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Marriage cert says full age

ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

Tricia

Tricia Report 21 Jun 2003 22:25

Hi Pamela. Why didn't I think of that?. My excuse is that I am new to this.I will try to follow that line and see what I get. Thanks for the steer. Patricia

Pamela

Pamela Report 21 Jun 2003 21:31

If the birth was before ?June 1837 you are back into IGI for parish records anyway since bmd certificates and registration by state only came in then (in England, its 1855 in Scotland)

Tricia

Tricia Report 21 Jun 2003 21:20

As their fathers are on cert as witnesses I suppose the 21 could be about right but perhaps I should search back between 1830 & 1837. What do you think?

Pamela

Pamela Report 21 Jun 2003 20:01

Well, as I said in reply the last time this came up, it means they told whoever was registering the mariage they were of full age, ie they didnt need their parents consent. It appears than no actual check was made, since I have a couple actual age 18 marrying at a registry office claiming to be of full age (in 1883). I am not sure if this was a fib or a technicality, since the age at which it was possible to marry with parents consent or without requiring this probably varied for different dates. I think now it is 16, but marriage with parental consent was possible at 14 at some point. In short claiming to be of full age was possibly a cop out to avoid giving actual details of age, and need not be as accurate as we would like it to be.

Hilary

Hilary Report 21 Jun 2003 19:22

Hi Patricia I asked the same question only last week as I too have a certificate with 'of age' stated. Sorry to disagree Deborah but I am not convinced this means 21 and over. Anyone else able to help? Hilary

Tricia

Tricia Report 20 Jun 2003 21:07

Can anyone tell me if the full age on a copy of my 2x gt grandparents marriage, dated 1853,is likely to mean that they were over 21.