Marrying Young by today's standards

Question

I am looking at marriage records in Scotland during the 1600s and 1700s. Now prior to 1753 it was legal for a girl as young as 12 to get married and for boys they had to be 14.  But does anyone know how common it was for people of this age to get married in Scotland.  

The people I am researching would not be from landed gentry they would be commoners.

Thanks in advance

Comments

Hi Suzy. I had a related question some time ago, and David Dobie made a very helpful comment at this link. He quoted from one source saying that although marriage at these young ages was legal, it was almost unknown. He gave another useful reference too. It's worth a look at his comment.

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Just remember, though, "almost unknown" does not equal unknown.  I have documented couples who married that young, then waited a few years before having children.

(I've also documented a young German girl who was 14 at marriage in Australia.)

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From the records I have seen it is  common especially for commoners, basicly because some people were living in abject poverty and it was a way to provide food and housing for those that were sometimes in dire straits.

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Thanks for the comments guys - definitely something to think about when looking at the older records - its quite difficult in trying to pair records up from this time period because the records have so little information in comparison to newer records.

Answer 1

In Europe, the general rule was (with local differences, of course):
In the Middle Ages, girls could sometimes be married at the age of 12 or 13, boys at 14, or even earlier under certain circumstances. According to church law, betrothals were possible as early as 7 years of age. Especially from the nobility one knows historical examples of marriages or engagements of very young children for political purposes. However, such very early marriages were hardly the rule among the normal people.
Marriages were arranged by parents, relatives or the lord of the manor, and were therefore not based on the mutual affection of the bride and groom, but on dynastic, social or fiscal considerations. The average age at marriage rose steadily, and by 1500 was around 24 for men and between 16 and 21 for women. In marriages contracted for dynastic reasons, grotesque age differences occasionally occurred.
Generally people married among equals, people of the same class. Inferior wives, also called women "to the left hand", did not reach the status of the husband, were disadvantaged under inheritance law, their children remained in the lower status (they "followed the worse hand"; morganatic). According to court law, unfree women had to obtain the lord's consent to marry.