age of majority in British Canadian colonies

Question

If a marriage record from the colony of New Brunswick in 1815 says that the bride was a minor, how old could she have been? Is there a source you can recommend for such information?

Comments

Reading this, the answer may be 20 (21 considered to be an adult): At what age would someone be considered an Adult in the 18th century colonies? - WikiTree G2G

Answer 1

1815 age of majority was 21 under British law, which applied to its colonies here.

Under French Régime up to 1763 (when all the territory got ceded) age of majority was 25.

Do not confuse this with Canon Law, which did not change for a long time.  Under Canon Law, girls could marry at 12, boys at 16.

Priests referring to a groom/bride being minor are NOT referring to Canon Law but to civil law.  Whether somebody passed as of age or minor when they were borderline is sometimes simply a matter of faulty memory.  (Let's see, was he born in x year or y year?)

Comments

Wow, 25 up to 1763?! I believe you but I am wondering what kind of authoritative sources exist regarding that.

It's a bit confusing about Canon and civil law... You might think that a priest would be focused on Canon, but I suppose they probably had a duty to ensure obedience to civil law as well. Good point about faulty memory.

Thanks, Danielle.

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short text, in French outlines ages for matrimonial and civil laws, both Canon law and Civil law, by time period, in one table format, for France.  Same applied to New France.

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I'm going to select this as the best answer based on a presumption that Archives départementales de l'Indre would have used official documents in creating the archives36.fr page you linked (although I wish they had cited them).

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Thanks M., I've dug into the subject previously, but didn't keep all the links to sources I found, most of which are in French. This short summary,mentions the flip-flop that occured in 1763-1780s in regards to pertinent legislation.

Answer 2

I have often looked for a definitive answer to your question.

I found this information as a source in a bibliography at this link

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://dalspace.library.dal.ca/bitstream/handle/10222/10256/Arnup%20Research%20100%20Years%20of%20Marriage%20EN.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

See Snell and Abeele, "Regulating Nuptiality," for details of this legislation. Under common law, the minimum age for marriage was twelve for females and fourteen for males. That age was raised to fourteen for both sexes under the 1896 Marriage Act. (1896) 59 Vict., c. 39, s. 16.

also on Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriageable_age

In the 12th century, Canon law jurist Gratian, stated that consent for marriage could not take place before the age of 12 years old for females and 14 years old for males; also, consent for betrothal could not take place before the age of 7 years old for females and males, as that is the age of reason. The Church of England, after breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church, carried with it the same minimum age requirements. Age of consent for marriage of 12 years old for girls and of 14 years old for boys were written into English civil law.

After the 1759 Battle of the Plains of Abraham the British were in charge and I believe that what was in English civil law would have been the rule in New Brunswick.

My husband's several times GGM, married at the age of 14 or perhaps 15 on 18 Oct 1844 in Upper Canada.

Comments

"My husband's several times GGM, married at the age of 14 or perhaps 15 on 18 Oct 1844 in Upper Canada." She wasn't considered to be a minor? That's how the note on "Regulating Nuptiality" seems to read (i.e. that she would not have been).

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The marriage record does not give ages or any description of the bride and groom status, they were married by licence, the witnesses were the fathers of the bride and groom.

I'm not sure but possibly they had to be married by license because of her age, the marriage record is available but the license is not.

I think you would need to research marriage banns vs license.

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I see. Ok, thank you for the info, M!

Answer 3

It's a tricky question, but not so much about the standards of the civil authority, but the church in question. For Acadian Catholics, I have read that it often means under 18 for women and under 21 for men, but there are inconsistencies, and may be down to the opinion of the local priest.

Comments

Yes, I can imagine that whatever the law was, it was not strictly adhered to in all cases.

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Yes, and it wasn't unknown for couples to pad their ages.

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Right! I'm pretty sure I've seen evidence of that among my ancestors.