abbreviations.

Kath. x

WhiffingSiggs

WhiffingSiggs Report 14 Feb 2012 21:27

Apparently it is extracted from Parish records of Suffolk. I'm trying to determine if this is his second marriage. His first would have been 1769 which according to this would have made him 16 years old... The wife of the the '69 marriage did indeed die in '71.

KathleenBell

KathleenBell Report 14 Feb 2012 21:29

Nothing wrong with marrying at age 16. In those days a girl could marry at 12 and a boy at 14.

He would have needed parental consent to marry at 16. However once a minor had been married and widowed there was no need for consent for a second marriage that took place before the age of 21.

Kath. x

WhiffingSiggs

WhiffingSiggs Report 14 Feb 2012 21:32

Thank you :-)

SylviaInCanada

SylviaInCanada Report 15 Feb 2012 04:53

here is the record Kevin is talking about ..... from ancestry


Suffolk, England, Extracted Parish Records about Mathew Siggs Elizh Baynes

Text: Mathew Siggs, of Haverhill, 22 years, w., & Elizh Baynes, of same, s. w., at same. 02 Oct 1775.
Book: 12.The Hearth Tax. Charles 2nd.
Collection: Suffolk: Sudbury - Marriage Licences, 1755-1781




I think, as did Kath, that w. = widower and s.w. = single woman.



sylvia

WhiffingSiggs

WhiffingSiggs Report 15 Feb 2012 12:21

Single women were typically referred to as spinster.. but I agree, it does seem to be the most logical answer.