Marriage at 17?

[Shrop63]

Hi could a 17yr.old get married by banns around 1780 or would it need a licence? Thanks

[LizzieL]

Parental consent would be required for a 17 year old to marry, but if marrying in the home parish of either the bride or groom, they could marry by Banns, a licence would not be required.
However I have seen cases where an underage  couple marry some distance away from home, where they are not known and lie about their age. In this case they would need a licence, 

[Andy J2022]

In England and Wales within the Anglican church, provided the bride was over 12 years of age and had parental consent she might be married either by licence or banns. The groom had to be at least 14 and also have parental consent.
The law in Scotland was slightly different on the issue of parental consent, hence the popularity of Gretna Green as a place for English couples to marry.
Legally (the Clandestine Marriages Act 1753) this situation applied to all denominations in England and Wales, but I believe that, in practice, the Catholic church took a slightly stricter approach concerning the age of the bride, especially if she had not yet undergone confirmation.

[Jebber]

[quote author=LizzieL link=topic=895403.msg7699181#msg7699181
However I have seen cases where an underage  couple marry some distance away from home, where they are not known and lie about their age. In this case they would need a licence,
[/quote]

They would not need a licence if they claimed three weeks residency in a Parish. Couples who wanted to marry without the knowledge of  their family would leave a case of clothes at an address in the pariah for the three weeks required for the calling of banns,.They could then if there were no objections they could marry immediately after the third calling of the banns. Objections would be unlikely as no one would know them’. I have come across several such instances, especially in cases of bigamy..

[LizzieL]

[quote author=LizzieL link=topic=895403.msg7699181#msg7699181
However I have seen cases where an underage  couple marry some distance away from home, where they are not known and lie about their age. In this case they would need a licence,

They would not need a licence if they claimed three weeks residency in a Parish. Couples who wanted to marry without the knowledge of  their family would leave a case of clothes at an address in the pariah for the three weeks required for the calling of banns,.They could then if there were no objections they could marry immediately after the third calling of the banns. Objections would be unlikely as no one would know them’. I have come across several such instances, especially in cases of bigamy..
[/quote]

Yes, that's an alternative if they could wait three weeks.

[Andrew Tarr]

They would not need a licence if they claimed three weeks residency in a Parish. Couples who wanted to marry without the knowledge of  their family would leave a case of clothes at an address in the parish for the three weeks required for the calling of banns,

Although we married with the full knowledge of our families (and were over 21) my fiancée left a suitcase at an address in a nearby village, mainly because her parish church was a cathedral, which she considered would be rather OTT 

[Shrop63]

Thanks, does the parental consent need to be published?  Both groom and bride came from the parish where they married if I have the right groom that is

[Jebber]

No, the parents consent is not published. The whole point of the calling of Banns the parents or anyone else to raise an objection.

[LizzieL]

No, the parents consent is not published. The whole point of the calling of Banns the parents or anyone else to raise an objection.

Although it isn't required to be recorded, some vicar's helpfully state that consent was given by the bride or groom's father or mother and name them. Sometimes if consent is given by the mother, it might be recorded that the father has died. I've only seen this on pre 1837 records, some of the pre-printed marriage record forms had a "with consent of" section.