how old to marry ?

[chloed]

anyone know how old a girl had to be in 1710 to marry legally?thank you.

[Mark]

This Isle of Man website page includes this section, which seems to apply to the UK as well ...

Legal Age for Marriage

Roman law gave the minimum age for marriage as that of puberty which was 14 for boys and 12 for girls; these remained the legal age for marriage until the late 19th Century in Britain though that for girls seemed to be assumed also to be 14. However most did not marry until 18 or older though the Manx have always had a reputation for early marriages. For parties under 21 permission of parents and/or guardians was required. Generally if you find a marriage involving a young minor look for a corresponding marriage settlement as these were generally family arrangements to safeguard the transmission of land. Sometime you will find permission of both one parent and a guardian - this apparently 'impossible' combination, which arises from the considerable differences in Manx law from English law, indicates the death of one natural parent and a remarriage (generally of the woman), the guardian would be appointed to safeguard the interest of the deceased partner's family in the transfer of property to the children.

Legal Age for Marriage "Before Hardwickes Marriage act of 1753 there was no legal age of marriage, except during the 1650's when it was sixteen for `men' and fourteen for women'. In 1753 it was fixed at fourteen for men and twelve for women, and remained at those ages until the Age of Marriage Act in 1929, which raised the age to sixteen for both."
from the Family Tree Detective by Colin D. Rogers . Manchester University Press

Marriage below 21 ( eighteen since 1969), should have to have consent of parents or guardian recorded.

David Pott

Mark

[Linda]

Marriage below 21 ( eighteen since 1969), should have to have consent of parents or guardian recorded.


...unless she/he was a widow/widower in which case no consent was needed, assuming that consent had been made for the previous marriage.

Linda

[uksearch]

I thought that the age of consent (apart from the exeptions already noted) was raised to sixteen only as late as 1929?


UK

[jeeb]

Most of the points have already been answered here and the age for marriage was indeed 12 for girls & 14 for boys, apart from when it was raised slightly during the Commonwealth years, but a person was still considered a minor until the age of 21 and would require the consent of a parent to marry at a younger age, this remained the law until 'Age of Marriage Act 1929' when the legal age was raised to 16 for both girls & boys and still requiring consent of parents under age of 21. This was changed when the age of majority was lowered to 18 in 1969 and the age of consent for minors was lowered with it. The age of consent, the legal age to have sexual intercourse was raised to 16 in 1929. So to answer Chloed's original question, a girl could legally marry at 12 in 1710 but in reality it was very rare apart from cases when a marriage was usually arranged to safeguard property or the like.
Jeremy

[Guy Etchells]

Yes you are all correct but at the same time wrong. ;-))
It all depends whether you are following civil law or ecclesiastical law.

Under ecclesiastical law (which until comparatively recently was the senior) there was no minimum age for marriage. A person was old enough if they realised the significance of the commitment, this led to marriages of children as young as seven and sometimes even younger. Civil law and ecclesiastical laws finally agreed in 1929 when the age of consent was set at 16 in England & Wales.
As for parental consent this was only briefly required between 1753 & 18message=Yes you are all correct but at the same time wrong. ;-))
It all depends whether you are following civil law or ecclesiastical law.

Under ecclesiastical law (which until comparatively recently was the senior) there was no minimum age for marriage. A person was old enough if they realised the significance of the commitment, this led to marriages of children as young as seven and sometimes even younger. Civil law and ecclesiastical laws finally agreed in 1929 when the age of consent was set at 16 in England & Wales.
As for parental consent this was only briefly required between 1753 & 1823 before this and after consent should be obtained but the marriage was neither void nor voidable if no consent had been obtained.
Cheers
Guy