Why might someone need consent from the parents to marry?

+5 votes
322 views
I have been trying to find first the marriage to sort out a family. Eventually, it was found and the record stated married with the permission of her parents. This dummied the search for her birth. if she was under twenty-one nothing existed, only one locally who was born 25 years before the marriage. Eventually, a census when she was much older and widowed was found that had her birth date and says she was born 25 years before the marriage it also confirms the birth location. Eureka! She married with a 2 year old illegitimate son. She also married someone 10 years older than herself. So why the note on the marriage record? I guess it would be helpful to add the marriage was 1813 in Kent England.
in Genealogy Help by Chris Hoult G2G6 Mach 2 (26.9k points)
edited by Chris Hoult

3 Answers

+6 votes
 
Best answer

It might have simply been that the clerk wanted to complete  the register in full.

Prior to 1813, the printed marriage register didn't have a place to record consent. 

See this example https://www.ancestry.co.uk/sharing/1647296?mark=dd8067ad8a4870e463d09d57ee7f4dd5a6fabe3c51dba5f415788df3246f9d21

The new form adopted in 1813  has a printed clause  ' with the consent of ___' . Some clerks  weren't sure what to do so they added the word parents even when  it was unnecessary . (Most marriages, at least in rural areas,  had at least one set of parents present).

This probably happened in this example parish. The clerk added  parents  to the consent clause on every entry until 1816 when a widower and widow married. After that the clause was crossed out when not needed . https://www.ancestry.co.uk/sharing/1647554?mark=d00d564ca344bebb6e7434e683fceb00a87e41a5aa7e4c88418f769f46212a04

Some clerks continued to insist on filling the consent clause in for years. I have a couple of ancestors, both of full age who married, in 1826,  in the parish where they both worked. According to the clerk it was  ' with consent of friends' 

by Helen Ford G2G6 Pilot (508k points)
selected by Chris Hoult
Thanks that's what I wanted and more! No more assuming consent is for under 21 ;-)
+3 votes
I can't imagine any reason she'd need her parent's permission unless she was underage.  I would hazard a guess that the census when she was much older, was wrong.
by Renee Newman G2G6 Mach 2 (24.4k points)
+3 votes
She may have needed it for an inheritance, if a bequest was conditional on her marrying someone her family approved of.

Or it may be a thorough clerk recording that her parents did consent even though that was not legally necessary.
by Andrew Millard G2G6 Pilot (221k points)

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