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Age of Marriage in Scotland

ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

Sheila

Sheila Report 29 Jan 2014 22:10

Thanks for that, I think it is correct as same names Sheila

greyghost

greyghost Report 29 Jan 2014 18:44

From a google search

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/regscot/getting-married-in-scotland/
Getting Married in Scotland

What was and is the minimum age for marriage in Scotland?

Before 1929, Scots law followed Roman law in allowing a girl to marry at twelve years of age and a boy at fourteen, without any requirement for parental consent. However, according to one early 20th-century source*, marriage in Scotland at such young ages was in practice almost unknown. No doubt if marriages between children had become common, there would have been public pressure to raise the legal minimum age of marriage earlier than 1929. The Age of Marriage Act 1929 (applying in Scotland, England & Wales but not in Northern Ireland) made void any marriage between persons either of whom was under the age of sixteen. Sixteen remains the lower age-limit today, contained in the current legislation, the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977. Scots law still has no requirement for parental consent. *Source: Vital registration: a manual of the law and practice concerning the registration of births, deaths and marriages. (G T Bisset-Smith. 1st edition. Edinburgh: William Green & Sons, 1902)

KathleenBell

KathleenBell Report 29 Jan 2014 18:44

Not sure about Scotland but in England and Wales the age for marriage (with parental consent) was 12 for girls and 14 for boys right up until 1927.

Kath. x

Sheila

Sheila Report 29 Jan 2014 18:25

I have found a marriage for one of my descendants in Scotland, Birth 1801 Marriage 1813, does this sound correct. Sheila