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Thread: Apprentice ?

  1. #11
    EVE McL
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    Quote Originally Posted by michaelpipe View Post

    [COLOR=Black]From 29 September 1653, the legal age for marriage was fixed at 16 for a man and 14 for a woman but the law was changed in 1660 and the ages of marriage reverted to 14 for the groom and 12 for the bride /COLOR].
    most families would never give consent - which was required before a marriage could take place, as you will see from marriage registers which even printed this.
    The 'legal age' argument rarely works, since no family would normally allow a child to taken on the responsibility of marriage before the finances were in place. The occasional girl married under what would be considered a prudent age, but normally to a man well he senior, able to support her.
    Furthermore, a boy under apprenticeship was 'forbidden to marry or commit fornication ' by the indentures which he (and his parents) signed. ASpprentice age was normally 14 for a commercial one (less for a pauper)
    Mere wishes on the part of the young couple would not weigh much. The only circumstance where such an early marriage would be allowed by the parents is if it was considered necessary to secure the girl's fortune or create an alliance between two gentry families if she was a major heiress to a title, which might devolve on the family of the husband. However, 'apprenticeship' makes it unlikely that he is in this sort of situation.
    This is why i questioned whethere the ages were actually stated in the parish register or if they are deduced from baptisms found, which could well be of young persons rather than babies.

  2. #12
    ware
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    hello Eve, the register does actually state that William was an apprentice to Kitson and gives the age of the bride and groom. It doesn't state who gave permission for the marriage or any details of his parents but it does give her father's name.
    Regards Trevor

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