Parental Consent for underage Marriages

[footprints55]

Hi all,

Have found a family member who would have been 17 years at the time of her marriage. So my question is this - would she have required written permission to marry. If so, where would I find a record of this ?

Birth certificate states she was born 21st December 1870.
Marriage certificate states that she is aged 19 years - marriage was on 11th June 1888.
Unless I have done my maths wrong - isn't she aged 17 and a half years of age ?

Her first child was born later in 1888 on 21st December 1888.This would still make her 17 years old (nearly 18 years) when he was born.


Cheers

footprints

[stanmapstone]

Marriages of minors, i.e. under 21, without consent after banns were valid, unless the banns had been forbidden by parents or guardians openly and publicly in church at the time of publication.
It is not necessary to give a formal and written consent to a marriage. In the case of marriage after banns, consent is always presumed in the absence of any notice or expression of dissent by the person or persons, required to give consent. In the case of marriage by Church of England licence, one of the parties must personally swear, on oath, that the consent of the person or persons required to give consent has been obtained, and by solemn declaration before a Superintendent Registrar in the case of a register office marriage.
From "The Marriage Law of England" James T. Hammick 1873

Stan

[footprints55]

Hi Stan,

Thank you for the very detailed reply. Hopefully the consent was obtained from the required parties.

Cheers
footprints

[Colin Cruddace]

Birth certificate states she was born 21st December 1870.
Marriage certificate states that she is aged 19 years - marriage was on 11th June 1888.
Unless I have done my maths wrong - isn't she aged 17 and a half years of age ?

Her first child was born later in 1888 on 21st December 1888.This would still make her 17 years old (nearly 18 years) when he was born.


Cheers

footprints

If my maths is correct, she would have been pregnant at the marriage so parental/guardian consent would be unlikely to be withheld. 

Colin

[LizzieW]

My husband's g.grandmother Emma was only 15 when she married, although the marriage certificate has her age as 18.  Her birth certificate and death certificates and all the census after her marriage prove her correct age.  She wasn't pregnant - her first child was born over 10 months later.  We know her mother was still alive, but would she have given permission to a 15 year old?  We don't know whether her father was alive or not, we can't trace him fromthe t ime Emma was about 3 years old.

She married at Manchester Cathedral, which might have had something to do with the reason she got away with marrying under age and giving the wrong age at the time.  Her husband was 22.

Lizzie

[stanmapstone]

but would she have given permission to a 15 year old?
Lizzie

As I posted "consent is always presumed in the absence of any notice or expression of dissent by the person or persons, required to give consent." Her mother could have unaware that she intended to get married, or raised no objection to the marriage.

Stan

[LizzieW]

Manchester Cathedral seems to have been their "local" church, as Emma was baptised there as was her half sister born when her mother was apparently a widow (no father named on the birth cert).  I understood M/C Cathedral was one of those places where you could get married no questions asked.

[Meezer]

I found a great aunt who falsified her age to get married and also went out of the area she lived in to do so. I reckon he was a bit of a rogue as I discovered that he gave a false name - I have visions of her parents having warned her off him and refusing to give their consent hence her deception. The marriage didn't last long and she reverted to her maiden name then set herself up with a second "husband" with whom she raised a family. They married when in their 50's - I suspect she thought hubby number one had died by then. I discovered he hadn't though! 

[footprints55]

Hi Stan,

Would the same ruling apply if they married at the Thirsk Registery office ?  Certificate states "by certificate" before me.

Also have another family member who married in the Primitive Methodist Chapel "by licence"?
She was aged 20 years, he 24 years.

footprints