Underage in register (General)

by cmfenton , Ferndown, Dorset, Thursday, February 18, 2010, 12:21 (5468 days ago) @ rosalind

As well as the legal limits given by Slowhands, under-age (as opposed to "full") can also mean that the person involved was under the age of 21 so permission to marry would be needed from a parent.

One source gives this explanation:

The certificate lists the date of the marriage, and the full names of both the bride and groom. Their ages are included (it is also permissible to write “full”, meaning of age, and until 1850 some 75% of certificates said that; if the certificate reads “minor” or “under age”, it means that, until 1929 when the law changed to 16, the bride was between 12 and 20 and the groom 14 and 20 years of age).

-Colin