Genealogy Chat

I have just got a marriage certificate that I ordered and where it says age it says full for him and full for her does this meen they were 21 when they married?

yes it does 21+

Is it a very old certificate ? I have never heard of that, but there again my research doesn't go back all that far!! I would guess it means 21. There are sure to be folks on here who know though. Ann x

SEE.there's always someone on here who can answer your questions :)

When an entry of 'full' is made by ages it would suggest an age of 21 or more,but in many cases this may not be true.That is to say that people claimed to be 'of age' when they were actually younger.I guess you have worked the dates/ages back and they don't match.A lot depends on the era of the marriage as well,as ages can't always be verified through cross checking the census records and following dates of marriage.They may not match but be the same person.

And Ive had 50 year olds put down as 'full'. I was reading recently in my Family History mag that if both bride and groom are shown as just 'full age' and both fathers as deceased - then you should think may be a couple were marrying under age without permission. (Obviously this is if you are doubtful about later ages on the census when they revert to true age).

thanks for ur replys i wasnt sure it is a wedding cert for 1844

Yes just found it,'full' means 21 years or older.If a person was younger (or appeared to be so)they should have the age aand the word 'minority' against their name. Also the permissible age for marriages until 1929 was only 12 years old for girls and 14 years for boys.From 1929 to 1969 the age was 16 years for both genders. Amazing what you find when you look for something totally different. Glen

Just because it says full age (over 21), doesn't mean they actually were. If they were younger they would need parental consent, and if they didn't have it might just have said they were of full age so they could marry. Kath. x