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AT WHAT AGE DID PEOPLE MARRY IN 1778

ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

martynsue

martynsue Report 17 Apr 2012 18:35

i have a person ( if the record's are correct ) who married age 14yrs,
does this seem right to you,
it seem's so young by today's marriages.

i would love to know if you have found this happen in your research.
or if you know anything about life in those tomes.

thank's sue

GillfromStaffs

GillfromStaffs Report 17 Apr 2012 18:41

I think up until about 1926 it was 12 with parents consent for girls and 14 for boys,seems odd today.
Gill

martynsue

martynsue Report 17 Apr 2012 18:44

he would have been 14 and she would have been about the same age,
talk about having to grow up quick,

Gee

Gee Report 17 Apr 2012 18:48

Thats one thing I have never found confirmation of!


Gee

Gee Report 17 Apr 2012 18:51

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriageable_age

GillfromStaffs

GillfromStaffs Report 17 Apr 2012 18:55

Gins,
I believe the law changed 1926/27 and they made it 16 or 18 with parents consent but not sure where I read about it maybe someone can give us more info.
Gill

martynsue

martynsue Report 17 Apr 2012 19:11

i have just looked at the link,i think 9yrs old or even 12yrs old just because they had hit puberty was a very young.

thank's for the input gill & gins

WhiffingSiggs

WhiffingSiggs Report 17 Apr 2012 20:05

32 or 17

littlelegs

littlelegs Report 17 Apr 2012 20:46

hi
one of my married at the age of 15 and that was in the1790s
lorraine

Julia

Julia Report 18 Apr 2012 17:13

I think this is a good subject to bring up, and serves to remind us, just how things have changed.
I have a relly married in 1739, but because the records for that area have not stood the test of time, (their quote), I cannot ascertain her DOB. I know who her father was, he mentioned her in his will. But I cannot find who her mother was.

Julia in Derbyshire

martynsue

martynsue Report 18 Apr 2012 18:31

if young girl's married at puberty, then it is no wonder a lot died in child birth or soon after,it must have been very frightening for them,

sue

Derek

Derek Report 19 Apr 2012 14:46

You will find that many marriage records of the time include the "with parents consent" on the entry............its a very good point that the infant mortality..and the deaths of very young mothers was directly attributal to this practice.
If you were nobility, or Royalty..the child could be still a baby when it was "married"..but more often a bit older.....on the understanding that the marriage was not consummated until at least puberty......
more often than not..that understanding was abused, with terrible resukts
Margaret Beaufort gave birth to Henry VII when she was THIRTEEN.and becasue of the agony and damage it caused..she was unable to have any more children.
Worse still..puberty was a lot later than it is today.......

Derek.