Family Historian User Group

Hi there, I'm hoping someone can put me in the right direction. I'm sure I've seen a discussion on here before saying that it was actually only sometime in the last century that the law changed and that you can now only get married at 16. I have someone who I think was born 1912 and married in 1927, but I'm troubled that she would have only been 15... Thanks

ID:2876

I'm not sure about the legal position (and it's not unknown for people to lie about their age to get married), but she could have been 16 with those dates depending on the times of the year.

Until the 1929 marriage act the minimum legal age for marriage was 14 for men and 12 for women.

Hi Patrick
It was quite common for girls as young as 12 to marry.though they needed their fathers permission to marry up to the age of 21. The age of consent was 12.

Take care
ianthompson

Thanks everyone for all your help