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LEAGAL AGE

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Whitenancy

Whitenancy Report 29 Mar 2011 13:05

have just found this marriage record and was wondering about betty being a minor. what was the full legal age for marriage without consent?

Text: Aaron Cooper, farmer, of M. F., & Betty Turner, minor, of A., lic. 09 Oct 1781
Book: Cheshire: - Registers of Marriages, 1771-1789 (Marriage)
Collection: Cheshire: - Memorials of The Civil War in Cheshire and The Adjacent Counties and Burghall's Providence Improved, 1628-1663

Researching:
Wintrip, Robinson, Washington Co. Durham Ipswich

Jill 2011 (aka Warrior Princess of Cilla!)

Jill 2011 (aka Warrior Princess of Cilla!) Report 29 Mar 2011 13:06

21 usually - but it has varied over the years so worth Googling.

Jill

Researching:
London: Faber, Haysey, Spicer ...

mgnv

mgnv Report 29 Mar 2011 13:46

In England, 21 if she were a spinster. A widow, even a 12 y old widow, was of full age. Not too long back, it was lowered to 18.

Lorna

Lorna Report 29 Mar 2011 15:49

12yrs for girls and 14yrs for boys

lancashireAnn

lancashireAnn Report 29 Mar 2011 15:57

"12yrs for girls and 14yrs for boys" - that was the lowest age they could be married but they were described as a minor not of full age

did not know that about widows mgnv - you learn something new every day!

Researching:
Liverpool (Cartwright, Chambers, Miller), Todmorden (Sutcliffe, Mallison), Abergavenny (Watkins, Prosser)

InspectorGreenPen

InspectorGreenPen Report 29 Mar 2011 17:15

It wasn't quite the case you were of legal age if you had been married and widowed but still under 21, but rather that you did not require further parental consent to get married again.

mgnv

mgnv Report 30 Mar 2011 04:00

Ann - Blackstone (maybe in his law commentaries) had some quote abt "once emancipated etc". I've forgotten most of it - I read it abt 20 y ago - i.e., pre-genealogical times.

IGP - thanks for the clarification. Muddled thinking on my part.
I'd always presumed "full legal age" meant able to engage in contracts by oneself, and this included marriage contracts. However, clearly marriage contracts weren't entirely like other contracts.
The parental exemption applied to widowers too, so I presume 14 y old widowers weren't pf full legal age either.
I put my confusion down to faulty education - my dad was Scottish, so this need for parental consent stuff was outside his knowledge base.